Focus on SLU and Ballard

The Ballard and SLU light rail segment is expected to get up to 57,000 riders. That's higher than any of the other Link projects planned for ST3 (Everett, Tacoma Dome, West Seattle, or Issaquah). Construction cost rise faster than Sound Transit's income, transit ridership has dipped, and rush-hour peaks have flattened. In this environment Sound Transit should focus on the Ballard line, and postpone the others until demand justifies the construction and operation.

With the departure of Sound Transit's CEO, the beginning of the year would be a good opportunity for the Board or an interim CEO to reassess their construction priorities. When ST3 was envisioned a decade ago, the largest job center was in downtown Seattle. Now growth has spread out to other parts of the city and the Eastside. Amazon, Google, and Facebook have offices in both downtown and the Eastside. Since the pandemic many of those offices are often empty. Work schedules are not as rigid anymore, reducing the demand during the morning and afternoon peaks. While midweek demand in general has dropped, demand on the weekend has increased, some Saturdays have seen higher ridership than on a weekday. Some people have switched from transit to e-bikes or back to their car as bus services had become less reliable due to staff and maintenance parts shortages. It seems the shortages are now getting addressed. If we are not careful and ignore all these changes, we may end up with light rail lines with low ridership and less frequent service which would make transit even less appealing. We may be better off with high frequency bus lines until the ridership supports construction of high frequency rail. The demand along the Ballard line corridor seems to be the only line which meets these criteria besides some of the lines already under construction.

One Downtown Tunnel

The current plan calls for building a second downtown tunnel before building the Ballard line. Ross and many STB readers commented that this is not necessary, and forcing riders to switch tunnels would in fact make their transit experience worse. Rather than splitting the lines between two tunnels and building separate stations, it would make more sense to interline them in the current tunnel. Sound Transit had considered this in the past but rejected it. It may be time to revisit that decision. Even if a West Seattle line gets added, it would make more sense to interline all lines. It would allow for 2.5-minute headways through the tunnel and north of it. Transfers would only require getting off the train and waiting for the next one, maybe switching platforms, but never switching tunnels.

Higher frequency would make it more convenient to use Link in the core network.

Ballard Line

Planning for the Ballard/SLU is well on its way, so how do you connect the Ballard extension to the other lines? The current plan already calls for a tunnel from lower Queen Anne through SLU. The easiest way is to continue the tunnel under the Westlake station along 5th Ave (current plan) or 6th Ave. While the current plan calls for the station box to be south of the Westlake station and connect via the south mezzanine, it would be better if the new platform would straddle the old one. Escalators could connect both of the existing lower platforms on the eastern end with new platforms below. Ballard riders would not get a one-seat ride to downtown stations, but a one-escalator transfer instead of having to go up to the mezzanine and down again to one of the existing platforms. Combined with high-frequency trains, that still provides for a good rider experience.

Automated Trains

To allow riders arriving on any of three main lines to transfer with little wait, the Ballard line should be automated. That would provide high frequency at reasonable cost as discussed earlier. This trend is seen in recent transit projects in Honolulu, Montreal, Paris, and even Lima. It would also allow for smaller stations which would simplify station placement and keep construction time and cost lower. This should help alleviate the concerns Amazon and Vulcan have recently voiced.

Operations and Maintenance Facility (OMF)

To keep the Ballard line separate you'd need to have a separate OMF. While a small OMF might fit in the Interbay area, if you want to use the existing OMF in SODO for major maintenance tasks, you should be able to build a single underground track connecting the western track of the Ballard line to the western track at the curve toward University Street station. That would allow transfer of trains during off-hours with the help of an operator.

Automated trains could allow for 24-hour service on weekends, but during the week you may need to halt operations for track maintenance. While traditional trains get parked at the OMF at night, most automated train sets could just be directed to park in the tunnel at night as they don't require an operator to return to the OMF.

First Hill Tunnel

Rather than building a second downtown tunnel with only a single additional Midtown station and redirecting the 1 Line through that tunnel, Frank had proposed to extend the Ballard line to serve First Hill and connect with the existing line at Judkins Park and Mount Baker rather than CID. Not only would it reach many more riders, such tunnel would also provide a simple transfer alternative if any of the older tunnel station areas require maintenance - as will happen this week and did happen a few times last year. This extension could be done in a second phase and probably have higher ridership than any of the other currently proposed extensions. In fact it could serve the Boren healthcare corridor, increase the attractiveness of the new Yesler Terrace housing, and reinvigorate Little Saigon and the Atlantic neighborhood. Riders from Bellevue may even want to use it to the airport rather than transferring at the CID station. Both options would provide a far better experience than some of the currently proposed stations.

As conditions have changed during the pandemic, the Sound Transit Board should prioritize ST3 construction projects with the highest ridership potential while maximizing the value of their existing infrastructure and preparing for other high ridership opportunities. That way Sound Transit will be able to serve as many riders in the region as possible and help reduce the region's reliance on fossil-fuel-based vehicles.