The 26 and Residential Routing

The 26 represents one of the biggest problems that Metro has in routing buses through residential neighborhoods. The northern half of its route, a complex and confusing stroll through upper Fremont and the Green Lake area, takes forever to cover a relatively short distance, particularly on weekdays when 60-foot coaches are the primary vehicles used.

Instead of running both directions on a large and fairly straight road, the 26 runs on a set of small and narrow residential streets for most of the the route's northern half, making countless harsh turns along the way. This makes the route very confusing, as both directions cross each other throughout that stretch, making it hard to find a bus stop in the correct direction.

The use of small, residential roads makes the 26 particularly vulnerable to rush-hour delays and makes it even more difficult for any one coach to get back on schedule. Car commuters frequently pull out of their driveways directly into the path of the bus, slowing down the already tedious ride. There are even stretches of the route where one bus has to make way for another coming in the opposite direction.

Instead of using these streets as transit lanes, Metro needs to consolidate service in such areas onto the arterials of these neighborhoods. Rather than spreading out coverage onto multiple lines, there should be one or two major routes that provide very frequent and reliable service.

A typical Sunday on the 26.