Midweek Roundup: controversial amendments

Local Transit News:

• Construction of RapidRide I is set to begin this fall (Metro Matters).
• After ventilation issues shut down light rail multiple times ($) over the past week, Sound Transit wants to increase planned maintenance to reduce unplanned closures (The Seattle Times, $)
• WSDOT announced another batch of major freeway closures starting this weekend (WSDOT Blog), so buses and trains may be extra busy.
• Metro Flex expanded to Overlake last week (Metro Matters).
• A previously-underused pedestrian bridge between Buckley and Enumclaw is very popular while the White River Bridge is being repaired (The Seattle Times, $)

Other Transportation:

• LA Metro extended the longest light rail line in the world with four new suburban stations on Friday (KTLA News)
• Buses would be much cheaper if they weren't custom for every agency and could be built with non-American parts (Brookings)
• Transportation funding is at the heart of Congress' latest budget impasse potentially resulting in another shutdown of the government (Transport Topics)
• Many cities are looking to heavy-duty ebikes for urban deliveries, but advocates disagree on whether they belong in bike lanes or car lanes (Curbed, $).
• Self-driving cars are going to make traffic much, much worse (Vox, $)
• How More Rail Could Take Trucks Off the Road (The New York Times, gift link)

Land Use & Housing:

• Seattle City Council approved and rejected many controversial amendments to the city's comprehensive plan update over the last week. Headlines: Council votes to keep ignoring Seattle's housing crisis (Seattle Bike Blog); Seattle Council Punts on Housing Expansion, Tightens Tree Preservation Rules (The Urbanist); City's Growth Plan Update Maintains Seattle's Suburban Character, Including Mandatory Parking (PubliCola); Seattle growth plan lacks creativity, coherence. Here's how to repair it (The Seattle Times, $); Seattle City Council signs off on new growth plan, zoning changes (The Seattle Times, $)
• Amenia, New York, a quiet farming and second-home community" is Close to the City, but Remote Enough at the end of the Metro-North commuter rail line (The New York Times, gift link)

Commentary & Miscellaneous:

• Alon Levy discusses the difficulties of estimating future transit ridership from new TOD around existing lines (Pedestrian Observations)
• Jarrett Walker asks: Should We Let Public Transit Die?" (Bloomberg CityLab). A good line: If you drive to the mall, bus riders subsidize you"
• The Seattle Times published a Letter to the Editor calling for Sound Transit to Listen to the people of West Seattle" (The Seattle Times, $)
• California aligned its carbon credit market with Washington's to make it easier for companies to companies to participate (The Seattle Times, $)

This is an Open Thread.