Midweek Roundup: like it’s 1999

Reminder: From 10pm on Friday, Jan. 23, through Saturday, Jan. 24, the DSTT will be closed between Capitol Hill and SODO stations for signal upgrades. Shuttle buses will run every 10-15 minutes. Normal service will resume on Sunday, Jan 25, to serve the NFC Championship game. The Los Angeles Rams will play the Seahawks at Lumen Field at 3:30pm. Edit: the original closure was scheduled for the full weekend, but has been shortened to avoid impacting service for the major sports event.

Local Transit News:

• Sound Transit is accepting applications for volunteers from the Snohomish, North King, East King, or South King subareas for its Community Oversight Panel (Sound Transit)
• Metro studying transit improvements on Route 60 (Metro Matters)
• The First Hill Streetcar - weird, hard-working, and a little lonely - turns 10 (Capitol Hill Seattle)
• Kitsap Transit riders can now sign up for automated rider alerts (Kitsap Transit News)
• WA bill would clarify line between e-bikes and e-motos, task state staff with developing enforcement guidelines (Seattle Bike Blog)
• E-Bike Boosters Ask: Is It All Downhill From Here? (Bloomberg CityLab)
• Pierce County's Tight Budget Forces Tough Choices (The Urbanist) with potential impacts to transit service
• Seattle's new Waterfront bike lanes topped a list of best new bike lanes opened nationwide last year (People For Bikes)
• Op-Ed: Light Rail Could Transform Bellevue's Eastgate into Urban Oasis (The Urbanist)
• Uber Profits At Our Expense (The Overhead Wire)
• Seattle Is Building Light Rail Like It's 1999 (Bloomberg CityLab)

Land Use & Housing:

• Seattle Now & Then: Hooverville, 1933 (Seattle Now & Then)
• Katie Wilson Looks to Beef Up Seattle's Housing Growth Plans (The Urbanist)
• Washington House Approves Neighborhood Cafe Bill in Early Floor Vote (The Urbanist)
• Quiz: Can you navigate affordable housing issues in Seattle? (The Seattle Times, $)

Commentary & Miscellaneous:

• Rare train tragedy: Two high-speed trains collide in Spain, 21 killed (Reuters)
• The United States needs fewer bus stops (Works In Progress)
• Analysis: What It Would Take To Put America First in Transit Again (Streetsblog USA)
• Jake Berman joined the Talking Headways podcast to talk about The Lost Subways of North America, his latest book (Talking Headways)
• PacSci is taking down its North Gates, reopening the outdoor science pavilion to the general public (Pacific Science Center)

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