Seattle Transit Blog

I was going to write a final piece about I-732 is a very important ballot measure, arguably more important than ST3, but Ramez Naam’s essay is perfect. Capitol Hill and First Hill upzone proposals. Tacoma Transit goes deep on the potential PT restructure. New zoning “bargain” will make it harder for new construction in poor […]

One of the most practical objections to agency-built parking is that it is a very expensive way to lure a rider to the system. The tens of thousands of dollars spent to build a space could fund other capital improvements that would also build ridership, while using the land more intensively would cost nothing and […]

Whether you think of park and ride lots as a necessary service for suburban transit or a sprawl-inducing evil, we can hopefully agree that maximizing utilization of existing parking capacity near transit is a good thing. With that idea in mind, WSDOT conducted an interesting evaluation of park and rides (via KIRO). They visited 17 lots in […]

Local climate scientists strongly urge a YES vote on I-732. PSRC declares ST3 conforms to regional goals. No-on-ST3 campaign funded by all the right enemies. Seattle task force to address bike safety and the CCC. West Seattle Water Taxi breaks ridership record, around what a middling bus line carries. Lake Forest Park Council endorses ST3. So […]

Vancouver’s C-Tran, one of the largest suburban transit agencies in the state, will open its bus rapid transit system, “The Vine“, on Sunday, January 8, during a weekend of celebrations. It is the first bus rapid transit system in the Portland region, and has been over a half-decade in the making. The $53 million project […]

Replacing Pronto: Part 1, Part 2 (5:10) ST3 isn’t perfect, but it’s good (27:20) Crosscut: the history of Forward Thrust (33:30) Metro multifamily Park & Ride pilot (41:10) http://traffic.libsyn.com/seattletransitblog/STB_podcast_027.mp3

This is from a meeting of the 34th District Democrats on July 16. Video by West Seattle Blog

In 2016 Cascades performance numbers are getting better. Ridership, on time performance, recovery rate, and other metrics, as of August, are better than last year and likely the past two years. Cascades 2016 ridership data looks very promising. 2016 is currently a better year than both 2015 and 2014 when comparing ridership totals up to […]

Municipal League Foundation endorses ST3. The Tacoma News-Tribune is also on board. But Sammamish is a no. Metro pilot program will help passengers find private parking spaces near routes. A focus group suggests people are willing to pay $44 to $110 per month for a guaranteed space. Seattle’s mode splits for commuters. Kitsap experimenting with an […]

OFF THE RAILS – Official Trailer from Adam Irving on Vimeo. Sorry for the late notice, but this movie is screening at Grand Cinema in Tacoma on TODAY at 2pm (part of the Tacoma Film Festival).

Bike racks at Metro base, photo by VeloBusDriver Recently, a couple applicants for King County Metro driving positions who were turned down complained they were turned down for not owning cars. I checked with Jeff Switzer, at King County Department of Transportation, who told me car ownership is not a requirement. However, you will need […]

The I-5 express lanes are an underutilized asset. A relic of the days when peak flow into Downtown by car was the primary engineering concern, the express lanes generally flow freely with the exception of single-occupancy vehicles clogging the ramps at Mercer and Stewart. Meanwhile, reverse-peak freeway transit is probably one of the most miserable […]

If ST3 wins / if ST3 loses (4:30) Metro budget (25:20) Center City Connector funded (32:30) South Lake Union tech shuttles (37:10) http://traffic.libsyn.com/seattletransitblog/STB_podcast_026.mp3

The election for Pierce County Executive may not seem relevant to our efforts for mass transit in our city and region. However, this year’s Pierce County Executive election will be pivotal for us. Rick Talbert, a strong mass transit advocate, is facing Bruce Dammeier, a vocal opponent to Sound Transit 3. The next Pierce County […]

Seattle ready to waive some environmental process for infill development. Stabbing at TIBS. Fourth Avenue quietly gets a bus lane. ST survey shows that Link riders mostly walk to the train, and most of the rest take the bus. Riders are also disproportionately poor. Not really news, and I’m not one to hit a news […]

The worst case scenario has occurred. Regional voters have turned away from the generational opportunity to expand traffic-separated transit, listening instead to a series of micro-objections about marketing budgets and email address management. Or perhaps they blanched at a $54 billion price tag that didn’t really mean anything. And at least a few voters thought that if they voted […]

The STB Editorial Board is starting work on its General Election Endorsements. If there are any non-obvious races where a particular candidate stands out on transit or land use, please let us know in the comments. Links to your claims about the candidate are very much appreciated.

It’s transit maps in motion! Here’s a really well done presentation of the rapid transit projects in Measure M, which is Los Angeles County’s version of ST3 Regional Prop 1.

Martin was a guest on a recent episode of the Seattle Growth Podcast, which covered transportation. Martin starts at the 30 minute mark, but the interview with SDOT director Scott Kubly is interesting as well. You can listen right here: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/284892469-seattlegrowthpodcast-ep-10-seattle-transportation.mp3 I’ve been enjoying the series from the first episode. If you’re interested in diving […]

@SeaTransitBlog @SoundTransit #MitchHedberg pic.twitter.com/1bpImyY7t2 — Kevin Pittman (@KevnTweets) September 29, 2016 The only exception I can think of is SeaTac Airport Station, where most passengers are pulling wheeled luggage. Addendum 1: All escalators at UW Station were working Friday, when they were desperately needed. Thank you, Sound Transit, for making sure they were all in […]

Nat Levy, GeekWire: Amazon plans to debut its own pilot commuter service Monday, joining the ranks of major tech companies that offer private shuttles as a perk to employees and a way to counteract the headaches caused by traffic congestion, GeekWire has learned. “Amazon Ride” will run six times in the morning and six times in the evening at 20 […]

Seattle and Vancouver leaders bat around ideas for genuine High-Speed Rail. They could start here. KCDOT looking for a new communications manager. Big transit measures on the ballot all over the country. Siemens LRV order, first reported here, now final. South Sounder delays for the rest of the year due to track construction in Auburn. […]

On Monday, County Executive Dow Constantine released his $11.3B biennial budget proposal for King County, and the Metro portion of the budget represents a positive and ambitious forecast for the next two years, and one that telegraphs the expected adoption of the Long Range Plan in the next few months. The proposal adds 300,000 total […]

The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) is hosting their conference in Seattle as I write this. If you’re one of the urbanists pouring into our fair city this week, you may be interested in the article we wrote for Rail~volution in 2013, which focuses on attractions in Seattle of interest to urbanists and transit […]