Seattle Transit Blog

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"