 |
by Brent White on (#2T7N2)
A recent presentation on One Center City / Convention Center expansion construction plans teased the possibility of an off-board payment zone on 3rd Ave all the way from Jackson St to Denny Way Ave, with all-door boarding. King County spokesperson Scott Gutierrez quickly threw cold water on the tease by pointing out that the plan […]
|
Seattle Transit Blog
| Link | https://seattletransitblog.com/ |
| Feed | https://feeds.feedburner.com/seattletransitblog/rss |
| Updated | 2025-06-08 03:02 |
by Lizz Giordano on (#2T54K)
Last week Seattle released a much-anticipated draft of the environmental impact statement for the Mandatory Housing Affordability program, which allows developers additional height in exchange for building a certain amount of affordable housing. Three scenarios were analysed: one taking no action, and two slightly different plans for distributing the increased development capacity around 27 neighborhoods […]
 |
by Dan Ryan on (#2T20H)
The One Center City plan for handling near-term disruption in Seattle downtown transit and traffic grinds forward. Anticipating the end of bus operations in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, staff are narrowing down the options. At last week’s advisory group meeting, we learned several project elements that are moving forward, and some that are not. […]
|
 |
by Martin H. Duke on (#2SYR4)
Erica interviews Mayoral hopeful Jenny Durkan. Self-driving car testing ($) coming to Washington, thanks to Gov. Inslee. Seattle Upzone DEIS ($) is public. Bob Hasegawa clarifies that he supports ST3, doubles down on governance reform and other controversial stands. Semi rear-ends Route 150 ($), injures 11. Audit slams Access Transit ($) for higher-than-normal costs, poor […]
|
 |
by Dan Ryan on (#2SVGT)
Several open houses are scheduled for the public to learn about new service on the SR 520 corridor. The first is on Wednesday evening in Kirkland, with others to follow through the rest of the month. A particularly interesting opportunity is the open house at UW Husky Stadium on June 19. As well as the […]
|
 |
by Dan Ryan on (#2STGC)
East Link to Downtown Redmond is scheduled to open in 2024, and the Sound Transit Board will update its preferred alternative on June 22. “Concept refinements†are now being considered. These are minor updates to the alignment including changes to station locations and the vertical profile of the guideway. Redmond last week approved a letter […]
|
by Brent White on (#2SP96)
Due to construction on the University of Washington campus, several King County Metro and Community Transit bus routes, as well as ST Express 540, will be diverted off Grant Lane and Stevens Way on weekdays for the next two weeks, as well as for the weekend of June 24 and 25. Westbound, Metro routes 31, […]
 |
by Oran Viriyincy on (#2SK58)
Small lots with straightforward and flexible zoning allows a diversity of housing types, mixed with retail and offices, that are affordable to more people. The video creator made a correction on statistics but his point remains valid.
|
 |
by Brent White on (#2SGMS)
Coleman Ferry Dock / photo by SounderBruce Washington State Ferries just released its 2017 first quarter boarding statistics, revealing another milestone for Link Light Rail: For the first quarter of a year ever, Link Light Rail had more boardings than Washington State Ferries did. Washington State Ferries had 4,960,373 boardings among all its lines for […]
|
 |
by Oran Viriyincy on (#2SDAW)
Easier car-free getaways to the Olympic Peninsula begin Saturday, June 17 when Clallam Transit inaugurates the “Strait Shot†daily direct bus service between Port Angeles and the Bainbridge Island ferry terminal. STB previously covered the service in detail, which is a 75-mile route using 40-passenger transit buses making five intermediate stops. There will be a […]
|
 |
by Brent White on (#2S9EM)
King County Executive Dow Constantine and Metro General Manager Rob Gannon order electric buses for Metro. Photo by Atomic Taco / flickr Governors and mayors must do a lot more than tweeting against Trump to fight climate change and housing crises. Councilmember Kshama Sawant pushes a simple and awesome mandate on landlords to provide voter […]
|
by Brent White on (#2S6CT)
King County Metro and Sound Transit are teaming up to promote youth transit ridership and ORCA card use this summer. Both are offering limited-time special discounted fares for youth ORCA card users from June 17 through Labor Day (September 4). The promotion was announced Tuesday. All youth ORCA card users on King County Metro and […]
 |
by Bruce Englehardt on (#2S5K6)
The City of Everett is looking to join the wave of cities absorbing our ever-exploding population growth by writing two key long-range plans over the coming months, one for downtown land use and one for citywide transit. The “Metro Everett†plan, which will try to accommodate an expected 60,000 new residents and 40,000 new employees […]
|
by Frank Chiachiere on (#2S2K2)
Well folks, this is it: this is the last time I’ll ask you for money in 2017. I’ve already appealed to your nostalgia by reminding you of our ten years of writing and all the good times we’ve had together. I’ve attempted to stir your civic pride by making the case for independent local media. This […]
 |
by Dan Ryan on (#2S1N5)
Last evening, Metro and Sound Transit released service change concepts for revised bus service on SR 520. This kicks off the second of three rounds of public input, including an online survey and several open houses in mid- to late June. Because these are service concepts, they do not describe capital improvements in Montlake or elsewhere could […]
|
 |
by Dan Ryan on (#2RXJ7)
A familiar story is playing out in Kirkland’s Houghton neighborhood. The Houghton-Everest Business Center is a collection of strip malls and small offices, mostly over 40 years old. Retail spaces are antiquated and undersized. The pedestrian environment, dominated by curb cuts to parking lots, is unsafe. But it is just a block from Google’s office, less […]
|
 |
by Oran Viriyincy on (#2RTW5)
A brief Los Angeles transit history lesson.
|
 |
by Eric Wright on (#2RR1X)
There’s been a good deal of recent attention to Seattle’s continued growth spurt. The Upshot column in the New York Times points out that we’re also one of the few cities that is growing denser as we add population. In fact, Seattle is already cited as the 8th most dense of the 50 most populous U.S. cities. I’ll expand […]
|
 |
by Brent White on (#2RMHB)
From now on, board the third car if you want to avoid crowds like this. Photo by SounderBruce Sound Transit will be rolling out increased capacity on Link Light Rail beginning Monday, featuring twelve 3-car trains from opening of service to at least end of PM peak, seven AM peak-only 2-car trains, and seven 2-car […]
|
 |
by Dan Ryan on (#2RHZS)
Mercer Island has reached agreement with Sound Transit on access to I-90. The agreement means the express lanes can close permanently to auto traffic as scheduled this weekend. A planned hearing this morning in King County Superior Court on Mercer Island’s injunction to prevent the closures is now cancelled. The agreement includes $10 million in […]
|
by Frank Chiachiere on (#2RG3G)
Bellevue has a new ally in the battle to reduce pedestrian fatalities to zero: big data. The city, along with Seattle and several others, are piloting new a program that uses machine learning to proactively improve bike and pedestrian safety. The hope is that the machines, trained by a crowdsourced group of humans to recognize […]
|
by Martin H. Duke on (#2RCDE)
Erica interviews Jessyn Farrell. Metro running a survey about I-90 trailheads. Vision Zero making progress, but is it enough? The first reviews are in for Pierce Transit Route 15 (Tacoma-Pt. Defiance) The indispensable Heidi Groover interrogates Bob Hasegawa’s views on transit. Is it too early to allow private bikeshare in? One Center City group collecting […]
|
by Matthew Johnson on (#2R8V3)
All ST service was higher in March of 2017 than last year. With University Link opening in March of 16 this is the first month with partial U-Link numbers, which showed in Link’s Year over Year growth finally dropping down from the 80s and 90s. Average daily ridership for Link in March was: Weekday: 67,174 (+54.4%) Saturday: […]
 |
by Martin H. Duke on (#2R84Y)
After about a decade of planning, legislative showdowns, and lawsuits, two-way HOV operations (R8A)* are to begin on Sunday, June 4th. WSDOT expects delays the first Monday, as people learn about the new configuration. A significant opening in its own right, two-way operations are an omen of even greater changes to commutes in the corridor, and to the […]
|
 |
by Frank Chiachiere on (#2R4FM)
Mike Lindblom, The Seattle Times [$]: Sound Transit and its allies in Congress say they’ll fight a 2018 budget proposal by President Donald Trump that yanks $1.1 billion to build the Lynnwood-Northgate light-rail extension — half of that project’s entire funding. The White House policy change would also remove an anticipated $500 million grant for […]
|
 |
by Oran Viriyincy on (#2R1K8)
Using the same technology licensed from Alweg, Tokyo’s monorail opened two years after Seattle’s monorail for the 1964 Summer Olympics. It is ten times longer and connects central Tokyo to the airport. There’s that and they also built a bullet train.
|
|
by Frank Chiachiere on (#2QYQT)
Thoughts on Dan Savage’s transit post (also read this) (0:40) Light rail signage (turns out station icons are constellations) (25:15) Flights coming to Paine Field (39:15) Grouping buses (49:20) Car tabs and legislative reading comprehension (55:15) http://traffic.libsyn.com/seattletransitblog/STB_podcast_039.mp3
|
 |
by Dan Ryan on (#2QVAM)
Seattle’s growth is still accelerating. Census estimates released yesterday show almost 21 thousand new residents in Seattle in the year ended July 2016. With 704 thousand residents, Seattle is once again the nation’s fastest growing city with 3.1% annual growth. We’ve become accustomed to fast growth, averaging 15 thousand new residents in Seattle annually between 2010 and 2015. […]
|
by Oran Viriyincy on (#2QRE0)
Finding your way through Link stations just got a little bit easier if you have a smartphone in hand or a computer. A map of Link’s SeaTac/Airport Station is now available on Google Maps. Included on the map are the locations of station amenities and features such as entrances and exits, ticket vending machines, ORCA […]
 |
by David Lawson on (#2QQ76)
As of last Friday evening, it was official: no fewer than twenty-one candidates formally filed for the 2017 City of Seattle mayoral primary. As usual, most of this unprecedented crop are unlikely, single-issue, or perennial candidates. But Mayor Ed Murray’s announcement that he won’t run for re-election in the wake of multiple accusations of sexual assault encouraged a bumper […]
|
|
by Martin H. Duke on (#2QKBK)
djw has some theories about the latest Republican attack on Sound Transit. I endorse the latest Dan Savage gentrification screed 100%. PSRC gathering comment on their next round of transportation grants. Rob Johnson says HALA is working. Data here. Madison BRT work begins. Metro to increase park-and-ride enforcement. All the lawmakers that claimed to not […]
|
 |
by Bruce Nourish on (#2QFV8)
Suppose you were in charge of an Inland Northwest city of about 215,000, an island of vibrant urbanity frozen in a tax- and transit-hostile hinterland. Now suppose your city had a transit system about on a par with Wenatchee, Washington — population 35,000 — with buses running at best every 30 minutes to 10 PM […]
|
by Brent White on (#2QF4W)
Monday, May 29 is Memorial Day, and, by 46-year tradition, the final day of four days of the Northwest Folklife Festival. Sadly, the monorail continues its 20+year tradition of not being a free transfer to get to the festival. Ironically, it wasn’t even listed as one of the top four options for getting to the […]
 |
by David Lawson on (#2QB1Y)
You’re standing at 3rd and Union. You want to go to 23rd and Jackson, the commercial heart of the Central District. Or you want to go home, in the dense housing near Washington Middle School. What’s the quickest way to get there? The answer is “Who knows?†And this common trip between major destinations may […]
|
 |
by Dan Ryan on (#2Q87T)
Eastside leaders gathered in Bellevue on May 5 to review transit and other transportation projects coming on the Eastside. 0:00 Claudia Balducci, King County Council Member for District 6 5:57 John Howell (Moderator), Founding Partner, Cedar River Group 7:25 Ariel Taylor, King County Council Staff 18:10 Roger Millar, Secretary of Transportation, WSDOT 40:15 Peter Rogoff, […]
|
by Oran Viriyincy on (#2Q66P)
Here’s your chance to get up close to Amtrak Cascades newest locomotives and learn about WSDOT’s ongoing improvements to Cascades rail service. The new Siemens SC-44 Charger locomotive will debut at King Street Station tomorrow from 11 am to 3 pm. Photo opportunities and a commemorative souvenir will be available. The Charger emits less pollution, […]
 |
by Eric Wright on (#2Q5DQ)
How dense is Seattle? It depends on what geographic area is meant by “Seattle†and also temporal factors like day of the week and hour of the day. For instance, the Downtown Seattle Association’s 2014 economic report estimates nearly 60,000 residents in the “greater†downtown area (roughly, Mercer to SODO and Elliott Bay to Broadway) with […]
|
by Bruce Nourish on (#2Q2BT)
It’s been a while since we checked in with SDOT’s Transit Spot Improvements program. This is a small pot of money for SDOT engineers to make minor improvements to transit operations and rider amenities, which would not otherwise be funded as part of a RapidRide corridor project, an arterial repaving project, or a larger state […]
by Bruce Englehardt on (#2PZ5R)
From now until Monday, May 22, King County Metro and the City of Seattle are seeking input on their plans for transit-oriented development right on the front door of Northgate’s upcoming light rail station. Take the survey here. The TOD project would be split into two phases because of the selected site and its current use. […]
 |
by Martin H. Duke on (#2PXXF)
Alaska Airlines shocked everyone yesterday by announcing they would begin commercial service out of Paine Field in fall 2018. There will be 9 daily flights by Boeing 737 and Embraer 175 jets, presumably to major Western cities. But how does this fit into the overall strategy for the area, a strategy that includes Link to Paine Field? […]
|
|
by Martin H. Duke on (#2PST7)
California’s full-on legislative assault on NIMBY obstruction. Take note, Olympia. Local car ownership dropping ($). Erica interviews Mayoral hopeful Nikkita Oliver, and as always, goes deep on housing. Rep. Jessyn Farrell and Jenny Durkan are also running for Mayor. Cascade Bicycle Club trying to get accessible Link station designs in Redmond. Good for them for […]
|
by Guest Contributor on (#2PSK8)
by SEATTLE SUBWAY In a shocking investigation into their own inability to read legislation, Senator O’Ban and Washington Senate Republicans have taken a bold step into the unknown. How much incompetence are they willing to admit in their quest for Seattle Times headlines? Apparently quite a lot. Sound Transit has been entirely transparent in their […]
 |
by Frank Chiachiere on (#2PPF3)
In the months since the November election, we’ve seen a huge nationwide uptick in digital newspaper subscriptions, with the NY Times and the Washington Post leading the way. But while national newspaper brands are thriving, local news is different. Consider the story of our own KOMO news, forced to create content to appease its new […]
|
 |
by Bruce Nourish on (#2PNK8)
Late last year, Kitsap Transit made news with the passage of its foot ferry initiative, which provided the funding to fulfill a long-standing dream of fast, cross-sound passenger service. For those paying attention to the less-sexy, workhorse transit modes, however, news across the sound has been bad for years. Like every sales tax-dependent agency in Washington, KT took a […]
|
 |
by Frank Chiachiere on (#2PJ5Y)
In case you missed it, Mike Lindblom had a great piece in the Seattle times this past weekend about the final engineering plans for East link on I-90: Engineers have to ensure the bridge will remain buoyant when a pair of 300-ton trains pass each other, and that the high-voltage current that powers the trains won’t stray into […]
|
by Brent White on (#2PHB7)
King County Metro is considering a modernization of its fare system, and has gone expeditiously through a lot of public process to get to two final proposals. The results of the second of two non-scientific surveys are available online. Out of 935 responses, 609 strongly liked the $2.75 flat fare proposal, while 147 somewhat liked […]
|
by Martin H. Duke on (#2PE47)
This just in: new light rail train interiors unveiled! pic.twitter.com/MAmjgkdZV6 — Sound Transit (@SoundTransit) April 28, 2017
|
 |
by Zach Shaner on (#2PBEY)
This is my 485th and final post here at Seattle Transit Blog. As I move on to an exciting new opportunity, I wanted to take a minute to thank the reader community here. For the past 7 years I have been able to take for granted having substantive policy conversations every day, a rare treat in today’s media […]
|
by Martin H. Duke on (#2P8GY)
In a wide-ranging interview, the South Seattle Emerald asked Mayoral candidate and State Senator Bob Hasegawa about Sound Transit 3. The reply was astonishing in several respects: Emerald: You’ve been an outspoken critic of the $54 billion Sound Transit 3 package, could you talk about why? Hasegawa: I think that vote was rigged. I don’t […]
|
by Frank Chiachiere on (#2P7WK)
Ten Years of STB (0:30) More on the mayor’s race (9:00) Martin’s commute gets better (25:30) Improvements at the airport (30:40) Stationless bike share (33:10) http://traffic.libsyn.com/seattletransitblog/STB_podcast_038.mp3
|