Midweek Roundup: gas prices surge

Reminders & Updates:

• Simulated Service of the 2 Line west of Lake Washington has resumed. Northerners rejoice. The Crosslake Connection of the 2 Line opens on March 28.
• Downtown Transit Tunnel Closure Mar. 21-22: Link service between Capitol Hill to Stadium will be replaced by shuttle buses next weekend for scheduled maintenance.

Local News:

• No transit measure for King County in 2026, but the Council will likely implement a 0.1% sales tax hike for roadway maintenance, which currently has no funding (The Urbanist).
• A state bill directly authorizing 75-year bonds is dead, but an amendment to the state's transportation funding policies might give Sound Transit the authority it's hoping for (The Urbanist).
• Bellevue wants to know if residents agree with dropping speed limits 5 mph on most city streets (Seattle Bike Blog).
• Sound Transit should leverage the vast popularity of light rail expansion to get laws and policies changed before cutting ST3 projects (Op-Ed; The Urbanist).
• King County Metro recorded over 334,000 boardings on Feb. 11, the Seahawks Victory Parade day (Metro Matters). Metro reports last February's average weekday served about 265,000 boardings.
• SDOT is once again accepting applications to volunteer on the various advisory boards (SDOT Blog)
• Seattle Mayor Wilson has proposed legislation to speed up construction of tiny house villages, an early step toward delivering on a campaign promise for 1,000 new shelters in 2026 (The Seattle Times, $). Erica C. Barnett reflects on the consequences of abandoning Housing First" (PubliCola).

Other News and Commentary:

• New trolleybuses are arriving in Vancouver, BC (Urban Transport Magazine).
• Why has the USA mostly built light rail while China builds subways? (Reece Martin)
• Global transit advocacy group explores how cables cars and gondolas have been implemented in France (UIPT News).
• A former deputy commissioner at the NYC Dept. of Homeless Services argues that a mix of permanent supportive housing and rental assistance is the only real solution (New York Times, gift link)
• The trouble with QUIMBY(Quality Urbanism In My Backyard") and a defense of QUIMBY (Planetizen)
• Gas prices surge as the USA goes to war in the Middle East, again, interrupting the global supply of petroleum (The Seattle Times, $). Continued transition to electric transit is good, but Washington needs a statewide electricity transmission authority to build necessary infrastructure (editorial, Seattle Times, $).
• A federal judge ruling last week preserves NYC's congestion pricing against Federal meddling; experts say remaining lawsuits against the tolls are likely to fail (The New York Times, gift link)
• The death of the 5-day office commute means BART needs new revenue beyond its foundational commuter-oriented fares, or else it faces total collapse (The New York Times, gift link).

This is an Open Thread. Comments may relate to any transit or land use oriented topic. Uncivil comments will be moderated.