Just realized I was wrong about bus express lanes

I used to think those express bus lanes on I-5 through Seattle were a waste of space since they sit empty half the time. But last month I had to commute from Northgate to downtown during a 3-hour traffic jam and my buddy on the 41 bus breezed past everyone in 22 minutes flat. It made me see how one full bus can move 60 people while the regular lanes are clogged with single-occupancy cars. Has anyone else had a moment where they stopped hating on transit infrastructure?

3 comments

3 Comments

dylanh971mo ago

Yeah the math really flips things around. One bus doing 22 minutes while cars sit for 3 hours is a huge difference. It's crazy how upset we get when we're stuck in traffic and see something moving faster, even if it's carrying way more people. Did your buddy ever say if that's normal for the 41 or just a lucky day?

adams.henry1mo ago

Honestly, wait, 22 minutes? That's insane. Ngl, I've been that guy stuck in my car watching buses fly by and it always pissed me off, but I never did the math on how many people they move. That really puts it in perspective.

tarac161mo ago

Yeah @adams.henry the math part is what got me too. I used to fume when buses zipped past but now I just think about how many people are in that single lane vs the 50 other cars stuck around me. The 41 is pretty consistent actually, my buddy says even on bad days it's usually under 30 minutes. It's wild how one thing can totally flip your view on something you were dead set against before.