Race the L8

On Thursday, Fix the L8 hosted a race between people walking, rolling, and dancing vs a Route 8 bus. The race was on Denny Way from Dexter Ave to Stewart St. On paper, this should be an easy win for Route 8 as its schedule indicates a 7 minute trip along this segment. Walking is estimated to take 13 minutes. Regular readers of the Blog will be familiar with the severe reliability issues that Route 8 endures. Jason Li recently wrote a 3-part series on the route: Route 8 Bus Lanes, Redesigning Denny Way, and Long W8s.

People cheering on a Route 8 bus before the race

While the race was scheduled to start at 5pm, we waited for some racers that were on a Route 8 bus from Capitol Hill that was running 30 minutes behind schedule. While we waited, I spoke with a few people to learn about their experience with the route. One person mentioned they recently bought a scooter as Route 8 was too unreliable for their commute. Another mentioned they moved from Capitol Hill to South Lake Union to avoid taking Route 8. After a few introductory words from organizers Nick Sattele and Jason Li, the race kicked off as Metro bus 8047 crossed Dexter Ave at 5:29pm.

The race begins!

The crowd of about 150 people walking got off to a strong start as the front of the group reached 9th Ave while the bus was still back at 8th Ave.

Zoom in to see the bus behind 7 cars

The bus kept its pace as it crossed 9th Ave when the group approached Westlake Ave.

Still about a block behind

At the Route 8 stop on the east side of Westlake Ave, about 20 people were waiting for the bus. As the front of the group climbed up the hill just before Boren Ave, the bus was nowhere to be seen.

A beautiful day for a nice stroll, even if it's uphill

The race was not over yet. Route 8 still had one trick up its sleeve: a 1 block bus only lane between Minor Ave and Stewart St.

Unfortunately for the bus, that bus lane was not long enough and the dance group leading the pack crossed the finish line at 5:45pm, for a total race time of 16 minutes.

1st Place!

Bus 8047 crossed the finish line 5 minutes later, at 5:50pm. Less than a minute later, a surprise 3rd place finisher crossed the line: bus 8044.

2nd and 3rd Place

While the second bus was useful for bringing some race participants up Capitol Hill, it further emphasizes the route's unreliability. The need for bus only lanes on Denny Way is clear. It's up to SDOT to make them happen.