News Roundup: Merry Christmas

• How federal law makes trains too expensive.
• High altitudes may get snow over the holiday. Check Metro route status here.
• ST approves $1.2 billion 2016 budget; biggest items are North Link ($165m) and East Link ($203m) construction.
• New ST Board chairs same as the old chairs: Dow Constantine in charge, Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland and Everett Councilmember Paul Roberts as vice-chairs.
• Tacoma Link wins $75m Small Starts grant for 2.4 mile extension to Hilltop. Tacoma needs $7m more to complete the funding picture.
• No one could have predicted: growth in the housing supply has caused rent growth to stall ($). And for all the weaknesses of our attitude to growth, we're doing much better than some other prosperous cities.
• Josh Feit says the ST3 plan looks to have a lot of parking; ST clarifies a bit.
• BNSF starting to sue people responsible for new development that threatens mudslides along the North Sounder line. Good for them.
• Private transit routes launching in Seattle, apparently point-to-point peak trips between high-demand neighborhoods.
• Pierce Transit still five years away from returning to 2008 service levels.
• Seattle DPD adopts U District Comprehensive Plan changes.
• The first 30 minutes of this The Weeds podcast provides some clear thinking about gentrification. Skip up to 29:00 for a succinct summary of the key point.
• SDOT tightens up rules about pedestrian closures.
• Houghton Community Council opposes BRT on Cross Kirkland Corridor, prefers it on I-405.
• Angle Lake Station $40m under budget.
• Community Transit offers a rebate on ORCA Passport passes for business.
• More Metro stop announcements on the way.
• Does a crackdown on fare evasion actually pay?

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