The 106 should be a long bus. It is a short bus on weekdays (and most weekend times). I ride this bus to and from school every day, and it is PACKED. The 106 is a convinient bus for South Seattle students of Franklin High School, Rainier Beach High School, Aki Kurose Middle School, and South Shore K-8. A lot of students (and non students) rely on it as their comute, and it can be difficult for the following reasons:

The short bus gets crowded very easily, people in wheelchairs get turned away because there's no space for them, how bad delays can get with the short bus, and that when compared to other nearby lines, it is clear to be one of the bigger lines. These issues would be a lot simpler if the 106 was a long bus.

The first reason that the 106 should be a longer bus is that it gets extremelly crowded. Tons of people are cramped in the bus and people have trouble getting on and off the bus. This is an issue because some people need more time to get off the bus, and if there are too many people in their way, they might not be able to get off the bus, and miss their stop.

Being on a crowded bus can also be hard for people who have claustrophobia, or people who don't want to get sick. Being in a tight environment can easily make those people stressed out. If the 106 was a longer bus, people could spread out more, so that people could get off more easily, and no one would be stressed out about being that close to multiple people.

The second reason is that there is rarely enough space for wheelchairs or strollers. I have seen bus drivers turn away people in wheelchairs or people with strollers. There are usually too many people crowding the area for wheelchairs, even if no one on the bus is using a wheelchair. This is an issue because people in wheelchairs need to ride the bus, too, and it is odviously very frustrating for them to have to wait extra time for the next bus, hoping there will be room for them on it. Same for people with strollers. Young children can be very impatient, especially if they have to wait in the same place for long periods of time. Those people need to get to places, too! It is unfair for them to be turned away. If the 106 was a longer bus, people in wheelchairs and with strollers would get to go on the bus and have space to sit comfortably.

The next reason we need a longer bus is that the short bus gets delayed very easily. Sometimes, the 106 is delayed so much that two of them come within one minute, and this has happened on multiple occasions within the past week, occuring both in the morning and afternoon. The most common reason why the 106 gets delayed is because so many people are trying to get on and off. Having the bus stop for a minute at every stop can add a lot of time, even over the course of just a few stops, not even considering the bizarre traffic and intersections on MLK, where the bus travels on for a long section. If the bus was longer, there would be more doors to get in and stops would go much smoother, making the bus get delayed less. 

Another reason is to contrast with other bus line sizes. Some other bus lines in the area are the 7, 36, 50, and 101. The 7 is ALWAYS a long bus, which makes sense, given how much use it gets. The 36 alternates between long and short buses so that it can balance out the people, and it is an amazing southend bus. The 101 travels the same route, from Renton to downtown, but on the highway. It is a long bus, because it is a very popular route, but so is the 106! The 50 is ALWAYS a short bus. It is still an important line, given how much use it gets from Othello Station, Columbia City Station, and SODO Station, not to mention its popularity in West Seattle, but it still makes sense to have the 50 be a short bus because of how undercrowded it is.

When you compare the 106 and the 50, it is clear that the 106 is used WAY more, especially in the South Seattle and Skyway/Renton areas. So, it doesn't make any sense to have them be the same size.

All together, there are many reasons why the 106 would function better as a long bus, including that it would be less crowded, wheelchairs and strollers would have a much easier time, delays would be better and it would make sense due to the size and popularity of the line.

There is one different solution considering that there may not be enough long buses:

If we alternate between long and short buses, the people can spread out so that the short bus isn't so crowded.

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