Midweek Roundup: Donald Shoup (1938-2025)

The Father of Parking Reform

UCLA Professor Donald Shoup (1938-2025), author of The High Cost of Free Parking, Parking and the City, and numerous articles, passed on Friday, February 7, at the age of 86. Donald Shoup was widely considered the the father of parking reform" (Bloomberg CityLab). StreetsblogNYC gathered tributes to the man known affectionately by his graduate students as Shoup Dogg", a moniker he used for personal website. His work lives on in the Parking Reform Network. Hear Donald Shoup speak in a 2023 episode of The War on Cars podcast.

Special Election Results:

The most widely covered vote in Seattle, regarding how to fund Seattle's Social Housing Developer (Prop 1A vs Prop 1B), is leaning toward Prop 1A, which would impose a new payroll tax on earners of $1 million or more annually. As of Tuesday night, King County had received just over 133,000 ballots, and counted just over 95,000 (71%). The campaigns reflected the classic business-versus-people polarity: the Prop 1A campaign was largely funded by small donations from Seattle residents (Real Change), while Prop 1B donations mostly came from large donors outside the city (The Stranger). Further, the Prop 1A campaign obtained emails revealing last-minute lobbying efforts to punt the proposition off the November ballot (PubliCola). Additional coverage by The Urbanist.

Local Transit & Streets:

• State Lawmakers Chart Path to Double Amtrak Cascades Service (The Urbanist).
• Trump administration orders states to halt EV charging programs (The Seattle Times, $).
• Link light rail struck a pedestrian in wheelchair between Othello and Columbia City stations last Thursday (The Seattle Times, $). While ST focuses on installing automatic gates to try to prevent pedestrian injuries, another car crashed into a Link train north of Othello Station yesterday morning (photo via BlueSky). Coverage by the Seattle Times ($).
• Bainbridge Island State Rep Greg Nance's HB 1923 would create a new state account to fund local foot ferry service ahead of 2026 FIFA World Cup (The Urbanist).
• The Seattle Transportation Levy Oversight Committee is seeking applicants (SDOT Blog)
• Free parking in Bellevue may be ending (The Seattle Times, $).
• The Seattle Times' PNW Magazine featured two excerpts from Tom Fucoloro's book Biking Uphill in the Rain (Seattle Bike Blog): Seattle's decision to become friendlier to bikes ($), and the history of the Burke-Gilman Trail ($).

Other Transit:

• A million cars have disappeared: What NYC is like after one month of congestion pricing (Fast Company).
• Who is Trump's FTA Pick Marc Molinaro - And Will He Kill Congestion Pricing? (StreetsBlog USA).
• How Transit Agencies Are Tackling America's Public Bathroom Crisis (StreetsBlog USA).
• Have you noticed weird train-like machines on Link tracks? Those might be rail grinding and milling machines (Railway Track & Structures Magazine).

Land Use & Housing:

• Housing Advocates Outnumber One Seattle' Opponents, Moore and Rivera Back Opponents (The Urbanist). Also covered by KUOW.
• Parking Reform Gains Momentum at Washington Legislature (The Urbanist).
• Land use advocacy nonprofit Futurewise is appealing Mercer Island's Comprehensive Plan update, arguing it doesn't comply with state law requiring allowance of certain kinds of housing (The Urbanist).

Commentary:

• Tacoma Dome Link EIS: Why the No Build Option is Best, and Other Findings (Transportation Matters).
• Jon Talton thinks Downtown Seattle is on the mend but with much more work to be done (The Seattle Times, $)
• John Burbank, founder of the Economic Opportunity Institute, says Former Governor Inslee's proposed wealth tax would be a critical investment in Washington's future (The Urbanist; Op-Ed).
• Bill Fulton says the 15-minute city is great for those who can afford it, and they're unaffordable because we don't build enough of them (The Future of Where)

This is an Open Thread.