The City of Bellevue is updating its transit plan, and as part of this update have developed a survey to gather input and information from all travelers to, from, and within Bellevue, including Redmond residents and employees, will them develop and shape the future of transit in Bellevue.    

So, if you travel in Bellevue, they would like to hear from you (and have prizes for you too)!

The survey can be found at this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/6TJV5L3

Those who complete this survey are eligible to win one of three prizes graciously provided by downtown Bellevue restaurants. Prizes include a $75 gift certificate to Purple Café & Wine Bar and $100 gift certificates to Daniel’s Broiler and El Gaucho.

For more information on the project visit http://www.bellevuewa.gov/bellevue-transit-plan.htm or contact Franz Loewenherz at 425-452-4077 or Floewenherz@bellevuewa.gov

Change is in the air!  Starting this Saturday, February 18th, KC Metro route 221 will provide new connections from the Grass Lawn and Education Hill neighborhoods to Redmond Town Center and the new Downtown Park.  The 221 will move from its old route along Redmond Way to West Lake Sammamish, Leary, Bear Creek Parkway, and 161st.  Now residents of Education Hill, Grass Lawn, and Overlake will have a frequent, all day connection to downtown shopping, the Redmond Saturday Market and arts events.    

Introducing the new route 931! On Saturday,  the 251 is changing to DART service and being renamed the 931.  The route will continue to connect Redmond to UW Bothell, Woodinville and Avondale with the same route and frequency as the current 251.  With DART service, the 931 will now provide personalized and more flexible service in the area around UW Bothell.  For more information about DART service and reservations, visit KC Metro Online

We’re excited about these changes, are you?

After being closed in north Seattle since June for repaving, the Burke Gilman Trail has finally reopened! 

The trail was repaved and widened due to roots growing up through the old pavement, so now you can ride to Seattle without your teeth clattering the whole way!  With the new 12 foot trail, better lighting and stormwater improvements, the Burke Gilman Trail via the Samamish River Trail provides a flat, easy, and beautiful lake side ride to the University of Washington, Magnuson Park, Gasworks Park from Redmond.

There will be an official grand reopening in the spring, but don’t let that stop you from going on a great bike ride!

This year, the Redmond Neighborhood Network will join with the City’s Budgeting by Priorities team to share information with Redmond’s ten neighborhoods and to hear your thoughts regarding the near- and mid-term future.

Please join us for the neighborhood event respective to where you live and/or work:

•February 23 – Downtown & Overlake neighborhoods
•March 1 – Bear Creek, Education Hill, North Redmond, & SE Redmond neighborhoods
•March 7 – Grass Lawn, Idylwood, Sammamish Valley, & Willows / Rose Hill neighborhoods

All meetings will take place at City Hall, 15670 NE 85th Street, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm.

The Neighborhood Network provides an opportunity to meet City officials, ask questions of staff regarding City programs and projects, learn about and share your thoughts regarding the Budgeting by Priorities process for the 2013-2014 term, and to share your perspective regarding your neighborhood’s future – both today and in the mid-term.

Check your neighborhood webpage at www.redmond.gov/residents/neighborhoods or contact Kimberly Dietz at 425-556-2415 for additional information and to indicate your interest in attending.

Love is in the air and Cupid’s arrow is primed and ready for the Valentine season in Redmond. Nothing says love like buying local, so in preparation for February 14, we are providing you with a list of local options that will sweep your special one off their feet.  Whether it’s flowers, chocolates, dinner, wine or other, keep your hard earned money here in Redmond. It’s great for the local economy, comes back to you in the form of city services, reduces traffic and helps the environment.  Speaking of the environment, you can really show mother earth your love by walking or biking to your destination, or jump on a bus and let someone else do the driving while your shopping Redmond. 

Here is a list of Valentine’s ideas you can find in Redmond:

1. Make your reservations now for one of Redmond’s fantastic restaurants.
2. Take your sweetheart to a movie or play.  (Chicago is playing at Second Story Rep on weekends in February.)
3. Order your flowers early or pick up a great arrangement at a Redmond grocer.
4. Who doesn’t love a gift card for a massage or salon visit?
5. Stay home and prepare a special dinner by candlelight.   Visit a variety of specialty shops in Redmond and put together your own Redmond themed meal. A steak from the Bill the Butcher, bottle of wine from Trader Joe’s, salad dressing with olive oil and vinegar from Paradiso EVOO, and maybe a variety of root beers from The Root Beer Store – just to throw out a few ideas.
6. Enjoy a “staycation” in one of Redmond’s five beautiful hotels.
7. And, don’t forget the chocolates (or other sweet delights!)

Happy Valentine’s, Redmond! We love you.

‘Designing Healthy Communities’  is a PBS series investigating how municipalities, health care professionals, designers and non profits are working together to transform our communities into places that improve our health.  While Redmond’s local PBS station KCTS has yet to provide an air date, you can check out previews and other clips on their website. 

You can also see what the City is doing to design a healthier Redmond the under the plans and projects tab on Redmond.gov.

Rapid Ride B line is also on its snow route, traveling along Bel-Red Road rather than NE 8th, and detouring from 148th north of Redmond Way to Willows Rd to 90th st.  The route follows the dotted line along this route map. 

Due to the conditions, all buses will have chains and are limited to 25 miles per hour, so plan accordingly.  Also due to the snow routing, OneBusAway is very unreliable.

Stay safe, be patient and watch out for snowballs!

The developers at 520or90.com have created an app that can tell you how fast both routes will be and how much the tolls and fuel will cost at that moment, helping you make the best choice for your commute.  You can customize the result depending on the type of car and gas you use, presenting a clear picture of the benefits of each route.  

But don’t take our word for it, check out a preview of the app on their website. Also for the more visual of us, have a look at this infographic looking at the first week of tolls on 520.   

Want to save time and money?  Take transit!  First time transit riders can recieve a free 3 month transit pass through R-TRIP.

See the full size here

In addition, the City of Redmond also provides traffic cameras so you can easily view the traffic along your route: http://www.redmond.gov/TrafficCameras/

Metro’s Alerts Center provides event, emergency and weather related alerts. Alerts can be viewed online, or you can sign up to receive them via email, mobile phone and RSS:
http://metro.kingcounty.gov/up/rr/adverseweather.html
http://metro.kingcounty.gov/up/rr/alertscenter.html

Eye on Your Commute blog also provides commute oriented updates every weekday:  http://metrocommute.wordpress.com/

Sound Transit provides rider alerts for all Sound Transit routes. Get signed up now:
http://www.soundtransit.org/Subscribe-to-alerts.xmlAnd

Community Transit riders can sign up for weather-related electronic alerts, sent via email or text when there are re-routes or delays: http://www.commtrans.org/News/RiderAlert.cfm?id=1372

WSDOT provides traffic information and travel alerts: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/seattle/
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/trafficalerts/PugetSound.aspx
And current weather and forecast information:
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Traffic/weather/pugetsound.aspx
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Traffic/forecast/default.aspx

Cliff Mass, Atmospheric Sciences Professor at the UW provides insight on the latest forecast and comments on Puget Sound weather: http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/

And finally, NW Weather collects weather and forecasts data for the Puget Sound Region: http://www.nwweather.net/

Is there a resource that you rely on to help you with your commute?  Let us know in the comments, or send an email to support@gortrip.com with your commute info tip for snowy weather.  

Safe Travels,
–The R-TRIP Team