Midweek Roundup: “Tactical Urbanism”
by Nathan Dickey from Seattle Transit Blog on (#7145X)
2025 General Election: - Ballots are due Tuesday, Nov. 4, by 8pm. Use a ballot drop box to ensure your vote is counted! Check your County's voting guide to find a box near you.
- We posted our endorsements last week. For further reading, there's been lots of excellent coverage of candidates and recent events affecting regional politics by local news outlets including KUOW, the Northwest Progressive Institute, PubliCola, Real Change News, The Seattle Times ($), the South Seattle Emerald, The Stranger, and The Urbanist.
- Jack Millman is Metro's Operator of the Year (Metro Matters). Millman joined Metro in 1999 and has received more than 200 official commendations from riders.
- ST CEO Dow Constantine revealed the agency is taking a serious look at improving the original DSTT instead of building DSTT2, and discussed potential complications (The Urbanist)
- The Harrison/Mercer busway project is moving through planning and design despite no clear plans for what bus routes will use it (The Urbanist)
- SDOT Plans Tactical Urbanism' on Occidental Avenue ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup (The Urbanist). Is it really tactical urbanism if it's done by SDOT itself?
- King County Metro celebrates being a national leader in annual ridership growth (Metro Matters).
- Sound Transit has begun simulated service" on the Federal Way Link Extension ahead of its open day on December 6, just over five weeks away (The Platform).
- Ryan Packer reported via BlueSky that cross-lake systems integration testing for the 2 Line, including test train runs across floating bridge, is happening every day from 8pm to 7am. Opening day of the cross-lake connection is still uncertain but aiming for early next year.
- In 2019, King County set a goal to build over 175k new affordable homes by 2044, but would need to increase funding more than 10x to achieve it (The Seattle Times, $). The county would need about $80 billion to meet its affordable housing goals by 2044 - and a source for $73 billion of that hasn't been identified yet."
- A 92-unit affordable housing project planned for a property close to Bainbridge Island's ferry terminal is delayed (again) due to an environmental impact appeal (The Urbanist)
- When state DOTs are able to retain high-quality engineers, they can reduce roadway project costs nearly 14% (CityLab)
- A dive into the various costs of making NYC buses free but not fast, fast but not free, or fast and free (The New York Times, gift link)
- In California, NIMBYs are fighting transit improvements to prevent automatic upzones triggered by state law (Cal Matters)
This is an Open Thread. Is there a bottleneck on your bus ride? Is your local stop a step too far? Let us know! Our inbox is open to reader proposals for spot improvements and other opportunities for advocacy.