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What’s buzzing in Bellevue?
It’s the bus, the carpool & the van
 A
recent study shows a big drop in the number of Bellevue residents and
workers who are commuting alone.
Estimates on commuting modes and average travel time to work were
released last month from the Census Bureau's 2005 American Community
Survey. In 2000, an estimated 74 percent of working Bellevue residents
drove alone on their commutes. By 2005, that number dropped to 68
percent.
City of Bellevue transportation planners credit several factors,
including increased use of public transit – almost a three percent
increase in five years – and more people who actually are able to walk
to work from residential areas in and near Downtown Bellevue and other
employment centers.
King County Metro Transit has several programs underway that enhance
travel options for Bellevue residents and workers. The goal is to make
it easier than ever to leave your car at home – even when you live in
the suburbs.
“Convenience is the key,” says Metro General Manager Kevin Desmond. “The
bus works best for many Bellevue employees. For others, Metro goes the
extra mile to make it easy to access a vanpool, VanShare or carpool.”
Here are some examples of the innovations and successes going on right
now in Bellevue:
Downtown Bellevue In Motion
Last week, Metro brought a new program to Downtown Bellevue aimed at
increasing the use of transit, carpooling, bicycling and footpower.
 Metro
teamed up with the City of Bellevue and the Bellevue Downtown
Association to encourage people living downtown to use healthier travel
options, such as the bus, carpooling, bicycling and walking. They are
working together on the “Downtown Bellevue In Motion” program to provide
residents with information on driving less to save money, protect the
environment, get healthy, and earn rewards. The “In Motion” program has
been a success in several Seattle-area neighborhoods and in Bellevue’s
Crossroads neighborhood.
Key components of the 10-week “Downtown Bellevue In Motion” program
include an informational mailing with a neighborhood map, a Metro Free
Ride ticket offer for participants, and details on how to earn a
Bellevue Collection gift card.
With all of the businesses, shopping and entertainment outlets now in
downtown Bellevue, getting around without a car has never been easier.
Residents can earn In Motion rewards just by committing to eliminate two
drive-alone trips a week from their regular routine.
Employers kick up their support
More than 120,000 people work at jobs located within Bellevue, about 10
percent of all employees in King County. These businesses range from
small mom-and-pop operations to the headquarters for international
corporations.
Many of the large employers have been working closely with Metro in
recent years to encourage their workers to drive alone less often. These
companies support a variety of
commuter-friendly programs, such as:
subsidizing the cost of transit passes; setting aside free parking for
carpoolers; and sponsoring transportation fairs to hand out commuting
information.
One of the most active Bellevue employers in this arena has been
T-Mobile, a national provider of wireless voice, messaging, and data
services. T-Mobile has thousands of employees located in the Eastgate
area, and had long supported commute trip reduction programs.
In the coming months, T-Mobile will be relocating many of its employees
to a new office building on the south side of Interstate 90. T-Mobile’s
own Employee Transportation Coordinators are working in advance to
encourage better commuting habits at the new work site. During the month
of September, they hosted four transportation fairs, invited Metro staff
to hold information sessions, and made it easier than ever for employees
to pick up a subsidized transit pass.
On the other side of Interstate 405, a group of employers are working
with Metro to smooth out the commute and mid-day errands for people who
work at the Bellefields Office Park.
The office park houses many individual businesses and hundreds of
workers. Not all of these employers are in a position to offer the
transit incentives that larger companies can provide. Instead, they
teamed up to promote the transit services available in that location.
Four Bellefield employers – AAA, Coinstar, Excell Data and
RealEstate.com – recently hosted a transportation fair for all the
workers at the office park. And, AAA has already started a
VanShare, so
its employees can use the van to travel between work and local
park-and-ride lots, or even carpool to Bellevue’s retail centers for
lunch and errands at noontime.
Improving downtown connections
Since 2002, Metro has seen a 15 percent increase in transit boardings in
Downtown Bellevue. Metro managers want to build on that success by
improving the connections between downtown and other key Bellevue
employment centers such as Overlake and Eastgate, and between Bellevue
and other Eastside cities.
Last year, Metro began an extensive outreach process to gather ideas for
service improvements in Bellevue, Kirkland and Redmond. Those ideas are
being refined, and the goal is to put some of them into service as soon
as next February. One of the first priorities is to create bus service
with trips every 15 minutes all day connecting downtown Bellevue with
Redmond, Overlake, and Crossroads. Metro also wants to increase evening
and weekend service to the downtown area. |
