On July 1, the 6:51 a.m. bus to downtown Seattle arrives at the corner of Northwest 64th Street and 24th Avenue Northwest right on time. The bus is empty so there are plenty of seats for the three passengers who climb aboard to escape the surprisingly chilly July morning. By the time the bus crosses the Ballard Bridge, there are no more than 15 passengers onboard.

Less than an hour and a half later, the situation could not be more different. The number 18 bus to downtown arrives at 64th and 24th at 8:10 a.m. where nearly two dozen people are waiting for it. A second bus on the 18 route arrives behind it and takes some of the passengers, but both buses will be full by the time they leave Ballard.

Transit use in King County is on the rise and Ballard is no different. According to the American Public Transit Association, public transportation use in the county has increased by 6 percent over the first quarter of 2007 and this change is noticeable to many Ballard bus riders.

Increased usage and skyrocketing gas prices have prompted the King County executive to seek a 25-cent fare increase effective Oct. 1, if the County Council concurs.

According to Metro records, the use of Ballard's major bus routes, measured in average weekday boardings, has increased approximately 5 percent from spring 2007 to spring 2008. The two routes to downtown, the 15 and the 18 have seen an increase of 600 average weekday boardings, and Ballard's second busiest route, the 44 to the University District, has seen an increase of 500 average weekday boardings.

Beverley Williams, who has been taking the bus to work for 20 years, said the buses are getting a lot more crowded.

"There used to be about 20 people on the bus," she said. "Now it's 30 to 40."

Susan McCrary takes the bus to her job at the University of Washington everyday and said she has seen more people are trying out public transportation lately.

"Usually when you ride the bust that often, you see the same people over and over and over," she said. "But, I've been seeing people I've never seen ride the bus before."

However, neither of these riders said the increase in passengers has negatively affected their commute or made them think twice about taking the bus and, according to Metro Transportation Planner Paul Roybal. Metro Transit has no plans to add more buses to the Ballard routes until the Rapid Ride system is implemented in 2012, when transit in Ballard will be re-evaluated.

Of greater concern to riders than overcrowding are the lack of route options from Ballard to places other than downtown and the lack of efficiency of the bus system.

McCrary said there are too few routes to get around the city from Ballard and potential riders are discouraged by the lack of routes that suit their needs.

For example, she said the number 17 bus she takes in the morning drops her off on Market Street too late to catch the 46, forcing her to take the less convenient 44.

The Rapid Ride system for Ballard will only serve downtown and most likely operate on 15th Avenue Northwest or 24th Avenue Northwest, and at this point there are no plans for increasing service across Ballard to help passengers get to the new Rapid Ride route, Roybal said.

The vulnerability of the bus system to changing conditions such as rush-hour traffic and road construction is also a problem for riders.

One of the three northbound lanes on Elliott Avenue West and 15th Avenue Northwest from downtown to Ballard was recently converted to a bus-only lane during morning and evening heavy-traffic hours. However, none of the southbound lanes have that designation.

The 6:51 bus on July 1 made it to downtown with no delays. But, the buses leaving an hour later were stuck in a traffic jam due both to rush-hour traffic and the construction on 15th Avenue.

Banton Foster, who uses the bus for his commute, said it is this unreliability that is the biggest problem for the current transit system in Ballard.

"If something gets off, the rest of the day is off," he said. "It's so easy for your commute to go completely, completely awry."

Michael Harthorne is a Ballard News-Tribune intern and may be reached via bnteditor@robinsonnews.com