Seattle Transit Blog

Whether or not the current run-up in housing prices constitutes a “new bubble” is an open question, but it can’t be denied that the U.S. housing market is awash in investor capital, seeking outsize returns in a world where there aren’t many to be had. Case in point: Goldman Sachs bringing back the bubble-inflating CDO. […]

Community Transit announced Friday that the agency’s board of directors has approved the purchase of at least 57 buses to be delivered beginning next year. The buses ordered were part of three contracts awarded to three different manufacturers: Alexander Dennis for 17 double-decker (“Double Tall”) buses, Gillig for 26 40-foot buses to be used on […]

Roosevelt station progressing [DJC] Car makes illegal left, gets hit by light rail [KIRO] Sen. Reuven Carlyle reflects on ST3 after reading Zach… [Reuven Carlyle’s blog] … while Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon writes a full-throated rebuttal… [PubliCola] … and Rich Soltz of OneAmerica piles on [the Stranger] Wallace Properties – yes, that Kevin Wallace – making bank on […]

It’s high time for a resurrection of this blog’s classic Transit Report Card series, in which STB writers wildly generalize another city’s transit system based on limited experiences. I’m here to report from two separate car-free trips to Washington, D.C., home to the (in)famous Metrorail system. Over the course of two cumulative weeks in October and June, […]

Thursday evening at 7pm, the Shoreline Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on two ordinances (750, 751) that will formally adopt the the 145th Street Station Subarea Plan (145mb PDF). If you live in Lake City, Bitter Lake, Shoreline, or other nearby areas, the meeting could use urbanist support for the currently preferred Alternative 4. Set to […]

On primary election night, there were two nail-biter races for who would take the second spot on the November 8 general election ballot, involving candidates endorsed by this blog. The nail-biting is over, and the two upstarts endorsed by STB have advanced. In the wide-open race to replace longtime Congressman Jim McDermott to represent the […]

During a press conference Friday morning with U.S. Representatives Suzan DelBene (1st district) and Rick Larsen (2nd district), Community Transit CEO Emmett Heath introduced details about the upcoming second Swift bus rapid transit line, including the all-important line colors. As speculated during the planning process, the first line, which opened in 2009 and runs along Highway 99 […]

On Thursday, State Representative Reuven Carlyle (D-36) wrote a strongly-worded editorial on Publicola opposing Sound Transit 3 (ST3). By using much of the remaining property tax capacity, Carlyle says, ST3 “will suck the oxygen out of the room” and jeopardize the state’s ability to respond to the McCleary decision: I am unsettled that the package consumes […]

Across the region, there is a conversation going on about what the area around the new light rail stations will look like. Will cities upzone and encourage more dense development to maximize the use of the stations, or will they leave things as-is? It is helpful to look back at ST1 stations and see how […]

In addition to Metro’s recent release of preliminary bus restructure numbers, Sound Transit has also released a chart giving us a clearer picture of ULink’s station-level ridership through Q2. See above to draw your own conclusions, but here are a few noteworthy points: UW Station: At 9,200 boardings per day, UW Station has the 2nd most […]

Ridership and Crowding ($) (2:40) Not enough housing construction (16:10) Madison BRT improvements (23:50) Parking permits (30:00) ST3 costs (44:05) http://traffic.libsyn.com/seattletransitblog/STB_podcast_022.mp3 Note: apologies in advance for the microphone issues on Frank’s end. Sponsored by Talking Headways

The Metro restructure that accompanied the opening of Sound Transit’s University Link was the most significant service change in a generation. It undid decades-old travel patterns, killed a handful of routes, and created several new ones. It was rightfully controversial, and we covered it each step of the way (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7). […]

The completion of the Sound Transit 2 plan will more than double Sound Transit’s ridership from about 150 thousand today to 350 thousand, and ST3 will nearly double that again to between 561 and 695 thousand daily riders. The ST3 plan would result in 657 to 797 thousand daily transit riders in the region in 2040. Bench-marked against […]

Yesterday Sound Transit released its June ridership numbers, and Link appears to have found its new equilibrium: 65,000 weekday riders. Weekday ridership was nearly identical to may (down 0.7%), while total Link ridership of 1.8m boardings was up 1% over May 2016. These figures still represent 69% growth over June 2015. However, June did set one […]

Angle Lake Station parking garage, to feature $5/month carpool parking permits starting Opening Day – Sounder Bruce The Operations & Administration Committee of the Sound Transit Board took action Thursday on several contracts, including the selection of the contractor to operate Sound Transit’s soon-to-be-permanent permit parking program. Republic Parking Northwest submitted the winning bid to […]

Closed bridges mean bus reroutes between 12:30 and 3:30 pm (Sounder Bruce) Seafair weekend (this Friday-Sunday, August 5-7) will once again feature free Metro-operated shuttles between Columbia City Station and the main gate for viewing the hydroplane races at Genesee Park. The shuttles will run 5:45 am to 8 pm all three days. As an […]

When I read Erica Barnett’s piece yesterday about a small Phinney Ridge apartment project sent back to Design Review for a 4th time, I thought of my religious upbringing and Jesus’ lament in Matthew 23:24 : “You blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.” Despite recent positive moves toward a more aggressively pro-housing stance, including […]

Now that we’ve itemized three waves of projects that ST3 would deliver (1, 2 ,3), you might wonder how much this project will actually cost. There are a lot of numbers, some of them very large, that have circulated over the last year or so. But how much is it really going to cost? I don’t want […]

Bellevue to put a transportation property tax measure ($) on November’s ballot. Why you don’t see more 3-car trains. Issaquah’s $50m transportation bond in November includes a handful of bike lanes. Pierce Transit buses to get security cameras and free Wi-Fi by the end of the year. The premise of this Danny Westneat column ($) is […]

The initial vote counts are in. STB Endorsees are in bold. Several statewide results are of interest to transit and density advocates: Jay Inslee leads Bill Bryant 49-38 and Patty Murray leads Chris Vance 53-28. In the 7th Congressional District, Pramila Jayapal (38%) will face either Brady Walkinshaw (21%) or Joe McDermott (21%). In the […]

This week the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) will debut its 30% design for Rapid Ride on the Madison Street corridor between 1st Avenue and MLK. Back at the 10% concept design late last year, we lamented the reliance on Business Access and Transit lanes in the downtown core, as well as the complete lack of […]

Everett Transit and Pierce Transit are the lucky recipients of federal grants to purchase new buses powered by electric batteries, similar to those operated by King County Metro on the Eastside. The Federal Transit Administration’s “Low or No Emission Vehicle Program” awarded $55 million in grants to 21 transit agencies nationwide. Everett Transit will use its $3.4 […]

When I drive my Subaru downtown, which I do several times a week for business, I feel something I don’t often feel as a transit rider: I feel respected. Not only do I have all the traditional power of wielding heavy machinery, but I have vast city resources at my disposal. Despite taking up an […]

Tuesday, August 2 is primary election day. It’s time to fill out your ballot and mail it in (with 1st class postage, worth at least 47 cents), take your ballot to the nearest drop box, or get in line at an accessible voting center. You must get your ballot postmarked by Tuesday, drop it at […]

Nearly accurate rendition of the LADOT logo in a cartoon.

Peak hour queue to exit Capitol Hill Station — photo by SounderBruce — Flickr Those of you who have spent any time at UW Station, Capitol Hill Station, Mt Baker Station, Tukwila International Boulevard Station, or SeaTac Airport Station may have noticed something obvious about the station escalators. They usually involve long queues in only […]

At yesterday’s Sound Transit Board meeting, CEO Peter Rogoff gave board members a brief update on new Link vehicle procurement planned for 2018 (see video below from 4’30” to 6’30”). The 122-car order went out to bid late last year, and Rogoff told the board that ST would soon issue a Notice of Award to Siemens […]

During Thursday’s meeting of the Sound Transit Board, a motion was approved to order 32 double-decker buses from Alexander Dennis for $33 million. The order is a joint procurement with Community Transit and Kitsap Transit for a total of 143 total buses; Community Transit will receive 57 buses for its commuter routes and Kitsap Transit will receive 11; Sound Transit […]

Primary endorsements Bertha overruns TRU and low-income fares Seattle loves light rail Driverless cars Adventures with Car2Go in Everett http://traffic.libsyn.com/seattletransitblog/STB_podcast_021.mp3

Sound Transit – Angle Lake Testing 30 second from Sound Transit Video on Vimeo. Wednesday afternoon Sound Transit (ST) gave media a short preview of Angle Lake Station. The 1.6 mile extension south of SeaTac Airport will open some time in late September (exact date to be announced soon), and the project is also running […]

David Rolf righteously demolishes the record of neighborhood councils ($). Yonah Freemark reviews the transportation platforms of the federal parties and candidates. Spoiler alert: the Democrats are better. Sammamish Council split on ST3; comments narrowly focus on Sammamish, not thinking as a subarea, much less a region. The Seattle City Council killed microhousing, and hundreds […]

Sound Transit has a series of ads and art wraps out on Link Light Rail trains reminding passengers not to hog space in various ways. When someone takes up two seats, either by putting their belongings on the adjoining seat (if the stuff could have fit under the seat or on their lap), or taking […]

The planned move of Tacoma’s Amtrak station to Freighthouse Square, already home to Tacoma Dome Station, moved closer to fruition on July 13, as local officials celebrated the start of construction. Secretary of Transportation Roger Millar was joined by Tacoma mayor Marilyn Strickland at the Tacoma Dome Station plaza, and both spoke about the change […]

These are Seattle Transit Blog’s endorsements for the August 2, 2016 primary elections. As always, we choose candidates entirely based on their positions and record on transit and land use. The primary only decides initiatives and races with at least two candidates, so that’s what we cover here. Seattle Proposition 1, The Housing Levy Renewal: […]

City Limits, Laurence Hyde, National Film Board of Canada

King County Metro has put out a survey on managing their parking at park & rides. Metro needs a push from the public to take the leap into doing management programs even as tepid as what Sound Transit has done, and are fully aware people also use their parking lots to go to businesses nearby. […]

After a couple years of being coy about inevitable overruns, yesterday the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) informed lawmakers that 4-year delays actually do cost money. WSDOT Acting Secretary Roger Millar said that the new best-case scenario is a $223m cost overrun and an additional year of delay, putting the tunnel opening into early 2019. […]

On Wednesday, July 20, County Executive Dow Constantine and the King County Council held an event to celebrate passage of a proposal to spend $87 million to build workforce housing near train stations and other transit centers. The plan will raise the money from bonds backed by hotel/motel tax revenue which will start to be […]

Imagine you’re a woman, living with a husband and two kids, your elderly mother and disabled sister. Your husband works full-time and often overtime, perhaps as a security guard; he makes more than minimum wage but not a lot more. You would get a paying job too, but your time is taken up with caregiving. […]

Mayor Murray blows up the unrepresentative “district council” model. Metro bike racks violate state law, but WSDOT can (and will) issue one-year waivers to allow them to continue operating. Pierce Transit spending $3m to improve transit centers and park-and-ride next year. Republican platform wants to cut transit and Amtrak funding. Montlake Blvd design is highway-like. Meeting […]

Seattle Times columnist Danny Westneat was out with a piece yesterday – “At Last, Seattle Loves Its Light Rail” – ($) that describes Link’s 83% ridership jump as a tipping point from our “recalcitrant” Lesser Seattle instincts to our inevitable Big City future. It’s a good piece, and I encourage to read the whole thing, but here […]

Designs for Move Seattle’s “RapidRide Plus” will be rolled over the next few years. It has become clearer of late that the “Plus” meant “Rapid Ride Plus Other Things”, not plus as in “better than Rapid Ride”. SDOT views these not as transit corridors, but as multimodal corridors (something that wasn’t necessarily clear to voters last fall). […]

Though the light rail projects in Sound Transit 3 (ST3) took up most of the oxygen during the run-up to the Board vote to put the measure on the ballot, there was less public discussion about station access. Advocacy groups won $100m for a Station Access Fund (consisting of things like sidewalks, signalization, bicycle lanes and […]

After studies, drafts, public comment, more drafts, amendments, and so on, you might be a little confused about what exactly is in Sound Transit 3 (ST3). This is the third of a brief ST3 reference series (2019-2024 here, 2030-2036 here) about what’s in the package that we’ll vote on in November. Today, the two last […]

If driverless cars become universal, then running buses will become much more economical, too:

May was another impressive month for Sound Transit ridership, with the latest ridership report showing weekday Link ridership at 65,000 daily boardings, up 83% over May 2015 (36k), and up even 8% over April 2016 (60k). Link set records for total boardings, at 1.8m, and will likely continue to set records through October, when seasonal patterns […]