by Frank Chiachiere on (#3FE8W)
Bruce Nourish joins Frank to discuss: Future-proofing ST3 (4:13) Amtrak (33:17) Free transit (46:56) http://traffic.libsyn.com/seattletransitblog/STB_podcast_055.mp3
Seattle Transit Blog
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| Updated | 2025-03-11 04:46 |
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by Bruce Nourish on (#3FDR1)
Apps are not transforming the urban transport business. If you read only one thing out of this list, make it this. The per-ride costs incurred by some startup flexible-route/microtransit services are staggering, to say nothing of the (as yet unknown) year-on-year losses incurred by Uber, Lyft etc. A future free of congestion thanks to driverless […]
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by STB Editorial Board on (#3F6ES)
Sound Transit 3 is the biggest investment in pedestrian mobility the Pacific Northwest has seen since the coming of the railroads in the 1890s. Like what that generation built, the capital projects we’ve committed to build will be around for decades. We can’t know with certainty what the future holds, but for reasons of both […]
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by Brent White on (#3F99M)
The Senate Transportation Committee completed the first half of its work for this session with its final meeting to pass out senate bills this afternoon. The only bill among the ten on the agenda that didn’t get bipartisan unanimity to move forward was Substitute Senate Bill 5955, dealing with Sound Transit motor vehicle excise tax […]
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by Brent White on (#3F80Z)
Senate Bill 5955, Sen. Patty Kuderer’s (D – Bellevue) car tab relief bill, has been added to the list of bills scheduled for action in the Senate Transportation Committee today. Today is also the last day for bills to get out of committee, unless they are necessary to the budgets. The committee meets this afternoon […]
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by Lizz Giordano on (#3F58K)
Before Sound Transit began planning light rail expansion east to Redmond, the city’s then-mayor, Rosemarie Ives, was already eyeing a congestion-free trip via public transportation from her city to Seattle. Many are glad Ives, who served as mayor from 1991 to 2007, never got her way and a 60-mile monorail system crisscrossing the region was […]
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by Dan Ryan on (#3F2MA)
A look ahead to Seattle’s near future. This is an open thread.
by Bruce Englehardt on (#3F0NM)
In the last few months, Community Transit has been hard at work on the Swift Green Line, the new bus rapid transit line linking Everett’s Paine Field area to the future Mariner Link station, Mill Creek, and Canyon Park. Last week, they celebrated the opening of a new bus-only lane on 128th Street SW near […]
by Lizz Giordano on (#3ESG2)
In an effort to improve the speed and reliability of southbound buses along Interstate 5, late last year the Sound Transit Capital Committee approved funding for a bus-only shoulder lane between the Lynnwood Transit Center and the Mountlake Terrace Transit Center. The Committee also approved funding for a feasibility study that would identify other potential […]
by Bruce Nourish on (#3EVBQ)
A walking cure for Sarcellitis: can trails unite Paris’s city and suburbs? Utah legislators propose radical changes for transportation, transit — including a tax hike. Instead of a wall, why not a binational border bikeshare? In Colorado, a glimpse of renewable energy’s insanely cheap future. After 5 years, walk-bike bridge design for Northgate light-rail station […]
by Martin H. Duke on (#3ES16)
The stats suggests that a few of you are interested in the Ballard to West Seattle light rail alignment in ST3. Your first shot to ask questions directly of agency staff is coming up in a couple of weeks. West Seattle: Tuesday, Feb. 13, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Alki Masonic Center Ballard: Thursday, Feb. 15, 6:30-8:30 […]
by Guest Contributor on (#3ER62)
by ALEX BRONER Affordable housing near transit is win-win for both housing and transit. If we build enough of it, not only will residents of this housing have lower rents, but the housing market as a whole will stabilize and improve. Meanwhile, transit riders will benefit from the positive feedback of more riders leading to […]
by Lizz Giordano on (#3ENHR)
This post is the first in a series STB is launching to explore how suburban cities around the region are preparing for light rail. In 2017, the East Link Extension began taking shape as Sound Transit contractors prepared Interstate 90 for light rail and installed the first girders for the elevated track in Bellevue. This year, […]
by Lizz Giordano on (#3EK5W)
State Senator Steve O’Ban (R-Tacoma) continued his pursuit of a directly-elected Sound Transit Board, grilling lobbyists defending the transit agency’s current governance during a public hearing on Senate Bill 6301 Wednesday. But now that a Democrat chairs the Senate Transportation Committee, it’s not likely the bill will even get a vote in that committee. A […]
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by Brent White on (#3EJD5)
If you have been down to Angle Lake Station lately, you may have noticed signs attached to the ORCA readers announcing a new bus route: King County Metro Route 635, the Des Moines Community Shuttle. Starting today, the new route runs between Angle Lake Station and the Des Moines Marina District, picking up westbound at […]
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by Oran Viriyincy on (#3EG85)
Follow the path of Link tunnels under the UW from Husky Stadium to U District Station.
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by Martin H. Duke on (#3EE94)
Over the last few years, transit agencies have created incentives to take transit to New Years’ celebrations. Trains run later, and in 2017 Metro was free for the first time. While it’s worthwhile to provide attractive, safe alternatives for people, I’m sad to say that these improvements haven’t shown up in the accident data, courtesy […]
by Bruce Nourish on (#3EBC9)
The Automotive Liberation of Paris. TL;DR: even with the best urban fabric known to the developed world, car traffic will go up until you make a multi-generational effort to reverse it. Seoul’s answer to a pollution crisis: Free public transit. The kicker is that it may not be very effective at dissuading people from driving, […]
by Lizz Giordano on (#3E8G6)
In a 60 to 37 vote Wednesday, the Washington House of Representatives once again passed legislation to lower car tab fees, reducing funding for Sound Transit. The bill adjusts the rate of the motor vehicle excise tax (MVET) Sound Transit collects. ST3 uses an MVET schedule from the 1990s, which critics say inflates the value […]
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by Brent White on (#3E5NC)
Back in 2016, I wrote a couple petulant whines about the failure to make optimal use of escalators at Capitol Hill Station and UW Station. My screeds have so far gone unheeded. Last Saturday morning, as thousands of march attendees took the train to Capitol Hill Station, the up escalators leading out of the station […]
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by Frank Chiachiere on (#3E28T)
Sound Transit and the MVET issue (1:58) Automatic transit lane enforcement (23:25) High Speed Rail(25:57) http://traffic.libsyn.com/seattletransitblog/STB_podcast_054.mp3
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by Brent White on (#3DZ6G)
Sound Transit has rolled out a survey offering 2 options for restructuring ST Express bus fares. Both options would institute flat reduced fares ($1.50 for low-income and youth riders and $1 for Regional Reduced Fare Permit holders), getting rid of the de facto county line surcharge for each of these payer categories. This is the […]
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by Brent White on (#3DTPN)
While many in the State House have been in a rush to assuage car drivers angry at being taxed more, and trample on Sound Transit’s ability to build the ST3 capital program, one Republican representative has offered a bill that uses some of the lenses we’d expect from Democrats to craft a more economically-progressive twist […]
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by Lizz Giordano on (#3DQTP)
King County Metro Transit and Sound Transit released the September 2018 service changes to I-90 bus routes, prompted by the closure of the Rainier Freeway Station. Construction of Judkins Park Link Station, part of East Link, requires the closure of the Rainier Freeway Station and the I-90 bus ramp that connects buses to the Downtown Seattle Transit […]
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by Bruce Nourish on (#3DNE3)
In response to growth, Chinese cities choose metros. Highway 99 tunnel in Seattle will open to traffic this fall ($), the state and contractors say. Morning Crank: Resolutely Pro-Housing. Here’s a PDF of PSRC’s funded 2017 Transportation Alternatives funding. Podcast ($): As Seattle faces an even worse traffic nightmare, do officials have a plan or […]
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by Brent White on (#3DMNF)
Last week, State Representative Joe Fitzgibbon introduced House Bill 2403, which would add transit-only lane enforcement cameras to the list of automated traffic safety cameras authorized for use in the state. The bill provides the process for enacting local ordinances for transit-only lane cameras, but sticks to existing language governing the use of such cameras. […]
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by Alon Levy on (#3DHNF)
Earlier this year, Seattle Transit Blog covered possible routes for high-speed rail (HSR) to Vancouver. Zach Shaner wrote the first two parts, and I wrote the last two. In December, Washington State DOT (WSDOT) released a study about the possibility of HSR in the Pacific Northwest. The study is bearish on HSR, with high cost […]
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by Dan Ryan on (#3DF19)
Here’s the idea in a nutshell. Revise the valuation schedule for the MVET, per HB 2201, so that the ST3 MVET (0.8%) is levied on the more accurate 2006 schedule. Pay for it by extending the Sound Move MVET (0.3%) that is otherwise scheduled to expire in 2028. The extended 0.3% MVET can use the […]
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by Lizz Giordano on (#3DE9N)
Democratic legislators are reexamining legislation that would lower car tab fees, reducing funding for Sound Transit and potentially delaying the expansion of light rail around the region. According to the News Tribune, State Sen. Marko Liias, (D-Lynnwood) said the party is looking at a range of ways to lower car tab fees, but also limit […]
by Brent White on (#3DBQ2)
Say what you will about State Sen. Steve O’Ban’s package of bills and investigations attacking Sound Transit, but at least he’s not circumventing the normal legislative process. When he didn’t get his way last session, he didn’t wait to catch his opponents off guard and strike fast. He took his show on the road to […]
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by Oran Viriyincy on (#3D8ZN)
Spokane’s building a High Performance Transit network.
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by Frank Chiachiere on (#3D6RR)
The new SR-99 tunnel has a problem. No, Bertha isn’t stuck again. This time, problem is financial: setting the toll rates. The initial results of an investment-grade analysis of tolling options, performed by a consultant for WSDOT, show that setting a price point for the new tunnel continues to be as tricky a proposition as […]
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by Lizz Giordano on (#3D42S)
To “promote safety and deter crime,†King County Metro Transit recently began testing two new safety features: driver shields and public viewing monitors, the agency announced in late 2017. For one pilot project, Metro plans to install public viewing monitors on the 33 buses serving the RapidRide A (Tukwila to Federal Way) and F (Burien […]
by Martin H. Duke on (#3D19A)
[Update 2:30pm: I originally misread the tweet below “another day†as “tomorrowâ€. We’re not sure when this is coming to vote, but it doesn’t appear to be today. Sorry for the error.] For obscure scheduling reasons, House Democrats delayed action on HB2201, which would take over $2 billion out of Sound Transit’s funding. It’s a good […]
by Bruce Nourish on (#3D0NM)
2008-2018: Seattle’s transformative decade ($). Radical subway extension and development idea quietly tucked into Cuomo’s State of the State. Of course, the subway system has to actually work before you can sanely consider extending it. A closer look at Seattle’s rising transit ridership. SDOT justifiably toots its own horn. West Seattle light rail: Why you […]
by Martin H. Duke on (#3CXQM)
On Monday Executive Constantine made five nominations to the Sound Transit Board. Each County Executive nominates their county’s delegation, subject to confirmation by the County Council. King County has 10 members, Snohomish 3, and Pierce 4, in proportion to their populations inside the Sound Transit District. The last member is the Washington Secretary of Transportation, […]
by Dan Ryan on (#3CTFG)
WSDOT’s recent study of high speed ground transportation in the Cascadia Corridor raised hopes that much faster rail connections to Vancouver and Portland may be in our future. The Governor has requested a more comprehensive study in 2018. Depending on the technology and alignment chosen, a high-speed rail service could cover operational costs by 2035. […]
by Brent White on (#3CPY2)
The State Legislature returns today for a 2-month session, with formal sessions in both houses beginning at noon. The House Transportation Committee begins work at 3:30 p.m. with a presentation by the governor’s office on the state of state transportation, and a presentation of the governor’s proposed supplemental transportation budget for 2019. The Senate Transportation […]
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by Oran Viriyincy on (#3CM2P)
A panoramic view of the growth that has taken place in Seattle over the last three years using photos from the Space Needle’s PanoCam.
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by Lizz Giordano on (#3CJ0Q)
Sound Transit laid out a new process to streamline project development for the Ballard and West Seattle Link Extensions, emphasizing the need for key decisions to be made this year to expedite the delivery of light rail. Major considerations include two water crossings, the configuration of the new downtown transit tunnel and the locations of […]
by Lizz Giordano on (#3CFJS)
As Seattle works toward Vision Zero, data from SDOT’s annual traffic report found that collisions with fatal or serious injury jumped 16.5% in 2016, even as traffic volumes remained nearly unchanged. In early 2015, the city launched its Vision Zero initiative with the goal of ending all traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2030, with […]
by Bruce Nourish on (#3CCPY)
The subway built New York; now it must be repaired at any price ($). Jonathan Mahler’s survey of the history and present of the New York subway is a tour de force. If you read only one thing this week, make it this. Transit riders in Wenatchee ($) can now use their smartphone to buy a […]
by Frank Chiachiere on (#3CARP)
Amtrak derailment (1:46) Positive train control (4:56) Free Metro on New Years’ Eve (16:47) Jarrett Walker vs. Elon Musk (21:10) The Dangers of Elite Projection The most expensive mile of subway on Earth (24:58) Transit Riders Union, taxes, and advocacy (33:35) Streetcar turns 10 (42:22) Lynnwood Link garages (51:40) http://traffic.libsyn.com/seattletransitblog/STB_podcast_053.mp3
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by Dan Ryan on (#3C9X3)
Elected leaders from across King County will gather on February 2 to consider legislative strategy and revenue options for the Regional Transportation System Initiative. A Technical Committee of City and County staff have identified $20 billion of regional roads improvements (in 2018 constant dollars) to be funded by 2040. With that analysis in hand, the next […]
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by STB Editorial Board on (#3C6YE)
When we last left Lynnwood link, the light rail extension was $500M over budget. Now, per Mike Lindblom in the Seattle Times, that number has dropped to $300M: By nipping here and tucking there, a Sound Transit manager says his team located $200 million in potential savings to ease a budget crisis in the Northgate-to-Lynnwood […]
by Martin H. Duke on (#3C4QP)
2018 is a planning year, not a big one for openings in the Puget Sound region. Openings On July 1st, Metro’s new $2.75 adult flat fare comes into effect. Also, the Regional Reduced Fare Permit — the senior / disabilities version of the ORCA card — will become free some time this year. Amtrak, BNSF, […]
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by Oran Viriyincy on (#3C2M7)
This May, Nashvillians will vote on a transportation plan that includes among many things a three-station downtown transit tunnel shared by rapid buses and light rail trains. Unlike Seattle’s tunnel, it will have all off-board payment.
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by Martin H. Duke on (#3C0H5)
2017 was not a great year, both worldwide and in our little corner of the universe. Here is our customary summary of the 10 most-read and most-commented posts of the past year: Most-Read 1. Mercer Island to Sue Sound Transit, WSDOT (2/13 by Zach Shaner) Mercer Island’s tantrum over HOV lane access was a fine […]
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by Bruce Englehardt on (#3BY4F)
Last week, the Sound Transit Board signed off on a $125.7 million budget for preliminary engineering on the Tacoma Dome Link Extension and a $10.3 million consultant contract for the same project. When the extension opens in 2030, trains will run all the way to the Tacoma Dome multimodal complex on 10 miles of mostly […]
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