News Roundup: Insane Preservation Decisions

• Seattle test will lead to regulations for dockless bike-share.
• What the Washington train derailment means for Cascadia high-speed rail.
• Speed control faces challenges ($), slowly gets rolling on Sounder trains.
• What Vancouver, B.C., can teach us about housing.
• When historic preservation clashes with housing affordability. Sightline's Dan Bertolet catalogs several recent insane decisions from Seattle's various landmark and historic district boards. Having read that piece, I'm really to nuke the entire dysfunctional process.
• 120,000 square feet in the heart of Seattle is set to disappear; with the caveats that this square footage (a) is below grade and (b) will require about $100 million to bring up to code.
• Denver vs Seattle: How our Pacific Northwest peer adds people without adding traffic. Streetblog gives a preview of the Moving People Forward conference in February, which looks very interesting.
• Amtrak crews express concerns about training on new route where train derailed ($).
• I-405 express toll lanes between Renton and Bellevue are on their way ($).
• Driving from Everett to Seattle? Plan for a 94-minute commute, new report says ($). Hmmm" if only we had some technology that could provide an efficient alternative to driving for many thousands of people per day.
• Seattle extends its run as the nation's hottest housing market - but we may be starting to cool ($).
• Margaret Hurley forced state to take alternate route for north Spokane freeway.
• Elon Musk's ideas about transportation are boring.
• 150 studios with no parking going up in Ballard. Excellent!
• Switzerland's border-busting streetcar rolls Into France and Germany.
• Boston tests faster bus service simply by laying out orange cones.
• Agency OKs $126M budget for Tacoma Dome Link design ($).

This is an open thread.