Seattle Transit Blog

Fare enforcement Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 (1:10) ST3 Level 3 (STB, Seattle Subway) (17:51) JUMP Bike review (26:02) From the archives: Is bike share good business? Prospects for climate change legislation (31:33) Seattle TBD in review (35:08) Passenger rail (48:05) http://traffic.libsyn.com/seattletransitblog/STB_podcast_70.mp3

Single-family zoning is indefensible. Massive city report ($) goes into extraordinary detail about why. Council Candidate Shaun Scott reacts properly. SDOT delivered 4% (!) of its 2018 bike lane plan. Taking LimePods on a test drive. Mayor thinks scooters are too dangerous, auto carnage is just dandy. Private transit center near Expedia. Driver Nathan Vass […]

Mayor Jenny Durkan retained Anne Fennessy, of public affairs firm Cocker Fennessy, to represent the City of Seattle in planning for the final alignment of ST3’s West Seattle and Ballard Link segments. Durkan’s office also told STB that the search for a new, permanent SDOT director is “underway,” started “earlier this fall,” and that the […]

SDOT last week released its updated workplan (PDF) for the Move Seattle levy, the 9-year, $930m program that includes everything from streets and sidewalks to buses and bikes. While the original levy included 7 “RapidRide+” corridors, it became apparent in April that SDOT didn’t have the money to do all 7 and would be scaling […]

El Paso once had streetcars running across the border to Juarez.

Metro testing electric buses with 140-mile range. Between 80 and 91 low-cost housing units ($) coming to Lower Queen Anne. Seattle Transportation Budget: done. Rich Smith continues his quest for Light Rail signage that is comprehensible to humans. Apply for an opening on ST’s Citizen Oversight Panel. Trailhead Direct, now done for the year, served […]

Lynnwood Link is inching closer and closer to a firm date for the start of construction, thanks to the submission of the project’s full-funding grant agreement (FFGA) by the FTA lat week. The agreement has been held in limbo by the FTA for several months, but lobbying by Sound Transit and the state’s congressional delegation […]

Last week was surprisingly interesting for passenger rail news. Alon Levy writes that the Federal Railroad Administration has finally published its new rules for train procurement, allowing US transit agencies to buy lighter, cheaper, European-style train sets for operation on American freight railways. Long-time readers will know we got excited when these rules were first […]

Thank you to every last person that played a role in this campaign – big or small. It is a honor and privilege to have the opportunity to serve my community. I am thrilled to be your next State Senator in Washington’s 30th Legislative District. pic.twitter.com/wbZtLFOPff — Claire Wilson (@ElectCWilson) November 8, 2018 Sound Transit […]

FTA awards $1.2 billion to Lynnwood Link. More on this next week. Metro operations will briefly pause Friday to commemorate the 1998 Aurora Bridge crash. Seattle tries grassroots pedestrian improvements where sidewalks will never come. Hilltop Tacoma Link extension breaks ground. Seattle budget maneuvers take some money from Safe Routes to School. Mudslide science ($). […]

Sound Transit’s latest quarterly service report, released on November 15, shows continued growth in Link ridership. In Quarter 3 (Q3), Link enjoyed 8.2 percent more weekday boardings than in Q3 of 2017, or 81,022 boardings on a typical weekday. Sounder (+2.5 percent) and paratransit (+6.6 percent) also experienced ridership growth compared to Q3 2017. ST […]

Kitsap Transit showed off its newest fast ferry, MV Finest, as part of Monday’s pre-launch celebrations for the Kingston–Seattle fast ferry route. The ferry will begin regular weekday service on November 26 and run six round-trips between Pier 52 in Downtown Seattle and Kingston on the Kitsap Peninsula, taking approximately 40 minutes. This is a […]

Councilmember Rob Johnson retires IDS/Chinatown station (7:08) Why the rent is so high (22:33) Decongestion pricing (28:06) 1631/election fallout (38:57) Kirkland restructure (47:04) http://traffic.libsyn.com/seattletransitblog/STB_podcast_69.mp3

1.5 mile I-5 shoulder lane ($) opened Monday between Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace. Bainbridge Island voters reject safer streets. Thurston County voters approve Proposition 1 for Intercity Transit. 23rd Avenue work moving along, though there’s no timeline for RapidRide. Kitsap Transit creates $4m rainy day fund, $5 day pass. Lime to enter the short-term car […]

After the release of the King County Auditor’s report, Metro revised its fare enforcement policies over the summer. Elected officials, including Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, have asked Sound Transit to consider similar changes. Metro’s new policy, which was developed in consultation with social justice and transit groups including the Transit Riders’ Union, Puget Sound Sage, […]

Yes, we’re bringing this up again. This is an open thread.

The Times‘ David Gutman got a rare glimpse at Uber and Lyft’s trip data for Seattle. The data show that ridesharing is most popular in the neighborhoods ringing Lake Union (Capitol Hill, Queen Anne, Ballard, Fremont, Wallingford), many of which also have higher rates of car ownership. Is it surprising that the inner-ring residential neighborhoods […]

TOD planned for Bellevue’s Red Lion hotel area (East Main Station) SDOT says federal funding is a risk for Madison BRT Councilmember (and ST Board Member) Rob Johnson won’t run for re-election next year SLU Streetcar getting some dedicated ROW on Terry Funding to study an I-5 lid coming from the convention center project It’s […]

This post is part one of a three post series on fare enforcement on Seattle area transit. Patrick Burke got on a RapidRide E bus at Third and Pike one evening with a transfer in his backpack. At least, he thought it was in his backpack, until he tried to get it out for a […]

Partial statewide vote tallies are now in. The tallies listed below are as of 9:20 pm. All our endorsed positions and candidates are listed on top. For races in which STB endorsed: Initiative 1631 Yes: 849,062 43.7% No: 1,093,897 56.3% Intercity Transit Proposition 1: Approved: 33,109 64.75% Rejected: 18,021 35.25% State Legislature District 5, Position […]

During a rather uneventful rush-hour on Friday, I ventured out to Eastgate and tried out Metro’s new ride-hailing service, “Ride2”, which is operated by Ford subsidiary Chariot. Service is available during weekday rush hours, from 6 to 10 a.m. and 4 to 8 p.m., and is booked using a smartphone app. Installing and setting up […]

Tuesday is election day. If you haven’t taken advantage of the opportunity to mail your vote for free, you may have blown the opportunity. Not all mail that gets picked up tomorrow or delivered tomorrow gets postmarked for tomorrow. A Wednesday postmark will leave your ballot envelope sealed and uncounted. The next-best option is to […]

In an interview with STB Wednesday, Snohomish County Executive and Sound Transit board chair Dave Somers said that West Seattle and Ballard stakeholders have to rein in their ambitions for the new line unless they can come up with more funding. “We are going to be ever vigilant that costs are kept in control,” Somers […]

TCC is hiring an outreach and engagement director. A sophisticated, even-keeled tweetstorm (!) about the politics of street space. Bike share expansion is stalled because of a complaint by Elizabeth Campbell. Meanwhile, Pierce County considers road improvements to enable more sprawl. Metro pedestrian fatality lawsuit ($) settled. Portland Chamber supports kicking cars out of the […]