Seattle Transit Blog

After WSDOT closed both Snoqualmie Pass and Stevens Passes on Christmas Eve due to ten feet (3 meters) of snow, I watched on social media as my friends trying to head east for a Spokane Christmas either despondently stayed home or pressed on by driving to Spokane via Portland. With bus service also shut down and flights packed, […]

Stations from Snowday on Vimeo. Like channel surfing but for subway stations.

I-732 is a statewide initiative planned for next fall that would impose a statewide carbon tax and use the proceeds to reduce the sales tax by 1 point, essentially eliminate the B&O tax on manufacturing, and provide a tax credit for low-income households. Many liberal groups, including Governor Inslee, would instead like to use the […]

The two new U Link stations will introduce a new way of delivering information to passengers but the design needs to be more user-friendly. Unlike the LED signs at Link stations today, the new stations use flat panel screens. When I went by UW Station last month, I was not impressed with the test screens I saw. Sound Transit told me […]

How federal law makes trains too expensive. High altitudes may get snow over the holiday. Check Metro route status here. ST approves $1.2 billion 2016 budget; biggest items are North Link ($165m) and East Link ($203m) construction. New ST Board chairs same as the old chairs: Dow Constantine in charge, Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland and […]

As we settle into wintry gloom, here is another set of cheery tunes: “70s they have passed us by”, to the tune of “Angels we have heard on high” about how we cannot wait for the new LINK stations to open, and “Here we come a-Walkering”, urbanist facts made pellucid by Jarrett Walker, Donald Shoup, et […]

Last Week Heidi Groover described the 2016 committee assignments under incoming Council President Bruce Harrell. These committees are the figures that do the most to shape legislation in their subject areas. Of most interest to STB readers are Sustainability and Transportation, which manages Seattle’s bus service purchases, Move Seattle implementation, and Seattle’s rights of way; Planning, […]

Last week, County Executive Dow Constantine transmitted an ordinance to the King County Council containing proposed changes to Metro’s Strategic Plan and Service Guidelines. These are a big deal for King County bus riders; they will shape how Metro service evolves over the next decade or so. There is a lot to digest in the […]

‘Tis the season for songs of cheer, and no reason that some shouldn’t be about public transit! May these songs bring readers cheer and light as they wait for the coming of their coach. Please feel free to add your own — you know you’ve been thinking “Oh ST3, Oh ST3…” for the last week. ‘East-West Run […]

Last week I described the overall goals for the RapidRide program. Today I’ll look at all the corridors themselves. Keep in mind that everything described here comes from the Transit Master Plan addendum and represents early-stage ideas. This will all be refined through community input as these routes are designed and implemented over the next seven years. […]

SDOT dropped the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) for Madison BRT on Friday. The outreach phase, which included surveys and public comment, showed that the public valued transit reliability and pedestrian safety. Speed of autos and parking were low on the list, so good on everyone who showed up and commented. There’s nothing too surprising in the report […]

Metro announced today that, as part of the U-Link restructure scheduled for March 2016, it will change route 10 to use John St and Olive Wy, rather than Pine St, between 15th Ave E and Bellevue Ave E. The change comes in response to concerns that the previous final restructure plan, as modified by Metro […]

It is that time of year again, to pay attention to the special holiday week schedules at King County Metro, along with holiday and holiday eve service reductions on other agencies around the region. King County Metro will run a UW Reductions schedule, cancelling designated trips on routes 31, 32, 48, 65, 67, 68, 75, […]

For a city that prides itself on its green reputation, it may surprise you to learn that only 1 in 4 Seattle households lives near frequent transit, where the bus or train comes every 10 minutes or less. That’s not King County, mind you…. that’s within the city limits. If we’re going to get more people […]

Toll lanes successful ($) in providing a congestion-free commute; it turns out people value their time, and transit benefits. So of course some legislators want to repeal them, partly because almost 25,000 people have signed a petition to end the tolls and restore HOV 3+ to HOV 2+. Growth advocates accuse Mike O’Brien of introducing a […]

The Pierce Transit Board of Commissioners voted Monday night to raise its discount fares from $0.75 to $1, and its Shuttle paratransit fares from $0.75 to $1.25, effective March 1, 2016. The discount fares include the Regional Reduced Fare Permit — for seniors 65+ and riders with disabilities — and youth 6-18. The regular fare […]

At the December 4 Board workshop, Sound Transit staff shared their latest study of Bus Rapid Transit along the Eastside Rail Corridor between Bellevue and Kirkland. The study parameters incorporate many suggestions from the City of Kirkland. Ten miles of mostly at-grade BRT guideway connect nine at-grade stations: three are in the Totem Lake area, two around downtown […]

In this morning’s First Hill post, I inadvertently placed the Green Line Westlake station one block too far to the East compared to Sound Transit’s preliminary concept for the station . Oran has corrected the images in the original post, and I’ve revised the numbers accordingly. The numbers change a bit but the analysis doesn’t […]

The Green Line subway that Sound Transit seems certain to propose next year has one stop between Westlake and International District/Chinatown, on Madison Street. Falling between two existing DSTT stations, it would greatly improve integration of Madison BRT into the rail system. The Sound Transit concept places the stop at about Madison & 5th Avenue, […]

STB posts a monthly update on Sound Transit’s Link Light Rail ridership and Quarterly updates on Express bus service, and I thought it might be interesting to create a similar post on King County Metro’s ridership. We’re often excited about Sound Transit’s new service plans, but ST is still a very small player compared to […]

Martin and I discuss light rail expansion, including the peanut butter plan, the latest round of ST3 alternatives and financing plans. Also: bus-rail integrations in the wake of the Capitol Hill restructure. https://media.blubrry.com/seattletransitblog/s3.amazonaws.com/stb-wp/wp-content/podcasts/STB_podcast_7.mp3

A humorous animated take on “the high cost of free parking”. I also laughed at “why jaywalking is a crime” and “the reason car dealerships are the worst” from the same show. via Streetsblog

In the latest ST3 study concept, with a one-seat ride from Ballard to the Rainier Valley, there are a total of 14 sensible transfers in Seattle: two at Sodo, between West Seattle and Rainier Valley; four at International District/Chinatown, between Redmond and either West Seattle or Rainier Valley; two at Westlake, between Ballard and Everett; and six equally […]

On Tuesday I reported council testimony from the Office of the Waterfront that disclosed the new possibility of eliminating dedicated transit lanes on the future Alaskan Way. The Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) will include a new option that rechannelizes the roadway from 8 lanes to 6, retaining two general purpose lanes and a turn/ferry […]

SDOT held two open houses for the Roosevelt-Eastlake HCT, on Wednesday at TOPPS elementary school and last night at UW Tower. The project is the second of the RapidRide corridors partially funded as part of the Let’s Move Seattle levy. While it’s still early days for this project, we’re getting a better idea of what […]

This is part of a series of posts looking at Sound Transit’s candidate projects for ST3. The communities on the North end of Lake Washington have been in an unfortunate no-man’s land when it comes to regional transit discussions. Straddling Sound Transit’s North and East King subareas, and used by plenty of Snohomish County residents, […]

October saw the largest gain in Link ridership in a year. In fact it was the bookend to what at first blush looks like a ‘bad’ year for Link. For the first time since the line opened in 2009 Link was held to single digit ridership growth for a 12 month period. From October 2014 […]

There are two open houses tonight for those of you interested in transit advocacy, one in Eastlake and the other in the Rainier Valley. Roosevelt-Downtown HCT The Roosevelt-Downtown High Capacity Transit project will hold an open house tonight from 6-8pm in the TOPS School Cafeteria in Eastlake, in advance of identifying a Recommended Corridor Concept […]

Judkins Park Station plan wins national award. Tacoma Link design concepts. Metro rolling out TripPool program to organize carpools to park-and-rides. Your guide to the new federal transportation bill. Seattle Times shows precinct maps for Seattle’s last election. City of Tuwkila has a new survey out on transit improvements. Community Transit approves a 2016 budget. […]

Start watching at 22:20 [Update: Mayor Murray’s office has responded, saying “While the Waterfront EIS is considering more than one alternative the Mayor is clear his priority is a new waterfront roadway with dedicated transit lanes.”] Yesterday at the city’s Special Committee on Central Waterfront, Seawall, and Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program, Office of the Waterfront Director […]

In response to community complaint surrounding the largely rescinded Capitol Hill restructure – in which Route 11 reverted to E Pine Street after SDOT denied Metro’s request for needed improvements to 19th Avenue – Metro is proposing modifying Route 10 to serve Capitol Hill Station via E John Street and Olive Way. Last week on the […]

King County Metro rolled out a restructure proposal last month that would, among other things, change bus travel patterns in southwest Beacon Hill and Georgetown. The proposed route 107 extension would be a boon for students and employees of Cleveland High School, with a new one-seat ride to a wide swath of south Beacon Hill. […]

Sound Transit staff presented a financial analysis at Friday’s workshop in support of ST3 planning. Perhaps in response to Seattle Subway’s ST Complete proposal, or the general desire to fund more projects than the new revenue authority allows in 15 years, the analysis explores breaking the rule of thumb (from the 2007 and 2008 votes) that […]

Chicago from the “L”. I enjoy the view from elevated trains. A Ride In The City from RYANJBOLGER on Vimeo.

Among the dozens of projects and corridor studies presented at the ST3 Board Workshop yesterday, perhaps the most interesting new concept was an operational idea to effectively split the spine into more manageable corridors. Though unspoken by regional leaders, the light rail spine has always been more of a political conception than an operational one, as running a […]

Sound Transit 3 (ST3) kicked off in earnest today with a Sound Transit Board Workshop . The bulk of the information involved more detailed corridor studies to further assess various alternatives against the criteria the board set out. However, there was also an interesting look at the benefits of expanding the package from 15 to 20 […]

The last few weeks have been deeply discouraging for close followers of Metro. First we learned that Metro and the King County Council were raising the white flag on any significant effort to improve Link access, or bus service generally, in Capitol Hill. Then we got wind of Metro’s new proposal in SE Seattle, which would resurrect a […]

Zach pointed out last week the major flaw in Metro’s proposal for an otherwise praiseworthy restructure of southeast Seattle bus service. The restructure features a re-route of route 106 to head up MLK Way north of Rainier Beach Station to Mt Baker Station, then up Rainier Ave to Jackson St, and on over to 4th […]

(UPDATE: Metro’s Victor Obeso has responded, saying Metro is “actively considering” this change. Mr. Obeso’s full statement is below the story.) By now, everyone is familiar with our dismay over the lack of a meaningful Link restructure in Capitol Hill, and in particular over some of the major losses that Metro’s final restructure package is […]

STB has a longstanding policy to print unedited responses to our articles by agency officials. Metro’s Deputy General Manager Victor Obeso submitted this response to Zach’s Tuesday piece entitled “Metro Cancels Capitol Hill Restructure“. BY VICTOR OBESO Metro hasn’t canceled the Capitol Hill restructure. Riders will see more frequent and reliable bus service integrated with rail […]

The saga of restructuring bus service for University Link continues this week, with Metro transmitting the official restructure details in two packages (A and B). These packages are the marching orders needed for each department (marketing, facilities, operations etc) to implement the changes in time for March 2016 service change. There are lots of small changes in these packages, […]

by SEATTLE SUBWAY ST3 is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Let’s make it great! As you sit in a car or bus stuck in ever-worsening traffic in our region, do you ever imagine what our region would be like if we had approved Forward Thrust in 1968 or 1970—a system that would have […]

When the Sound Transit board next convenes, it will advance a set of light rail and bus expansion projects to go to voters in 2016 as a package known as “ST3.” Based on the project list, financial constraints, and desires of local leaders, informed observers assume that this package will include a light rail variation on […]

From the PSBJ: Over the coming year, Urban@UW will develop and launch pilot projects focused on urban issues. Examples might include addressing sidewalk accessibility, using data to assess community well-being, and transportation for disabled King County residents. Those projects could take the shape of a series of conversations, a small-scale research project, or other formats. […]

Obstructed view of route 880, which will see all trips extended to the Mukilteo ferry terminal beginning next March. (photo by author) The official results of the November 3, 2015 election have been certified, with Community Transit victorious in their campaign to fund additional transit service with a 0.3% sales tax increase. Just over 100,000 residents in […]

The cost of zoning. “…the increase in [housing] supply is slowing down rent growth.” Supply and demand has not been repealed. Sound Transit seeking bids on $400m contract to build Lynnwood Link from Northgate to N. 200th St. Portland Streetcar circulates infographic showing how great it is. The latest iteration of the plan for the Mount […]

The Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA), a Mayor-Murray inspired “grand compromise” between for-profit developer and affordable housing interests, started to take legal shape in the last few weeks with a series of new council bills. The first item, approved September 28th, was a work plan to address the HALA recommendations (with the notable exception […]

As rain pounded the Northwest last week, and thousands of newly transplanted Californians started to question their life choices, it seemed inevitable that a landslide along the BNSF corridor between Everett and Seattle would force cancellations of Sounder North and Amtrak Cascades trains. For those of us who remember recent winters, when the mudslides seemed […]