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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 […]
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Seattle Transit Blog
| Link | https://seattletransitblog.com/ |
| Feed | https://feeds.feedburner.com/seattletransitblog/rss |
| Updated | 2025-12-06 21:48 |
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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 […]
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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.
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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
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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. […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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, […]
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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, […]
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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 […]
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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. […]
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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? […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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
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by Martin H. Duke on (#2P3R6)
Judy Clibborn provides some facts for Mercer Island. Republican Senate again votes to slash Sound Transit revenue. Empire Builder fans speak up for it. Sara Bernard’s feature on carlessness in Seattle is far more insightful than most of that genre. In a development that would have been shocking two months ago, Ed Murray will not run for […]
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by Bruce Englehardt on (#2P0SK)
Community Transit has begun construction of the Seaway Transit Center in Everett, the northern terminus of the planned Swift Green Line bus rapid transit project. The $11 million transit center, funded primarily by WSDOT grants and federal funds, will serve the massive Boeing Everett plant and part of the Paine Field industrial area. The transit center […]
by Zach Shaner on (#2NZZB)
The wet winter and spring have taken a toll on our railroads. Since the beginning of this year, nineteen (19) landslides have cancelled more than fifty (50) Amtrak Cascades trains. However, unlike the famous problem areas near Mukilteo that have plagued Cascades and Sounder alike, these mudslides are in a new trouble spot. Two-thirds of […]
by Matthew Johnson on (#2NVYA)
While Link’s numbers were all up, Sounder was down (mostly due to the Tacoma Trestle Cutover where service was reduced for 3 days) as well as ST Express down slightly and Tacoma Link also down. Average daily ridership for Link in February was: Weekday: 65,125 (+81.5%) Saturday: 39,409 (+67.6%) Sunday: 29,184 (+68.7%) Other weekday modal ridership stats: […]
by Frank Chiachiere on (#2NR5R)
(SounderBruce / flickr) On April 26, 2007, Andrew Smith wrote a blog post launching Seattle Transit Blog. At the time, Link hadn’t opened, there was no RapidRide, and the earthquake-damaged Alaskan Way Viaduct was still standing. Ten years later, we have 16 Link stations and dozens more in the construction and planning phases, 6 RapidRide lines and […]
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by Martin H. Duke on (#2NN0R)
Heading south into U-District Station:
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by Martin H. Duke on (#2NJ73)
SeaTac Station by edgeplot [UPDATE: Mr. DeRoy corrected his original statement of when the plexiglass was installed. January, not March.] When last we’d heard from the Port of Seattle, six years of experience with Link service to the airport had inspired the Port (and Commissioner Stephanie Bowman) to come up with a $3.5m, four-step plan […]
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by Martin H. Duke on (#2NEWT)
From time to time, we’ve posted job openings of interest to the many professionals that read our articles. But today, there’s a somewhat different — and more personal — opportunity. For almost two years, the generosity of our donors has allowed us to hire Zach Shaner on a part-time basis. You’ve all read the output of that […]
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by Bruce Nourish on (#2NBBP)
On Sunday, the Seattle Times wrote up ($) SDOT’s Employer Shared Transit Stop Pilot program, which started a week prior. It’s a good writeup, although transit nerds probably won’t learn too much they didn’t already know. From SDOT’s page: The City of Seattle and King County Metro are collaborating with Seattle Children’s Hospital and Microsoft to […]
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by Martin H. Duke on (#2N86Y)
The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) meeting started in Seattle yesterday. For coverage, you can see the liveblog here. For those visiting the city this week, our guide to urbanist sightseeing in Seattle, written for Rail~Volution in 2013, has been kept up to date.
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by Martin H. Duke on (#2N79B)
The legislature is back at work, and still going after Sound Transit. Erica interviews mayoral candidate Cary Moon on topics of interest to us. Transportation strategies ($) for the dueling Key Arena proposals. Move Seattle will bring forward SPU work, raising rates in the short term. Legislature scales back $1m high speed rail study to $300,000; […]
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by Zach Shaner on (#2N3B8)
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of taking high speed rail from Dallas to Austin, rolling past Mesquite trees and into the Hill County at 200mph. I had the pleasure of doing this because Obama put $47 Billion for high speed rail in his 2013 budget. Except that didn’t happen of course, because Presidential budgets are […]
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by Frank Chiachiere on (#2MZ7Z)
Per the New York Times, the end of retail is nigh: E-commerce players, led by the industry giant Amazon, have made it so easy and fast for people to shop online that traditional retailers, shackled by fading real estate and a culture of selling in stores, are struggling to compete. This shift has been building […]
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by Oran Viriyincy on (#2MWFC)
Among advanced industrial nations, Canada is the worst in passenger rail. At least in the U.S. we already have faster trains and are building a new high speed train in California. (h/t Michael Hoffman)
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by Zach Shaner on (#2MSGP)
With the whirlwind of news, One Center City, potential restructures, and proposals for fare policy revisions, there has been no shortage of public surveys lately. Below are five surveys from Metro and Sound Transit that you should spend a few minutes of your Saturday filling out. Link Customer Satisfaction A general survey of Link customer satisfaction, covering […]
by Zach Shaner on (#2MNT9)
It tells you something about an agency’s workload when a $130m purchase of light rail vehicles isn’t the headlining agenda item. At Thursday’s packed-agenda Sound Transit Board meeting, the Board approved the vehicle buy, discussed the recent controversies relating to MVET valuations and Mercer Island litigation, and defended its record hiring disadvantaged businesses. But the big news […]
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by Frank Chiachiere on (#2MH6M)
Martin backpedals on zoning (1:30) Mayor’s race gets complicated (9:35) Fairness and fares (37:30) Tech shuttles and public parking spots (47:20) http://traffic.libsyn.com/seattletransitblog/STB_podcast_037.mp3
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by Martin H. Duke on (#2MD9C)
Zach Shaner, front page, above-the-fold ($) A peek at Tacoma Link’s new stations. Erica asks Mayoral candidate Mike McGinn a lot of questions about density. Governor Inslee noncommittal on car tab changes, says some good things about limiting Carbon. The “Seattle Partners†Key Arena proposal is the less car-centric ($) of the two. Move Seattle […]
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by Zach Shaner on (#2M9NA)
Over the past month the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has been quietly testing their new Intelligent Transportation Systems program on the Mercer Street corridor. Usually shorthanded to “signal retimingâ€, the $13m Move Seattle project creates a dynamic corridor that adapts to traffic conditions in real time. 32 signals have been updated with the new software […]
by Eric Wright on (#2M5H5)
It is relatively easy to find data and visualizations for residential population density. Here is a map of Seattle census tract densities via the City of Seattle, for example. But everyone who commutes to a job knows (sometimes painfully) that a static view of residential density is just a slice of a larger, dynamic landscape. […]
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by Brent White on (#2M2CM)
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by Brent White on (#2KZKS)
King County Metro rolled out two finalist options for an upcoming fare restructure Tuesday, as Zach reported: * Option A: $2.75, any time, anywhere * Option B: $2.50 off-peak, $3.00 peak Senior, disability, youth, low-income, and Access fares would not change. Previously, Metro had offered nine options for surveytakers’ priorities for the fare structure, using […]
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by Brent White on (#2KY1N)
Adoption of the conference committee report on the two-year transportation budget bill, Engrossed Senate Bill 5096, by the House 82-14-0-2 Thursday and the Senate 48-0-0-1 Friday sends the budget bill to the governor’s desk, unusually on time. Here is the text of the conference report bill. Staff analysis should be out within days.