Seattle Transit Blog

For the past two weeks, the American Planning Association has been running a Transit Bracket Challenge, pitting the largest transit agencies in the U.S. against each other in a popularity contest. King County Metro has so far quashed its competition, namely San Francisco’s Muni and the Maryland Transit Administration, leaving us as the sole West … Continue reading "Metro Needs Your Help Toppling Other Metros"

By BRAD HAVERSTEIN Bellevue may have decided to make the 108th Ave NE bike lane it built last year permanent, but when it comes to expanding the city’s downtown cycling network the Bellevue Transportation Commission seems to be at odds with City Council. On May 23rd the Commission split 3-3 over whether to add bicycle … Continue reading "The Bellevue Transportation Commission is stalling on downtown bicycle lanes"

Everett starts its e-scooter pilot ($). Plans to “transform” the Mountlake Terrace station area. Seattle Children’s is hiring three transportation planning interns (1, 2, 3). Cascade hiring a Policy Manager. New Flyer buying a double-decker company. ST selling parking permits for Angle Lake starting July 1. Pierce Transit releases its 2018 annual report. The News … Continue reading "News Roundup: Hiring"

by JOSHUA NEWMAN, Candidate for Seattle City Council District 4 Once upon a time, it was easy to get around Seattle. Hop in the car and in 15 minutes, you were downtown; and outside of downtown, parking was easy. At least, that’s how many long-time residents remember Seattle. Congestion was infrequent and parking was plentiful. … Continue reading "Thinking outside the car"

If done right, congestion pricing can reduce pollution and improve mobility. by HESTER SEREBRIN, Policy Director, Transportation Choices Coalition Seattle has a traffic problem. According to the 2018 Global Traffic Scorecard, Seattle is the 6th most congested city in the country, robbing people who drive 138 hours and nearly $2,000 annually. Congestion also contributes to our … Continue reading "How Seattle can shape an equitable congestion pricing plan"

Follow up: Via (2:48) Congestion pricing report (7:56) Amtrak NTSB hearing (24:37) West Seattle – Ballard preferred alternative (32:57) OMF South (43:47) Scooters (50:03) Download link

The interior layout of a train car has a direct effect on capacity. Here is some interesting research on riders’ preferences and optimizing layouts. This is an open thread.

Mike Lindblom, The Seattle Times: More than 50 Talgo railcars that have served the Amtrak Cascades line since 1998 will be replaced “as soon as possible,” the state announced Wednesday, a day after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said the lightweight vehicles didn’t adequately shield passengers in the 2017 fatal Amtrak crash near DuPont. … Continue reading "What makes a train safe?"

[Update: corrected an error in the matrix of travel times at the end of the post, where the matrix previously miscounted the transfers in the representative project. Also updated the associated text in the paragraph just above]. Work has begun on SR 522 BRT, with the first BAT lanes in Bothell coming online in late … Continue reading "Reevaluating Woodinville BRT"

The National Transportation Safety Board held a hearing yesterday on the fatal December 2017 Amtrak derailment on the Point Defiance Bypass. The Seattle Times, Trains, and Curbed have reports. Here are a few takeaways, after watching the briefing: Responsibility for safety was diffused, but the buck stops with Sound Transit. Amtrak, the Federal Railroad Administration, Sound … Continue reading "7 Takeaways from the Point Defiance NTSB Hearing"

The Sound Transit board will likely vote on Thursday not to include a controversial Federal Way Kent site on its short list for a South Sound maintenance base. The system expansion committee voted unanimously on May 9 to remove the site, which hosts several auto-oriented retail businesses including a newly-opened Dick’s Drive-In. It was controversial not only … Continue reading "Three sites remain for a south light rail maintenance base"

On May 14, 1969, the final section of Interstate 5 opened between Everett and Marysville, forever changing life in the Puget Sound region and completing a new road link to Vancouver, British Columbia. The last of some 276 miles of concrete and asphalt that had been laid down in sections for twenty years had opened … Continue reading "Interstate 5 Turns 50 and Shows Its Age"

Longtime readers know that the Mt. Baker Station area, full of design flaws since Link opened, has long had a plan to improve vehicle flow through it. While there have been some incremental improvements in the transfer between train and bus, the “bowtie” plan might have made a bigger dent in some problematic transit vehicle […]

In March 2020, Metro will implement a restructure of service in the North Eastside. Most attention will focus on the truncation of Metro 255 to connect with Link at UW station. Another key element of the improved Metro network is route 250. This new route connects downtown Bellevue to Kirkland and runs through to Redmond. […]

In March, Transportation Choices Coalition hosted a panel discussion on the longstanding effects of Link light rail on our region. Link turns ten this July. This is an open thread.

Michael Andersen has the news: Rahmani said last week (speaking only for himself) that TriMet’s staff members are making the case for surface lots instead of multi-level garages at several stations along the new rail line through Portland, Tigard, and Tualatin, except at the end of the line near Bridgeport Mall. Their theory is that […]

After a bumpy start, the Move Seattle levy is slowly starting to spend significant funds, SDOT staff told the Council’s Sustainability and Transportation Committee on Tuesday. The meeting began with advocates from the MASS coalition giving testimony on the need for prioritizing buses in a time of climate crisis. Committee Chair Mike O’Brien agreed, noting that […]

In last week’s article on Via, I was pleasantly surprised by a projected cost per rider of $16, and early results suggesting a rate of $13. This rate is certainly not as good as the best bus routes, but competitive with some less effective ones and way better than other services like paratransit. Classifying Via […]

Via Move All Seattle Sustainably (MASS): We think the City needs to be more ambitious about prioritizing public transit on our roads. Buses carrying scores of riders shouldn’t get stuck behind a sea of single-occupancy vehicles! Last December MASS published a vision for bus priority in Seattle, including 20 stretches where we think dedicated lanes […]

As the candidate filing deadline approaches next week, the only urbanist-y candidate running for Seattle City Council District 1 (West Seattle and South Park) has withdrawn. Jesse Greene was cognizant that the housing crisis is at least partially a supply-side problem, a position that rankles neighborhood activists. He submitted his withdrawal papers last week, leaving […]

At the last Sound Transit Board meeting, on April 25, WSDOT head and Sound Transit Board member Roger Millar caught my attention when he mentioned the potential of East Tacoma or Fife stations as something other than freeway-limited park and ride stops. Millar proposed making the East Tacoma station the end of a bike trail […]

Olympia considers higher fines for HOV cheaters ($). Metro’s #MeToo reporting push results in more reports of misconduct ($). Issaquah discusses the growth plan. Heidi Groover tells you how the legislative session turned out ($) for transportation. Special Sounder Train to Everett for a Storm game. What’s going wrong with CAHSR, part 100. The State […]

Express an interest in transit at just about any cocktail party in the Rainier Valley, and you’ll hear how what Sound Transit really needs to do is provide a shuttle to get people to the stations. Inevitably, people are proposing a solution to their specific problem without much awareness of scale or efficiency. Much like […]

Nine years ago Martin looked at the general problem of I-5 buses terminating at Rainier Beach. However, removing buses from the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel provides an opportunity to review if there are cost savings or efficiency improvements by truncating routes formerly in the tunnel and forcing a transfer to Link. Truncating is a […]

Update 1: Y’all wanted to know why Sen. Saldaña proposed her amendment exempting transit from citations. The answer is at the bottom of the post. I promise you won’t have to click 10 times to get to it. Update 2: Sen. Saldaña has submitted a striker amendment, with the effects listed below. Update 3: Sen. […]

Seattle and King County elected officials have asked Sound Transit to remove a moved bridge in Ballard from future Link plans. They also urged Sound Transit to ditch the elevated “Orange Line” alignment in West Seattle, which would require large numbers of homes to be demolished. In other areas, the officials mostly declined to endorse […]

The start of construction for Lynnwood Link is only weeks away, just over a decade since the project was approved by voters as part of the Sound Transit 2 package in 2008. The first inter-county Link trains are scheduled to arrive in July 2024, traveling on 8.5 miles of elevated and surface tracks along the […]

Elevated light rail alignments in West Seattle have a unique problem. Unlike any other part of the system so far, they run through a built-up, residential area. Planned or existing lines are lie mostly in existing right-of-way, or tunnel into their own. Sound Transit has had to demolish some housing for other projects, mainly at […]

Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1793, having been revived last week and passed out of the House, now faces a showdown in the Senate Transportation Committee, where it must be heard and voted out Wednesday morning. At time of publication, the bills to be heard at the meeting were not publicly listed yet. The bill allows […]

WSDOT is preparing for the Rest of the West, the remaining phases of construction on SR 520 between Lake Washington and I-5. First up is the Montlake Project, where construction may begin as early as May. For transit riders, this means the Montlake flyer stop and the transit-only lanes on the Montlake Boulevard exit will […]

City of Shoreline: The City of Shoreline has been busy developing the preliminary design to update 145th Street (SR-523) from Aurora Avenue North to I-5. This new design will improve safety and ensure that this critical corridor can effectively serve Shoreline and the growing number of travelers who rely on it every day. The timing is planned to […]

The Everett City Council voted Wednesday night to approve a new low-income fare category for Everett Transit, and set the fare at $1.50. ET Transportation Services Director Tom Hingson presented data from a fare survey that also included the option of not having a low-income fare, and the option of consolidating all reduced fares at […]