Seattle Transit Blog

Some highlights from June that we never mentioned here: As you probably noticed, Link frequency is back to its long-term level, though headways through the Rainier Valley may never return to 6 minutes Lizz asks if transit ridership will come back Pierce gets a state grant for on-demand service to the tideflats and Port of … Continue reading "News roundup: June highlights"

Many of us have tried to forget the historic heat of Late June. Sadly, even Link trains had to reduce speeds. Areas south of the DSTT ran as slow as 20mph and caused delays of 3-10 minutes. This surprised me: elsewhere, Light Rail often operates in temperatures well in excess of Late June’s. ST’s John … Continue reading "About that heat dome"

Important new report from the Disability Mobility Initiative (see video above) Lots of Metro bus service coming back in the fall service change Oct 2 The ST board has delayed CEO Peter Rogoff’s contract renewal, possibly due to job performance questions A vision for what a neighborhood around NE 130th St station could look like … Continue reading "News Roundup: coming back"

As you may have noticed, August was extra quiet here at STB. This is the result of combination of factors hitting all at once, including some of our contributors moving on to other priorities. But September is here, Northgate Link is less than 30 days away, and we’re back, or at least we aim to … Continue reading "Know any good writers?"

As part of an overall improvement in ST Express service Sound Transit is planning to roll out in 2022, Sound Transit is expanding all-day service from Seattle to Tacoma, improving midday and weekend headways from 30 minutes to 15 minutes. But there are also plans to make changes to peak-only route 592, which runs from … Continue reading "Sound Transit could make Lakewood to Seattle bus service faster instead of slower"

Just a week after concluding realignment on a largely positive note, Sound Transit today is again tempted to water down station access for relatively little cost savings. At today’s System Expansion Committee meeting, they revealed that they are considering two changes to Stride stations (one at Tukwila Intl. Blvd. Station, and one at the Brickyard … Continue reading "Sound Transit is considering sacrificing station access to reduce Stride costs"

Via to Transit, which debuted in 2019 as an on-demand Link shuttle to better connect to Link areas where bus service is limited or not available, is getting a major expansion on Tuesday, August 10th, 2021. From 2020 to now, Via to Transit only had three service areas, one for Othello, Rainier Beach, and Tukwila … Continue reading "Via to Transit is expanding"

Sound Transit finalized and voted to move forward with the realignment of the Sound Transit 3 program on Thursday. This day marks the end of an almost year-and-a-half long process of planning just how to delay projects so that the program remains affordable, and projects can be delivered. Starting in early 2020 with dire projected … Continue reading "Sound Transit wraps up realignment"

With the October 2021 Northgate shakeup of transit service still ahead, agencies are already looking at what changes will be made to service in spring and fall of 2022. King County Metro and Sound Transit both have service increase proposals for 2022, and both take decidedly different approaches. King County Metro – Restoring old service … Continue reading "Metro and Sound Transit propose service increases in 2022"

The last time Metro has ran a “normal” level of service was March 22, 2020. Beginning March 23rd, King County Metro started operating reduced levels of service (not to be confused with reduced capacity, which Metro recently ended). These initial reductions, made with little process and planning, were adjusted over the next several months to … Continue reading "Most fully-suspended routes to come back in October"

Our August 2021 Primary endorsements are finally ready! Just in time, with ballots dropping today. We tried to gather as much information as we could by hosting forums (Position 9 & Mayoral), sending out questionnaires (City & County), and keeping in mind track records and our prior meetings with candidates during our constant advocacy work. … Continue reading "Seattle Subway August 2021 Primary Endorsements"

Sound Transit announced that the long awaited upgrade to ORCA, the Puget Sound’s regional fare collection system, will launch in phases beginning in early 2022.

Sound Transit launched a colorful and playful new website introducing the Northgate Link extension in advance of its October 2 opening. Featured are “local gems” or unique activities that each of the three new stations offer. No details of the festivities on Opening Day are available, yet, but there’s no doubt that transit fans from … Continue reading "Weekend open thread: Welcome Northgate, Roosevelt and U District"

YouTube Live available above. Also streaming on Seattle Subway’s profiles on:Twitter at: https://twitter.com/SeattleSubway/Facebook at: https://facebook.com/SeattleSubway/ REGISTER TO ATTEND via Zoom TONIGHT: bit.ly/SeaSubCouncil Starts between 7pm and 7:15pm due to the candidates having an earlier commitment. With ST3 realignment looming, BRT and Center City Connector projects at stake, and an entire post-pandemic transit recovery to manage, NEW Seattle leadership … Continue reading "YOUTUBE LIVE FEED 7pm: Seattle Subway / STB Citywide City Council Position 9 Forum"

FORUM TONIGHT! REGISTER NOW TO ATTEND VIA ZOOM With ST3 realignment looming, BRT and Center City Connector projects at stake, and an entire post-pandemic transit recovery to manage, NEW Seattle leadership from upcoming 2021 Mayoral and City Council elections MUST deliver on critical transit investments for us to reach our 2030 climate change benchmarks, escape traffic … Continue reading "Position 9 City Council Forum Tonight"

Sound Transit 3 is not going to match the stellar project delivery record of Sound Transit 2 barring a bailout from another government or the economy. In attempt to understand the cost estimation failures that got us to this point, on June 24th ST accepted the report of consultants asked to investigate why (report, slides, … Continue reading "Sound Transit seeks to understand cost failures"

On June 24th, ST Board Chair Kent Keel presented a proposed “realignment” plan that pushes back projects to account for dramatically inflated cost estimates (video, materials). This is a “starting point”, in his words, but we are past the point of staff-driven alternatives and indecisive argument about principles and priorities. Virtually all projects have suffered … Continue reading "Realignment grinds towards a conclusion"

Light rail tracks now snake north along I-5, more than a year and a half after Sound Transit broke ground on the Lynnwood Link Extension. Stations take shape as crews place girders for light rail’s long-awaited descent into Snohomish County. In late May, crews installed the last of the 188 columns that line the 8.5-mile … Continue reading "Light rail cascades into Snohomish County"

Last night’s Seattle Subway/STB mayoral forum was narrowly focused on transit and land use issues. The moderator, Publicola‘s Erica C. Barnett, did a tremendous job keeping things on time and on track. As with most forums of this nature, the fundamental tension was between questions trying to elicit an interesting response and candidates trying not … Continue reading "Few issues separate candidates in forum"

By SEATTLE SUBWAY YouTube Live available above. Also streaming on Seattle Subway’s profiles on:Twitter at: https://twitter.com/SeattleSubway/Facebook at: https://facebook.com/SeattleSubway/ REGISTER TO ATTEND via Zoom at 7pm TONIGHT on Zoom: bit.ly/SeaSubMayoral With ST3 realignment looming, BRT and Center City Connector projects at stake, and an entire post-pandemic transit recovery to manage, NEW Seattle leadership from upcoming 2021 Mayoral election … Continue reading "YouTube LIVE FEED: STB’s & Seattle Subway’s Mayoral Forum"

We’re proud to co-sponsor a mayoral forum with a focus on transit and land use issues with Seattle Subway, tonight at 7pm. The seven candidates are Andrew Grant Houston, Jessyn Farrell, Lorena González, Lance Randall, Colleen Echohawk, Casey Sixkiller, and Bruce Harrell. It will stream online on Facebook (Seattle Subway page), Twitter (@SeattleSubway), and here … Continue reading "Watch the Seattle Subway/STB mayoral forum tonight"

Tacoma Link light rail is expanding to the Stadium district and Hilltop. While the new stations don’t open until next year, work is well underway expanding what is now a 1.5-mile line connecting the Tacoma Dome to downtown. To support this expanded future service, Tacoma Link will be closed from June 21 to 29 to … Continue reading "Tacoma Link to be closed for 9 days starting June 21"

Sound Transit: Good news, Link riders: light rail frequency will increase starting June 12. Link will run every eight minutes during peak hours and every 10 minutes during midday and weekends to help passengers get where they want to go – and return to their normal routines. During late evenings, Link will run every 15 minutes. … Continue reading "Link frequencies will increase on June 12"

Erica C. Barnett will be moderating a MASS Coalition & allies sponsored online events for both the Mayor’s race and city council position 9. Mayor – Wednesday June 16 @ 5:30pm(Facebook, Google Calendar) Council District 9 – Tuesday June 22 @ 5pm(Facebook, Google Calendar) Open to all via Zoom.

Photos of OMF-E Seattle the fastest growing large city ($) in 2020, maybe not dead yet Farewell to the 47? not so fast A pickpocket lurking on Metro U-Pass could return this fall Jefferson Transit considers new route to Kingston Ferry Checking in on Steven Brown ($), engineer on the fateful Amtrak crash Kevin Desmond … Continue reading "News roundup: checking in"

One feature of some of King County Metro’s paper schedules is the inclusion of connections to downtown Seattle as part of the timetable. It is also available on the PDF versions of the schedules, which is the same as the paper ones. This is done on certain routes where a transfer to downtown Seattle is … Continue reading "Improving Metro bus schedules with Link connections"

What’s the least amount of time needed to ride every mode of transit in Seattle? Dave at City Beautiful makes an attempt at a speedrun.

The deadline for candidates to withdraw their filings for the races for mayor, city attorney, and city council positions 8 and 9 passed Monday. For those who have been wishing to have a simple list of links to the candidates’ position pages, here ya go: Mayor Clinton Bliss Henry Clay Dennison (no website found) James … Continue reading "Seattle 2021 candidates and their position webpages"

East Link Operations and Maintenance Facility (OMF) now complete Streetside cafes may become permanent Upzone Roosevelt again Sound Transit files appeal against new Lake Forest Park rules that would make the BRT parking garage more expensive Checking on Trailhead Direct Lizz checks in on Graham St. City of Bellevue chooses to fund lawsuit on behalf … Continue reading "News roundup: coming back"

Starting June 1st, the first youth ORCA a child gets is free with proof of age. Subsequent cards (to replace ones lost or stolen) still cost $5. This now matches the policy for the Regional Reduced Fare Permit. Youth cards are available at customer service offices, or more conveniently via mail. This continues the gradual … Continue reading "First youth ORCA now free"