Midweek Roundup: ST Merch
by Nathan Dickey from Seattle Transit Blog on (#6WNF7)
24 daysuntil theDowntown Redmond Link Extension opens on May 10. Sound Transit recently announced opening day details.
Local Transit News:- Surveys! WSDOT is asking for input on revising the state rail plan by June 24. This affects Cascades, Amtrak national lines, freight, and indirectly Sounder. There will be a passenger rail webinar May 22.
- Sound Transit is gathering input for its 2026 operation plan through April 2021. This will determine the ST Express bus restructures for East Link and Federal Way Link, and any changes to other ST Express routes and Sounder services. The phase 1 questions are minimal, but you can put anything you want in the text box.
- SDOT wants to increase Seattle Streetcar fares to $3, matching transit fares across the region (The Urbanist)
- Issaquah has officially adopted a vision for planning of the future terminal station of ST3's Link 4 Line (The Urbanist)
- A Cascade Bicycle Club video tours a rebuilt section of Eastlake Avenue E around the new Eastlake bus layover facility (Seattle Bike Blog)
- The state legislature is considering giving Sound Transit the ability to issue 75-year bonds to stretch the blown budget of ST3 (The Seattle Times, $)
- All Amtrak Cascades trains are back in service but with reduced seating capacity as of last Monday (Everett Herald).
- Ferries! King County Water Taxi fuel tanks are switching to renewable" biodiesel (Metro Matter). Meanwhile, Germany just named its first battery-electric seagoing ferry (MarineLog). Kitsap Transit is currently designing a custom battery-electric hydrofoil ferry.
- Sound Transit's merch store opens today (Instagram)
- Seattle's Infamous Redline" takes you on a walking tour of historic structural segregation in Seattle (The Seattle Times, $)
- Bellevue's Bold Middle Housing Plan Faces Uncertain Fate at Planning Commission (The Urbanist)
- Thanks to a 2022 state law protecting comprehensive plans from most appeals under SEPA, all six appeals against Seattle's proposed comprehensive plan have been dismissed (The Urbanist).
- Ryan Packer and Doug Trumm are tracking five questions as Dow Constatine takes the reins at Sound Transit (The Urbanist)
- BRT as a planning concept may be doing more harm than good in North America; buses don't need heavy rail-like infrastructure to be good (Marco Chitti's substack). Yes, this includes RapidRide.
- Clark County is rallying to keep light rail on a planned replacement bridge for I-5 over the Columbia (The Urbanist)
This is an Open Thread.