Getting ready for big changes to regional transit

With 2021 coming to a close, our region has set sail on a major, exciting, one-in-a-generation opportunity to restructure and reform our transit network thanks to billions in capital investments. In 2008, regional voters approved Sound Transit 2 (ST2), and these investments are now bearing fruit as our regional light rail network will nearly triple in size. We must prepare before this is complete in 2024.

Northgate Link gives us a preview of what's coming, as bus and light rail integration reshapes our idea of what's possible with transit. Our bus-based, one-seat ride network is changing as trains reemerge to play a large role. In addition, the pandemic fundamentally changes how our transit network will be used, as many traditional commutes disappear. Transit's role in moving 9-5 workers into a few hubs migrates into a broader community-and-corridor-based network serving a wider variety of people 24/7. While there will still be a need to serve major centers such as Bellevue, UW, Tacoma, Seattle, and Everett, their role and magnitude as transit magnets is still uncertain.

King County Metro will usher in an entirely new network in several parts of King County to integrate with four different Link extensions (!), a topic which will be heavily covered by this blog. Two new RapidRide Lines will enter service thanks to partnerships between King County, Seattle, Burien, and White Center as the first new RapidRide lines since the F Line in 2014. Madison G Line offers an opportunity to restructure transit service in the densest part of our state, while the H Line upgrades crucial north-south service in a long corridor with a community strongly tied to transit. RapidRide is the linchpin in Metro's frequent regional network offering marquee service to nearly 70,000 pre-pandemic riders on the busiest corridors. Improving service on existing Lines could be in the cards as well with Metro hiring staff to evaluate opportunities for investment (based on KCM job postings earlier this year).

Pierce Transit's first Stream BRT Line starts construction in 2022 along busy Pacific Avenue. This 14+ mile line upgrades PT's busiest corridor to provide frequent, reliable service to more of Pierce County utilizing many tools from NACTO's playbook. Tacoma Link's extension onto MLK and Hilltop Neighborhood, a light rail extension resembling Seattle Streetcar's Broadway/First Hill Line, hopes to spur economic development and provide community investment in transit. Federal Way Link Extension provides Pierce Transit their first direct connection with Link light rail at Federal Way Transit Center; opening frequent, congestion-free travel alternatives.

Community Transit's plan is to refocus Seattle-bound commuter resources towards local connectivity to key transit hubs with Link light rail stations. In this, their network is set to grow with new Swift BRT lines and a frequent network serving key destinations throughout Snohomish County. On the heels of a widely successfully transition of University District service to connect with Link at Northgate Station, Community Transit's public outreach is already in high gear in advance of Lynnwood Link's anticipated 2024 opening to ensure smooth implementation and that their new network best serves people.

With this and many other transit projects coming on line, no doubt other discussions will arise. Reducing process for key bus lanes, running a night Link replacement bus when trains are not operating as San Francisco does for MUNI, or reevaluating obsolete regional master plans. Here, we are only limited by our imagination.

I encourage regional agencies to make difficult, bold decisions based not on legacy routing and old travel patterns but on what possibilities new rapid transit creates. I'd also encourage agencies in these coming years blur boundaries of both county and subarea equity to best serve the needs of people. People don't see these invisible boundaries but do need to cross these lines without unnecessary burden and complication.

To our fellow readers and riders, now is the time to pay attention to agency proposals in the coming months, ask questions, and please provide comments. Comments, both positive and negative, go a long way in shaping policy, and simply assuming governments will do the right thing, so there's no need to comment" is incorrect. If there's something you'd like to see, or a place you wish transit would go, speak up when the time comes (writing a tweet or replying here, while indeed fun, does not count as an official comment). Adding a supportive this is great, please keep going" provides balance to the inevitable no change ever".

As this transformation begins, we at Seattle Transit Blog be right here with you to slice and dice. Here's to a prosperous transit future and Happy New Year!