Unfortunately, Community Transit, which provides service more to Snohomish County (north of King County) and into King County, is also talking about rate hikes. They are currently discussing a rate hike and also no service on Sundays. That seems like it could be a real deal breaker for some people who need to be somewhere on Sundays if there is no transit service on Sundays. I think this would be a worse idea than cutting other service a little deeper throughout the week. Also, Community Transit has started their Swift service, a faster commuter bus that stops at fewer stops between Shoreline/Edmonds and Everett. It doesn't seem to ever have much ridership and although it is a new program, perhaps cutting that down to fewer runs could allow for Sunday service for at least the most used Community Transit routes, if not more.
It seems like with joblessness at a higher level and less money all around, rate hikes are a terrible idea at this time. I'm sure that ridership is down due to less work commuters, as I know many people who are now out of work and not daily riding with me to work. Still, there seems that there must be ways to keep transit fares affordable for everybody while still making it feasible to maintain these services...
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