West Seattle by Bus instead of Light Rail
Rather than building a light rail extension for West Seattle, how could Metro provide better transit to/from West Seattle with additional bus services? Forward Thrust had envisioned such decades ago.
Forward Thrust map (black solid: rail black dotted: busway)Background
While Forward Thrust had a bold vision to provide rail services for the whole region, for West Seattle it envisioned a busway through SODO instead. The Forward Thrust map shows the challenge: West Seattle is not a linear corridor, it has the Admiral Junction and Alki in the north, Delridge and South Seattle College in the east, and the Alaska and Morgan Junction, High Point, Westwood, White Center, Burien, and the ferry terminal in the south.
In 2013 Sound Transit hired a consultant for a South King County HCT Corridor Study. It evaluated 6 potential routes: some using BRT, some using light rail and one using light rail for West Seattle and a BRT line for Renton and Burien. They would serve West Seattle via corridors along California Ave SW, 35th Ave SW, Delridge Way SW, and/or SR-509. When Sound Transit presented the initial plans for ST3 in early 2015, they included a light rail connection to Ballard, but not West Seattle. Board members, many of whom live in West Seattle, demanded to serve West Seattle by light rail, too. While Metro had already started RapidRide C and anticipated H, the ST3 plan put in front of voters included BRT improvements and a short light rail line for West Seattle. Such combination had not been anticipated by the prior study. That might explain the fact that few people realized the negative impact on the transit experience as I explained in an earlier post. While the study had estimated a ridership of up to 58,000, the ST3 plan promised up to 37,000 in 2042 for this segment. The West Seattle Link Extension Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) reduced ridership estimates further to 27,000 (Sound Transit has not adjusted their estimates since the pandemic) which is close to the current bus ridership between West Seattle and downtown. Why not any higher? West Seattle does not have the density. The DEIS explains that most riders will arrive via bus. Link ridership will mostly be driven by the connecting buses.
As cost estimates for this extension have doubled to about $4 billion, what if some of those funds could be used to improve bus service in West Seattle rather than building the light rail extension? What could this look like?
Corridors
West Seattle has 3 urban villages along SW California Ave: Alaska Junction, Morgan Junction, and Admiral Junction. The rest of West Seattle does have some urban pockets, but those are spread out and separated by green belts which make West Seattle beautiful but challenging to serve by transit. There are four major north/south corridors: California/Fauntleroy Ave SW (including ferry terminal), 35th Ave SW, Delridge Way SW, and 16th Ave SW (including South Seattle College). There are 4 major west/east corridors: Alki/Harbor Ave and SW Admiral Way in the north, Sylvan Way SW in the center, and SW Barton/Roxbury St (incl. Westwood Village) in the south.
Most are connected by the Westwood Village transit center (TC) in the south and Alaska Junction TC in the center/west. Many routes converge in the north along Avalon and under the WS Bridge. The 50 connects western routes with the Delridge Way corridor via SW Genesee St.
RoutesYou may want to launch the map full screen and view routes by selecting the little rectangle in the corner. Ross and I came up with the following routes for the various corridors (main corridors first and then minor ones north to south):
California/Fauntleroy Ave are already well served by RapidRide C and so is Delridge Way by RapidRide H, both going downtown.
35th Ave is served by the 21. I propose upgrading it to 10-minute RapidRide level and following a faster path to downtown. It could alternate with the C for 5-minute service along Avalon Way.
16th Ave SW and South Seattle College: The South Seattle College on 16th Ave SW is currently served by the 125 and the 128 but both are infrequent lines (20 minutes at best). We propose to increase the 125 service to 15 minutes to improve transit for the college both towards downtown and to allow transfers at Westwood Village TC (such as to Georgetown where the South Seattle College has a second campus). The college would also get alternate service by the 35 and 126 which would negate the need for a detour by the 128 (more later).
Alki/Harbor Ave is only served every 30 minutes by the water taxi and the inconsistent and infrequent 773/775 shuttles even though more apartments keep getting built. In the summer traffic often collapses. While providing a beautiful quick ride to the Seattle waterfront, the water taxi is one of the most expensive transit modes per rider. We may want to consider it more a tourism service (similar to the waterfront bus) and focus on peak service. By adding more frequent bus service, Alki could be far better connected inside West Seattle and beyond. Before the pandemic the 37 provided service from Alaska Junction TC along Beach Drive, Alki Beach towards downtown. We propose to restore that service during peak. Throughout the day a new half-an-hour line (39) would follow the southern path from Alaska & 35th SW (the terminus of the 37) along Beach Drive but end at Alki where it could connect to other lines along Admiral Way in various directions. Another new line (35) would go every 20 minutes from Alki along the beach, past Seacrest Park, allow transfers on Avalon to the C and 21 (for service to downtown or further south every five minutes), and then follow Genesee to the College.
SW Admiral Way: The 56, also paused during the pandemic, would be reestablished to connect Alki and Admiral Junction along SW Admiral Way towards downtown every 15 minutes during the day. In SODO it would follow the current 21 route along 1st Ave to connect to Starbucks HQ and other businesses there. The 57 would be reestablished to provide peak service from Alaska Junction, serving the Genesee neighborhood and then alternating with the 56 along Admiral Way. The 22 should be extended north along the same route and continue all the way to Seacrest Park to connect the various northern lines along Admiral and Alki. The combination of the 22 and 35 replace the 773 and 775.
North California Ave: While the 128 would continue to run every 20 minutes, a new route (the 126) would alternate with it, providing 10-minute frequency much of the way. The 126 would run between South Seattle College and Alki Point. Instead of starting at Alki, the 50 would start at Alaska Junction TC (more about the 50 later).
The south of West Seattle would largely be the same. It already ha s a great west/east corridor along SW Barton/Roxbury St centered by the Westwood Village TC which ties all the major lines and connects them with the H serving Burien, high frequency 60 towards Georgetown and Beacon Hill and the 560 towards Sea-Tac airport, Renton and Bellevue.
Connecting Downtown SeattleIn 2012 Metro had considered a new off- and on-ramp to connect the SODO busway with the Spokane St Viaduct. Instead they routed the C onto Highway 99 to enter downtown along a bus lane on Columbia St. While that was a cheaper option, buses have to share the ramps and highway and can get blocked by car traffic and buses skip the SODO and CID neighborhoods including useful light rail connections.
If light rail would not get extended to West Seattle, there would be no need to build a second set of tracks along the busway (or even second downtown tunnel) and instead the busway could continue to be used by buses from the south and extended to be used by buses from West Seattle. That would require a new on/off-ramp from the busway onto the Spokane St Viaduct. While not cheap, it would still be a fraction from the light rail budget.
The C, H, 21, 125 as well as the (peak-only) 37 and 57 would use the SODO busway. Such an addition would not only provide a dedicated transit route but make transfers much easier from those buses to Link (e. g. UW but in particular Rainier Valley or Sea-Tac airport ). The all-day 56 would backfill service for the 21 and run on First Ave to serve the SODO neighborhood (Starbucks etc.) along the way.
The 50 would not have to serve the SODO Station anymore but could just get on the West Seattle bridge and follow the Spokane St Viaduct. As Alki/Admiral service would increase, it could just start at the West Seattle Junction TC.
I would still recommend adding overpasses at Lander St and Holgate St to allow for higher bus and light rail frequency.
Housing GrowthAdding more bus services will provide high frequency services to urban centers such as Admiral Junction and accelerate further growth there. It will also enable several other stations to qualify as a high-frequency service stop which would allow high density housing to be built nearby.
ConclusionWhile Metro promises to truncate the C and H lines at light rail stations and redirect bus hours to a certain extent to other parts of West Seattle, they do not plan to do so until the West Seattle Link extension is continued through downtown (currently anticipated by 2037). Our proposal however could be planned and put in place now. It would provide three main corridors (California/Fauntleroy, 35th Ave, Delridge) with ten-minute service. Several minor corridors (16th Ave, Admiral Ave, Alki Beach) would have at least 15-minute service. I believe higher and faster service and better coverage would bring more ridership than adding three light rail stations in West Seattle. Such additions could help the region's carbon reduction goals by reducing VMT (vehicle miles travelled) sooner and potentially more than adding three light rail stations. It would certainly avoid the associated destruction and carbon generation (the DEIS estimates construction will generate 614,000 tons of carbon - more than what 10,000 regular cars generate in a decade).