 |
by Daniel Hodun on (#2E4C8)
[Editor’s Note: the author is not employed by Community Transit, and the restructure ideas presented here are entirely his own.] Community Transit currently has 19 routes that serve Downtown Seattle and the University District during peak commuter hours. In 2023, Westlake-Lynnwood travel times on Link will be 28 minutes with trains coming up to every […]
|
Seattle Transit Blog
| Link | https://seattletransitblog.com/ |
| Feed | https://feeds.feedburner.com/seattletransitblog/rss |
| Updated | 2026-10-29 10:11 |
 |
by Brent White on (#2E0Y7)
Full text of the address is available here. This is an open thread.
|
|
by Brent White on (#2DXZZ)
Friday was the last day for bills in the state legislature to get out of fiscal or transportation committees. Budget bills are exempt from that cut-off. The next cut-off is 5 pm on Wednesday, March 8, when bills have be out of their original house. 33 transit-related bills survived Friday’s cut-off in the House. Passed […]
|
 |
by Bruce Englehardt on (#2DV6H)
Beginning Sunday, March 12, Community Transit will add 40 new weekly trips on 11 routes, increasing late-night service on two major corridors, adding mid-day frequency in Lynnwood and expanding DART paratransit service hours. As we reported last year, the trips will combine for a total of 6,300 hours, and will be followed by a large service […]
|
|
by Martin H. Duke on (#2DTH2)
Sen. Dino Rossi sponsoring anti-Sound Transit, anti-tolling bills straight out of 2000. Pierce Transit starting a bus from downtown to Pt. Defiance this June. Burke-Gilman missing link ($) lurching toward a conclusion. Seattle Council unanimously approves U-District upzone ($) after O’Brien, Sawant, and Herbold fail to water it down. Urban planning workshops over the next week for […]
|
 |
by Zach Shaner on (#2DQ65)
Last night the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) kicked off planning for the five additional RapidRide corridors promised in 2015’s Move Seattle levy. The Draft Seattle RapidRide Expansion Program Report rolls two projects already underway – Madison Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and Roosevelt High Capacity Transit (HCT) – into a single process that includes the next […]
|
by Martin H. Duke on (#2DPBK)
Seattle’s transit service winds down around 1 AM on most nights. The evenings of July 4th and December 31st, with big crowds (drunkenly) watching late fireworks, are two nights where that seems less than adequate. Metro is typically reluctant to add additional trips that are hard to usefully publicize, and Sound Transit sticks to its […]
by Brent White on (#2DKAP)
Last Friday was the final day for bills in the State Legislature to get out of a committee, with the exception of fiscal and transportation committees, and bills necessary to budgets. Fifteen bills related to housing supply passed out of a House committee by yesterday’s cut-off. House Bill 1085, sponsored by Rep. Brian Blake (D […]
|
by Brent White on (#2DJJW)
A Pierce Transit employee was killed Tuesday evening after being run over by a bus at the headquarters, located in Lakewood. Names of the victim and the driver of the bus were not released Tuesday night. KOMO is updating its coverage frequently, for the latest details. Our condolences go to family of the deceased, and […]
|
|
by Zach Shaner on (#2DGYT)
[Update 2: A reader sent in the scanner traffic reporting the incident. Listen below.] [Update: Sound Transit worked through the night to fix track and signal damage, and service returned to normal Wednesday morning.] Around 8:30pm Tuesday a person driving a white Chevy Tahoe SUV collided at high speed with Link at Holgate Street in Sodo. […]
|
by Zach Shaner on (#2DFZD)
After a year of process in 2015 and extensive (and often heated) public participation, Metro and Sound Transit mostly bit the bullet and forged ahead with aggressive bus restructures to feed the University Link extension. Storied routes such as the 71/72/73 were deleted or shortened, the once-highest ridership line in the city (Route 48) was […]
by David Lawson on (#2DE69)
It’s time to make Third Avenue into Seattle’s first transit mall. Tomorrow. Or, at least, late next year, once the remaining buses have to leave the downtown tunnel. The City of Seattle should ban all* non-transit motor vehicles from Third, 24/7. Banning cars completely would: Increase the bus capacity of Third Speed up bus travel Allow more efficient […]
by Martin H. Duke on (#2DAS8)
I was as happy as anyone when SDOT installed OneBusAway kiosks at major downtown bus stops. Although getting real-time data on one’s phone is a huge advance, there is no substitute for an easy-to-read sign present at the stop. As the picture at right attests, however, the flat-panel TVs in these kiosks have significant maintenance […]
|
The SPIRE Plan Becomes Our Region’s Surest Bet for Express Rail Service: A Mapped, Annotated Update.
by Troy Serad on (#2D9PR)
NOTE: This post is copied in its entirety from an article I wrote, titled With Major Revisions, the SPIRE Plan Becomes Our Region’s Surest Best for Express Rail Service: A Mapped, Annotated Update. It is the latest entry of my blog, Transportation Matters, a Pacific Northwest-flavored blog that discusses railway planning, urban planning, and related politics. <>————-<>————-<>————-<>————-<> […]
|
 |
by Bruce Englehardt on (#2D82Z)
At Friday’s regular board meeting, the Sound Transit Board heard a report about the state of elevators and escalators on the Link light rail system. Some stations, like University of Washington, are not meeting the escalator availability standard because of frequent and long-term outages that is being blamed on premature component failure, among other […]
|
by Brent White on (#2D4VK)
On Monday, the City of Mercer Island City Council voted to sue Sound Transit and the Washington State Department of Transportation. On Friday, the Sound Transit Board of Directors returned the favor. MOTION NO. M2017-20 A motion of the Board of the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority authorizing legal action against the City of […]
 |
by Zach Shaner on (#2D1G6)
Looking to foster greater ties with our Canadian neighbor, last fall Microsoft sponsored the Emerging Cascadia Innovation Corridor Conference in Vancouver. Many of the issues discussed were as you’d expect: the flow of skilled labor between the U.S. and Canada, easing of trade restrictions, and pre-emptive fear of the then-ridiculous prospect of a Trump presidency. Seemingly out […]
|
|
by Martin H. Duke on (#2CX84)
The failure that caused a five-hour Link stoppage ($). WSDOT has a new “Active Transportation Division.†Distracted driving bill rolling along ($). Pedestrian injuries and ORCA LIFT underutilization. This story about an affordable housing lottery ($) is heartbreaking. Bonney Lake P&R now has bike lockers. This is a nice summary of the state of bike investment. […]
|
by Brent White on (#2CTS1)
A bill to give wheelchair-accessible taxis access to HOV lanes and a bill to give motorcycles access to some transit lanes are moving forward in the State Senate. Committee Substitute Senate Bill 5018, by the Senate Transportation Committee, and originally by Sens. Bob Hasegawa (D – Renton) and Patty Kuderer (D – Clyde Hill), would […]
|
by Frank Chiachiere on (#2CRZZ)
More on One Center City Should ST have an elected board? (17:30) Tolling freeways (29:11) High-speed rail to Vancouver (34:55) http://traffic.libsyn.com/seattletransitblog/STB_podcast_034.mp3
|
 |
by Zach Shaner on (#2CPHW)
Last October we reported on a partnership between Metro and SDOT to overhaul the last remnants of the vestigial night owl network (defined as service between 2:15-4:30am). The plan announced then would eliminate Routes 82/83/84 while beefing up service on a number of key corridors: If approved by the County Council, the proposal would boost total […]
|
by Zach Shaner on (#2CKNB)
Update: Sound Transit CEO Peter Rogoff released a statement on the Mercer Island City Council’s votes to pursue a lawsuit and permitting moratoria seeking to block the upcoming start of construction of East Link light rail in the center lanes of I-90 across Lake Washington. At a packed City Council meeting Monday evening, the City […]
by Zach Shaner on (#2CHBE)
Last week Commute Seattle came out with its biennial Modesplit Survey, showing more incremental progress towards a culture of walking, biking, and taking transit to work. In follow up discussions both internally and in comment threads, we’ve wondered about the balance between this cultural shift and the way we allocate our right-of-way. As One Center City prepares […]
|
by Brent White on (#2CE1H)
The Point Defiance Bypass Project will change the face of heavy rail service in Pierce County by the end of this year. You have only a few months left to take in the view around Ruston. Reminder: South Sounder will only be running between Puyallup and Seattle (serving all stations in between) from the afternoon […]
|
by Brent White on (#2CAX0)
Olympia Transit Center, photo by SounderBruce / flickr A pair of bills would give Thurston County’s Intercity Transit (IT) the authority to go to the voters and ask for an additional 0.3% sales tax authority. The current IT tax rate is 0.8%, out of 0.9% authorized by the state. Sales tax provides 3/4 of IT’s […]
by Brent White on (#2C79M)
Sound Transit had the right idea when it proposed a new route, ST Express 591, from Tacoma to north downtown Seattle via the Seneca St exit from I-5, in its 2015 Service Implementation Plan (page 94). The proposal included forcing riders from Tacoma currently riding ST Express 586 to transfer to Link Light Rail to […]
 |
by Zach Shaner on (#2C42W)
More people are driving into Downtown Seattle than ever, and car commuting is at its lowest rate in the modern era. Both of these statements are true. This morning Commute Seattle released its 4th biennial “Modesplit Survey†capturing commute trends in Seattle’s Center City – see our coverage of the 2012 and 2014 surveys – and the results show […]
|
|
by Martin H. Duke on (#2C316)
5 million ORCA LIFT trips last year. ST’s train etiquette campaign. Seattle seeking data on Uber and Lyft’s impact on traffic. Bike stakeholders not happy with One Center City planning. SDOT’s trucks designed to be safe for bikes. Boise’s transit not adequate. Update on ST projects in Renton. KIRO talks driverless trains. The concern about […]
|
 |
by Zach Shaner on (#2C055)
As the One Center City project proposes removing SR 520 buses from Downtown Seattle, minor design flaws at UW Station will become all the more prominent, and the success of truncating buses at UW depends on fixing them. There is enormous promise for the concept. Route 545, for example, spends half its running time between International District […]
|
 |
by Zach Shaner on (#2BYWG)
Snow days are hard on agencies. Imagine chaining hundreds of buses and fundamentally altering your network on short notice. Doing so protects rider safety and is very necessary in a hilly town, but it causes a lot of pain too: it breaks transfers, hoses real-time information, leaves large network gaps (cough, First Hill or Wedgwood), and […]
|
|
by Brent White on (#2BTMD)
ST Express 550 in Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel / photo by SounderBruce on flickr The One Center City bus restructure plan rolled out on January 26 contains some painful proposals, terminating ST Express 550 at International District / Chinatown Station, turning most of the West Seattle and Burien peak express routes (37, 55, 56, 57, […]
|
by Zach Shaner on (#2BPHF)
After multiple warm winters and a few false starts during this cold one, the Seattle metro area finally got a substantial amount of snow Sunday night. Nearly a foot has fallen in places like Bonney Lake, with 2-3 inches here in Seattle. Metro is reporting numerous cancellations and serious delays throughout the system this morning, and buses […]
|
by Brent White on (#2BJTF)
King County Metro started offering free carpool parking permits at six park & ride lots on February 1.
|
|
by Brent White on (#2BFHA)
Crowded southbound train at University Street Station during evening rush hour Photo by SounderBruce, flickr Sound Transit CEO Peter Rogoff gave us a tight range on the practical maximum number of light rail vehicles (LRVs) that can be in service at one time regularly given the current fleet, in one of his Board reports last […]
|
by Zach Shaner on (#2BCZB)
Standing up to demands for perpetual privilege, WSDOT has informed the city of Mercer Island that its 40-year special access to high occupancy lanes will end in June. At that time, the I-90 express lanes will permanently close for the 6-year construction of East Link, and additional HOV lanes will be added in the main […]
 |
by Calvin Tonini on (#2BBYT)
This past Thursday evening the City of Redmond held a public meeting about bus and rail planning for the future Downtown Redmond light rail station, part of the City’s ongoing Downtown planning. The City asked the public to give feedback about four station area concepts, with the eventual goal of providing the City’s recommended station area […]
|
by Zach Shaner on (#2B8M5)
In one of the first tangible signs that the Point Defiance Bypass is coming to a close this year, Sounder trains will not serve Tacoma, South Tacoma, or Lakewood from February 17-22. During the 6-day closure, crews will prepare to open the south track of the new Tacoma Trestle. Despite it being a 6-day closure, […]
|
by Martin H. Duke on (#2B79T)
ST escalators keep failing ($). Car2Go rolls out 200 4-door Mercedes vehicles, increasing options for multiple passengers. Erica on where HALA went wrong. Rob Johnson spearheading a badly needed upzone. KCDOT hiring a position in public engagement. As promised, ST tightens rules about ordering stops in Link service. 450 more spaces for Kent Sounder by 2024, […]
|
by Zach Shaner on (#2B37F)
Earlier this month the Kent Reporter had a story about disagreements between the Kent City Council and Sound Transit on restroom facilities at its two Kent stations (Kent/Des Moines and Star Lake/272nd). For the more dramatic account, see KOMO. Back when Kent was adopting its (impressive) rezone for the Kent “Midway†area in advance of light rail, the […]
|
by Frank Chiachiere on (#2AZMN)
Panic at the port Funding for sanctuary cities (7:40) Link to Federal Way (12:35) Eastside bike share (23:45) One Center City (25:35) http://traffic.libsyn.com/seattletransitblog/STB_podcast_033.mp3
|
 |
by Martin H. Duke on (#2AYQT)
Last year Zach reported on a Republican bill in the legislature that would replace the current, appointed Sound Transit Board with an elected one. Politicians don’t mess with an agency’s governance when it’s on the right track, so we can only assume HB 1029 is an attempt to fundamentally change ST’s trajectory from the one […]
|
 |
by Zach Shaner on (#2ATJQ)
SeaTac Airport was busy Saturday with protest of President Trump’s executive orders restricting travel rights by country of origin. Early in the day dignitaries – including Governor Inslee, Mayor Murray, County Executive Constantine, Rep. Jayapal, and Rep. DelBene – held a joint press conference at SeaTac condemning the orders. As part of a wave of […]
|
|
by Brent White on (#2AQ15)
|
 |
by Jason Shindler on (#2AKNG)
As reported in 2015, Seattle’s Pronto Bike Share was on the move to the Eastside, thanks to a $5.5 million budget allocation from the Legislature to King County Metro. It was originally slated to move forward by this June, but now it seems to be stuck in the mud. Pronto’s collapse seems to have slowed State […]
|
by Zach Shaner on (#2AH1K)
The beleaguered Washington Metro finally gets some praise, handling it’s inaugural ‘stress test’ pretty well. Foxes in the henhouse: President Trump taps his two biggest Washington supporters, Doug Ericksen (R-Ferndale) and Former Senator Don Benton to lead the EPA transition team. Ericksen will stay in the State Senate and do both jobs. Meanwhile, State Senator […]
by Brent White on (#2AG5S)
The Sound Transit Board met for its first meeting of 2017 Thursday, elected its new leadership, selected the alignment for Federal Way Link, and approved several construction contracts. To start things off, Dave Somers (Snohomish County Executive) was elected the new board chair, while John Marchione (Mayor of Redmond) and Marilyn Strickland (Mayor of Tacoma) […]
by Zach Shaner on (#2ACWE)
At a media briefing this morning, Metro, SDOT, Sound Transit, and the Downtown Seattle Association revealed draft near term concepts for the One Center City Plan. Borne of perceived emergency due to expedited Convention Center construction and the removal of buses from the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (DSTT), the plan offers surprisingly aggressive options for […]
by David Lawson on (#2AB5A)
About nine months ago, Metro released a draft of its first Long Range Plan in quite some time. We were enthusiastic about the plan, which lays out a comprehensive vision for the Metro of the future, including network, Sound Transit integration, facilities, fleet, and capital improvements. We nerded out over some of the network planning ideas, […]
by Zach Shaner on (#2A7WT)
Saturday’s Womxns’ Marches were unprecedented in their breadth of participation, drawing 120,000 in Seattle and nearly 4 million across the country (and it’s worth nothing that President Trump’s 320 campaign rallies drew 1.8 million total). Beginning in a low-density neighborhood park and bisecting downtown on its way to Seattle Center, the march was fairly disruptive […]
by Adam Schechter on (#2A764)
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray’s Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA) initiative is advancing through the cycles of public comment and feedback. One of the major venues is an online tool hosted at http://hala.consider.it, where each neighborhood’s proposing zoning changes are detailed and commented on individually. Unfortunately, a quick trip last weekend through the current opinion “levels†[…]