Seattle Transit Blog

Last evening, the Chair of the Seattle Council Budget Committee, CM Lisa Herbold, released her initial package of budget changes. This is a set of proposed amendments to the budget the Mayor proposed last month. The initial package reflects updated revenue assumptions and council member requests. For transit advocates, the most notable elements are (a) the […]

When Seoul removed an elevated expressway and restored the stream that was buried for decades. How is it faring over ten years later?

The MV Suquamish, photo by SounderBruce 23rd Ave corridor Vision Zero work to continue in 2018. SeaSub goes in to bat for the CCC. Next City summarizes the debate. Mercer Island and Sound Transit finalize settlement agreement ($). Paraphrasing slightly, the settlement “does not address access to I-90 for single occupant vehicles at the Island […]

Cary Moon for Mayor Other endorsements (32:20) Center City Connector threatened (38:50) http://traffic.libsyn.com/seattletransitblog/STB_podcast_049.mp3

Last week, the Seattle City Council Budget Committee reviewed SDOT funding for 2018, and some members appeared ready to reconsider city funding for the Center City Connector. The Mayor’s budget proposal would finance $50 million of the projects $177 million capital cost via bond sales backed by Commercial Parking Tax revenues. Another $14 million is funded […]

WSDOT’s express toll lanes on I-405 opened in September 2015. Having recently passed the two-year mark, the Legislature may consider next year whether they should continue. At stake is not only the improved efficiencies of the managed lanes. As Peter Rogoff highlighted last week, an end to tolling would force a rethink of the Sound […]

Dublin’s Luas is a light rail tram system with two lines in service. Luas Cross City is an extension through the core of the city that will also connect the existing lines. It is anticipated to open for revenue service in December.

Metro will no longer operate shuttle service from several park-and-rides to Seahawks games at CenturyLink Field. The news came in an email from the Seahawks to season ticket holders: The Federal Transit Administration has ruled that Metro Transit is no longer permitted to operate its game day bus service from the Eastgate, South Kirkland and […]

Portland for Everyone has an in-depth piece on an “anti-McMansion compromise” rezoning currently before their city council. It’s thoughtful and well written, and it makes me sad that our political leaders ran headlong away from a much more timid duplex proposal, at the first sign of NIMBY homeowner backlash. Portland sets priorities for how to […]

These are Seattle Transit Blog’s endorsements for the November 7, 2017 elections outside Seattle. In Seattle, we endorsed Cary Moon for Mayor; and Teresa Mosqueda and Lorena González for City Council. As always, we choose candidates entirely based on their positions and record on transit and land use. . 45th Legislative District, Senate: Manka Dhingra […]

Everett Transit’s ongoing work on a 20-year Long Range Plan has reached its halfway milestone, marked by the presentation of service options for the public to discuss. The service options will be up for public feedback until the end of the month, either in person or via an online open house. A draft Long Range Plan […]

Although the stated transit and land use policy differences in the Seattle mayor’s race are small, we believe that urban planner Cary Moon has the stronger commitment to transit priority, bike and pedestrian infrastructure, and adding all types of housing stock to serve all who would like to live in Seattle. Much more than allied […]

The Seattle City Council is considering the city’s 2018 budget this week, and may consider an amendment to remove funding for the Center City Connector streetcar. A key procedural deadline is on Thursday. At a Select Budget Committee meeting Monday, several members voiced skepticism about the project. The CCC connects the South Lake Union and […]

[post updated with additional information about publicly accessible data feeds]. Out on the Pacific Coast, Grays Harbor Transit (serving the county around Aberdeen) is rolling out two major information technology projects: one for real-time information and one for mobile phone payment. In both cases, they’re contracting with companies that market to small transit agencies. Real-time information […]

Seattle tops nation in new apartments — and they’re expensive ($) and full of millennials. NY MTA refurbishes subway cars with fewer seats, more preschool wallpaper; at least one of those seems like an improvement. Crown Hill pedestrian overpass to stay, but people on wheels will still get a crosswalk. Alon Levy tells DC and […]

After 16 months of construction, the Yesler Way Bridge over 4th and 5th avenues has been reopened to traffic on Tuesday. Several bus routes that were affected by the long-term closure have resumed normal operations. Bus stops at Yesler Way & 3rd Avenue and Terrace Street & 5th Avenue have been re-opened. Although it won’t […]

Bellevue is planning a permanent men’s homeless shelter in the city. After a proposed location in the Eastgate area drew controversy, the City considered two alternative locations including one near the planned Sound Transit Link maintenance facility in the Bel-Red area. Sound Transit has opposed this because it is within an area to be marketed […]

The promise of an eastbound bus lane on Denny Way made waves last month, but the September deadline has come and passed, with not a hint of red paint on the street’s asphalt. So, what gives? Mike Lindblom at The Seattle Times reports ($) that the announcement was premature and came about due to a misunderstanding between […]

This week we sit down for an interview with Mayoral Candidate Cary Moon. http://traffic.libsyn.com/seattletransitblog/STB_podcast_048.mp3

A couple of months ago, I blurbed a survey for King County Metro’s Community Connections project, which was seeking input from people who work in Seattle’s SODO district, a mostly-industrial and commercial area immediately south of downtown. I noticed that the SODO Connections project seemed very focused on alternative service — i.e. not fixed route […]

Yes, when it’s busy and the escalators are so long most don’t walk.

The ST3 program included, at the suggestion of the City of Renton, a new transit center with a 700 stall park-and-ride in South Renton near the intersection of I-405 and SR 167. Relocating the downtown transit center, however, left observers questioning how much transit would serve downtown in future. Mayor Denis Law, among others, viewed a […]

Minneapolis gets a $1 low-income fare. Helsinki is in the vanguard of the war on cars, and I’m jealous. Bremerton fast ferry still struggling with mechanical issues. Tacoma planning for growth in the Tacoma Mall area. Transit is a key part of not loving city-accessible trailheads to death. Tri-Met contemplating a $1.7b property and vehicle […]

In 2014, Kirkland embarked on an effort to reform over-sized residential parking minimums that were much higher than neighboring cities. The effort was a failure, raising minimum requirements for many buildings where they should have been lowered. Just two years after the revised requirements were enacted in 2015, a series of failed developments are forcing […]

West Seattle and Ballard are go Senate Republicans play dumb on ST financing Ed Murray City budget http://traffic.libsyn.com/seattletransitblog/STB_podcast_047.mp3

Link Light Rail has had some rough patches over the last month with a couple of major incidents occurring during peak commute times. The first was a Link-involved accident on MLK at the tail end of the Sept. 15 afternoon commute. A week later, Link was disrupted by a drive-by shooting in Columbia City that resulted in a crash […]

Metro has already lapped the field compared to its regional partners in the race for real-time data. They have long exported that data to a multitude of apps (and text services!) and posted it on signs at many of the most important bus stops. However, underlying problems with real-time data have typically limited the usefulness […]

The International Rail Journal and El País reported this morning that SDOT will award a $50 million contract to CAF (Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles), a Spanish rail manufacturer, to build ten “Urbos” streetcars for the Center City Connector project. Three of the streetcars in the order will be used to replace the oldest cars on […]

With guest appearance of our favorite parking economist Donald Shoup.

On Thursday, the Sound Transit Board signed off on a $285.9 million budget for preliminary engineering for the West Seattle and Ballard Link Extensions Project, as well as a $24.4 million contract with HNTB to start project development. The project will include both extensions, despite their planned operation as separate lines, and will be the first ST3-original […]

A bonanza of ST hearing coverage in the media: King5, Seattle Times ($), Tacoma News Tribune, KIRO, Q13 Fox, KOMO. ST head Rogoff op-ed in the Tribune. More on the history and revitalization of Spokane’s East Sprague neighborhood. Old streetcar maps of Spokane. Boise downtown keeps growing, could get a 5,000 seat soccer and baseball […]