Midweek Roundup: Ups and Downs

Countdown: 52 daysuntil theDowntown Redmond Link Extension opens (May 10).

A Route 2 trolleybus turns onto Queen Anne Ave N from Roy Street in April 1977. Photo by Mitchell Libby, courtesy of the STB Flickr pool. Here's the same corner in 2024. The gas station became Counterbalance Park in 2008.Local Transit & Streets:

• Fremont Bridge drawspan operator Jared Hickman says the job has its ups and downs" (The Seattle Times, $)
• The Seattle Times ($) discusses ST's confidential pick for its next CEO, and provides examples of other recent agency leadership hires conducted in secret. STB coverage here. Word on the street is Candidate C" actually is Dow Constantine (Seattle Nice).
• Nearly 75% of King County Metro buses have ORCA readers on all doors, but all-door boarding is still limited to RapidRide routes and routes serving 3rd Avenue (The Urbanist). All-door boarding was supposed go systemwide last year, but is delayed.
• Early data shows Seattle halved pedestrian deaths and had zero bicycling deaths in 2024 (Seattle Bike Blog)
• HB 1837, which sets ambitious" goals in WSDOT's service plan for the Amtrack Cascades route, passed out of State House and is now under consideration by the Senate (The Urbanist).
• Seattle-area transit ridership keeps climbing, especially in Everett (The Seattle Times, $)
• As expected, Sound Transit has chosen the shifted-center-platform concept for the future Graham Street Station (The Urbanist)
• More mechanical issues hit the Link 1 Line on Monday (The Seattle Times, $)

Land Use & Housing:

• Since adoption of Seattle's updated Comprehensive Plan is delayed by NIMBY appeals, the City is considering stopgap" legislation to legalize increased density in single-family zones as required by state law (The Urbanist)
• Washington House Approves HB1217, which would cap annual rent increases at 7% in buildings more than 12 years old, and provide other renter protections statewide (The Urbanist). The bill goes to the Senate, now.
• Seattle housing, homelessness crisis would grow if Trump cuts HUD (Cascade PBS)

Commentary & Miscellaneous:

• Anna Zivarts, mobility advocate, says to end car dependency, we must change who has a seat at the table (PubliCola)
• Op-Ed: Anti-Speeding Technology Could Have Saved My Son (Streetsblog USA)
• Katie Wilson, General Secretary of the Transit Riders Union, is running for Mayor of Seattle (The Urbanist). Also on The Urbanist: Sara Nelson challenger Dionne Foster shares a vision for a denser, more affordable Seattle.
• It turns out that that when making it harder to drive makes it easier to walk, roll, or take transit, people actually switch from driving (Wired)
• Climate change is resulting in more extreme weather events, which is impacting transit ridership across the country (Streetsblog USA)
• How Lewis Mumford became the Dark Prophet of Car-Clogged Cities (Bloomberg CityLab)
• New research shows that urban highways have weakened social ties in all of America's 50 largest cities (Next City, $)
• What Will Safe Streets and Road For All' Mean Under Sec. Duffy? (Streetsblog USA)
• A profile of Hunter George, Fircrest City Councilmember and newest member of Sound Transit's Board of Directors (The Urbanist)

Events:Sound Transit is hosting anotherSouth Downtown HubOpen House onApril 2 from 5-7pmatUnion Station.

Light Rail Disruptions:Sound Transit wants your input on recent disruptions to Link 1 Line service. Looking ahead, 1 Line trains will arrive every 12 minutes after 5:30pm from March 24 to April 13 due to work at Pinehurst Station. From April 14 to April 23, 1 Line service in Downtown Seattle will be severely disrupted to replace worn rail in the DSTT. Afterwards, service after 5:30pm will be to 12-minute headways again from April 28 to May 30, except during Memorial Day Weekend. More details to come.

This is an Open Thread.