Seattle Transit Blog

Amid the breaking news last week of the Sound Transit 3 Draft Plan Update, Sound Transit’s Q1 Ridership Report got a bit buried. The Q2 report will be far more consequential, being the first one with a full quarter of ULink ridership, but even so there are interesting (and mostly positive) trends from the Q1 data. […]

From signal lever boxes to computerized control rooms.

Sound Transit 3 materials have not said a lot about the agency’s successful South Sounder service. Most of the attention in that subregion has gone into extending the light rail “spine” into Tacoma. Sounder will actually have a quicker running time from Tacoma to Seattle, although Link may have its advantages for somewhat spontaneous Tacoma-Seattle trips, […]

Monday, May 30 is Memorial Day, which is the traditional final day of Northwest Folklife Festival, at the Seattle Center, wherein you will likely find hired petitioners gathering signatures for lots of state ballot initiatives, including possibly one or two initiatives designed to kick the legs out from under transit funding. If someone has a […]

Responding to universal angst about the pace of the Sound Transit 3 (ST3) Draft Plan, this afternoon the Sound Transit (ST) Board introduced a series of amendments that propose a leaner, faster Sound Transit 3 measure. The Board will vote on each of these amendments at its Special Meeting on June 2, ahead of a […]

Today’s the big day. At today’s Sound Transit (ST) Board Meeting, the Board will offer amendments to the Draft Plan released in March. Today is the single most consequential day in shaping what will be the final plan adopted in June. Will timelines change? Will new projects be added or projects cut? We’ll be tweeting […]

Pierce Transit asking really fundamental questions before service expansion. Data show I-405 HOT lanes are working, despite the complaining. Toby Nixon pushing a Willows Road Link routing ($) to keep rail off the CKC; somehow, the ideas keep getting goofier. Councilmember Lisa Herbold travels to U-District in solidarity with dedicated anti-density advocates like John Fox’s […]

Backyard cottages are popular in theory, yet few homeowners end up building them. Just 221 have been built in the nine years that they’ve been legal(far fewer than Vancouver), despite the fact that 75,000 lots in the city are eligible to have one. Councilmember Mike O’Brien, whose been on the cottage beat for several years now., is looking to increase […]

Martin and I chat briefly about big ST parties, and then go through the reader mailbag. Topics include alternatives for ST3, the Seattle Process, zoning, improvements to STB, and much much more. http://traffic.libsyn.com/seattletransitblog/STB_podcast_017.mp3 As always, you can subscribe in iTunes. Also, if you like the show, leave us a review.

When Move Seattle passed last November 3, the mood was jubilant. An expected nailbiter became a comfortable 17-point victory, with the beers flowing at the election night party at the Belltown Pub hastily morphing from a hedge against disappointment to the fuel of celebration. The city had put the War on Cars before voters and won, marking […]

BY SEATTLE SUBWAY As regional stakeholders continue to work on the inevitable push and pull of budgeting for a massive transit expansion, we want to make sure that a huge improvement to the Sound Transit 3 (ST3) system plan isn’t overlooked: designation of “provisional projects.” Adding provisional projects will cost next to nothing to implement […]

Last week, the US Census Bureau released 2015 population estimates by city. To nobody’s surprise, Seattle continues to grow rapidly, having added 15,300 more residents in the year ending June 2015. Seattle has grown by 74,000 residents (12.1%) in just five years. Seattle, for the third year in a row, is among the five fastest […]

Last December I made the modest proposal that the 5th and Madison Station in Sound Transit 3 move three, or even six, blocks east. This would reduce overlap with the existing tunnel stations. More importantly, it would bring First Hill — one of the densest neighborhoods in the Northwest, with three hospitals and Seattle University […]

The first part of New York City’s long awaited Second Avenue Subway, 2 miles and 3 new stations, is expected to open this December.

Yesterday, Sound Transit released its latest figures on ULink, including daily ridership for April. Weekday ridership is holding at roughly 60,000 per day, and two Fridays in April (8th and 29th) set new records at 82,000 weekday riders: In April we reported early ridership trends on Link light rail were beating expectations after opening two new stations […]

One of the ironies of land use policy around here is, relative to Seattle, suburban jurisdictions have often been willing to upzone more aggressively in advance of light rail’s arrival. Kent and Des Moines, for instance, jointly up zoned the Midway area for up to 200′, while nothing at Capitol Hill Station will exceed 7 stories […]

It’s been well over two months since our last listener mailbag. If there’s a question you’d like Frank and me to answer, put it in the comments and we’ll get to as many as we can. The podcast should air sometime next week.

There is a certain type of anti-transit writer whose perspective can be summarized as: “For every agency proposal n, the agency should instead do n-1.” When rail proposals are on the table, such writers often make substantive and seemingly pro-transit arguments for bus rapid transit (BRT) as a superior alternative for less capital cost. When BRT proposals are advanced, their arguments […]

Last week we wrote about technical problems delaying analysis of the First Hill Streetcar’s ridership. With the Automatic Passenger Counters (APCs) data transmission process broken, SDOT staff had noted that March ORCA data showed 50,000 boardings, or roughly 1,600 per day (though higher on weekdays and lower on weekends, of course). Yesterday SDOT’s Norm Mah […]

Gubernatorial candidate Bill Bryant (still!) opposes light rail on I-90, thinks WSDOT is too focused on transit (!). Kirkland leaders present their updated vision for ST3 and beyond. Sumner Sounder garage close to final approval. Mercer Island, building its case for least environmentally conscious city in the region, considers downzoning ($) around its light rail station. Seattle […]

Beginning next Monday, May 23, the Yesler Way bridge over 4th avenue will close for up to 16 months for a $20 million structural and seismic renovation, funded jointly by Move Seattle’s predecessor (Bridging the Gap) and by a Federal Highway Administration “Historic Bridge Replacement” grant. The 1910 y-shaped steel structure is Seattle’s oldest bridge, covering […]

The King County Council unanimously approved Metro’s September service change at its meeting Monday afternoon. Public testimony is from 36:17-51:35 of the video. Debate and action on the item is at 1:07-1:10 in the video. A line-up of eight speakers from various Asian immigrant communities testified in favor of proposed route 106, which creates a […]

BY FEET FIRST, TRANSPORTATION CHOICES COALITION, AND CASCADE BICYCLE CLUB Together, we believe that a waterfront rebuilt post­viaduct is an opportunity to shape the city into a more sustainable, safe, vibrant, accessible, and connected destination for people of all ages and abilities. While we stand by our original comments on the previously published DEIS, we […]

On May 5 at Sound Transit’s Executive Committee, Sound Transit Staff presented initial results of the ST3 Draft Plan public comment period that ended on May 2, and EMC Research presented the results of a separate region wide phone poll. After a Friday the 13th weekend, here are 13 takeaways from that presentation. #1: Huge Overall Response […]

a fascinating documentary from 50 years ago about the engineering and development of BART. They literally reinvented the wheel.

In a win for efficiency, operational speed, and regulatory simplicity, beginning today all Rapid Ride lines will allow 24/7 all-door boarding. Until today, the lines have reverted from proof-of-payment to traditional front door boarding after 7pm, causing unnecessary complexity and confusion for riders. The change comes after Metro management polled operators about the proposal, with […]

At Thursday’s meeting of Sound Transit’s Capital Committee, staff updated boardmembers on both the latest concepts for expediting ST3 project delivery and modifications to the ST3 financial plan. It was an excellent and substantive conversation, and we’ll post video when it becomes available. CEO Peter Rogoff’s presentation on project delivery was a particularly good primer on […]

Back in December we reported that the Office of the Waterfront would undertake a Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) to study removal of the planned bus lanes on the future Alaskan Way. There was some confusion at the time because no organized groups were agitating for such an outcome, and that all parties had generally […]

Parking in ST3 (4:50) HOV3 Lanes (28:00) Kirkland light rail (34:55) Paine spur (41:15) SE Seattle restructure (43:20) Overnight Link bus (56:00) Metro’s long-range plan (1:02:10) http://traffic.libsyn.com/seattletransitblog/STB_podcast_016.mp3 As always, you can subscribe in iTunes. Also, if you like the show, leave us a review.

Everett contemplates redeveloping the Everett Station area. Pierce Transit’s public feedback form is a service planning game. Subjecting fewer projects to design review would be a huge improvement. The next iteration of ORCA sounds cool, but won’t arrive earlier than 2019. A review of the new Seattle 2035 draft. Closing the viaduct wasn’t a disaster, […]

The Center City Connector project took another step forward with the recent publication of its Environmental Assessment (EA) documentation. A 30-day public comment period began Monday, with emailed comment accepted at centercitystreetcar@seattle.gov The EA process is a slimmed down version of the more familiar Environmental Impact Statement. Agencies proposing projects unlikely to have significant impacts may opt […]

While ULink is already setting ridership records, it’s easy for this North Capitol Hill resident to forget about the First Hill Streetcar, the beleaguered line that opened in late January after a series of delays and technical problems. Curious about the line’s ridership both before and after ULink, I asked SDOT for ridership data a couple weeks […]

Last summer we held our first fundraising drive, and I honestly had no idea what to expect. But many of you stepped up, and thanks to your support we were able to hire our first reporter. In the last year, I think Zach and the rest of the volunteer staff have done a fantastic job […]

County Councilmembers Joe McDermott and Larry Gossett kindly offered some reasons for supporting more bus service in southeast Seattle last Thursday. STB supports adding more service in southeast Seattle that delivers real improvements to riders, which means avoiding wasteful duplication. The councilmembers’ arguments failed to explain why these specific route restructures (in particular, the extension of route […]

It’s no subway, but Los Angeles once again has a train through the Westside to its world-famous beaches. The Metro Expo Line Phase II opens May 20. It’s been an exciting Spring for new rail openings this year.

After decades of deferred maintenance and neglect that has led to crashes, fires, and in some cases killing its own riders, the DC Metro will soon rip off the band aid with a year of painful closures and single-track operations affecting hundreds of thousands of riders. View the full closure details here. The intensive work will replace infrastructure […]

Expanded Seattle Housing Levy to go to voters in August. Is the YIMBY movement headed to Seattle? Q13 tackles transit etiquette. Proposed rezones in Lake City. As Jane Jacobs’ 100th birthday passes, she has two legacies: grassroots resistance to professional urban planners, and dense, walkable urban neighborhoods. Unfortunately the former is today mostly used to prevent […]

One criticism of stringing light rail lines along freeways is that one could achieve similar transit outcomes at vastly lower cost, by simply taking a freeway lane for transit. Failing that, adjusting HOV lane thresholds so that speeds remain high would achieve much of the benefit of entirely new right-of-way, except when an incident or […]

By King County Councilmembers Joe McDermott and Larry Gossett King County aims to deliver public transportation that grows access to jobs and education. Transit transforms communities and economies, helps address inequity, and plays a role in mitigating displacement. As STB has covered, the County Council is currently considering multiple changes to the bus network which […]

Today is the last day to fill in Metro’s Late Night Transit Service Survey if you haven’t already. It takes only a few minutes. Notably absent from the list of routes in the survey, which includes the streetcars and other ST buses, is Link light rail, despite a public petition calling for expanded service hours. […]

The following ST3 comment letter (PDF) was submitted by a coalition of 10 local progressive nonprofits. Dear Sound Transit Board Members, Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Sound Transit 3 (ST3) system plan and policies. The Transit Access Stakeholder group is a growing coalition of organizations that strongly supports connecting the Puget […]

This morning the King County Council’s Transportation, Economy, and Environment (TrEE) Committee unanimously passed an amended SE Seattle restructure for the September 10 service change. The restructure will now head before the full council later this month, where all signs point to its easy passage. As we’ve reported previously, if passed by the full committee […]

Sound Transit 3 is likely to spend nontrivial amounts of money on parking. The argument against agency-built parking is that it is among the least cost-efficient ways to spend money getting people to a station or bus stop. Furthermore, the land used for parking would best be used for dense development, which is revenue-positive. It creates ways for […]

Late last week Metro released initial ridership data for the newly-split Rapid Ride C and D lines. Though ridership had already been seeing Link-like growth rates hovering around 10%, Metro says that in the month since ULink opened and the restructure split the lines and added 50,000 new service hours, C-Line ridership is up a […]

A sinkhole has opened up just South of the Roosevelt Light Rail station on Sunday evening. According to a release from Sound Transit: Crews for Sound Transit’s Northgate Link light rail construction contractor are taking steps to fill a small sinkhole that emerged in front of a home on 12th Avenue Northeast near 62nd Street […]

A General Electric promotional film touting the benefits of rapid transit featuring scenes from various cities including Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, and Toronto, with a look ahead to San Francisco’s rapid transit project now known as BART.

This past Monday, Zach introduced STB riders to Metro’s new Long Range Plan. The plan sets forth an ambitious series of large-scale goals for Metro. Most prominently, it brings truly frequent service (15 minutes or better, daytime and early evenings) within a 10-minute walk of 70 percent of King County residents. While the plan is considerably […]

SDOT “four to five years away” (!) from really getting started at Mt. Baker Station. Embrace the changes ($) coming to the U-District. Commercial flights coming to Paine Field in 2017? What are Scott Kubly’s prospects? Seattle applies for federal grant ($) for Lander St. overpass. Cascade Bicycle Club wants more ST3 funds for bike […]