News Roundup: Impacts

The best place for light rail? Federal Way thinks so.

• Federal Way didn't take the advice of yours truly, recommending an I-5 alignment for Link instead of SR 99. Apparently avoiding nebulous 'impacts' is worth serving fewer people, with harder to access stations, in halved or nonexistent walksheds, in perpetuity. We need to figure out a way to organize for better outcomes in the suburban subareas. (Federal Way Mirror)
• Bedroom counties: Only 7% of King County residents commute outside the county, compared to 40% for Snohomish County and 29% for Pierce. (The Urbanist)
• Our hot housing market: the average Seattle home sells within just 9 days. (Curbed)
• New ferry: WSDOT's M/V Samish is now plying the waters of the San Juans. (Seattle Times, $)
• Remember LEAP Transit, the new techie bus in San Francisco with $6 fares and $7 cold-pressed juice and luxury seats? It's been shut down, at least temporarily, for operating without the proper permits. (SFGate)
• The right tool for the job: Light rail is our best bet, says former state Representative (and Republican) Bill Finkbeiner. (Seattle Times, $)
• Reclaiming space: 5th Avenue may get a protected bike lane from Mercer to Stewart, in the westernmost lane. Cars would in turn be allowed to park in the unused space underneath the monorail supports. (Seattle Times version ($), and Seattle Bike Blog version.)

REMINDER: please join us for our meetup and happy hour on Friday at the Impact HUB from 5:30-7:30. Talk with Metro planners about the ULink Restructure, meet the STB bloggers, and have a beer or two! The ImpactHUB portion is all ages, and drinks at Good Bar afterward are 21+.

This is an open thread.