Seattle Transit Blog

This post concludes our summary of ST3 feedback letters. Previous installments include East King County, Pierce County, Seattle, South King County, and Snohomish County. Belltown Community Council Belltown’s letter unsurprisingly laments its exclusion from the proposed Ballard line, losing out in favor of South Lake Union. It proposes resurrecting earlier Seattle Subway-style plans for SLU to be served as the […]

[Updated to clarify ridership on the West Seattle route in the 5th paragraph. The daily ridership numbers for the West Seattle ferry reported earlier were for recreational riders only, not total ridership. I have edited to correct the text and to add additional context]. On February 8, the King County Council accepted the final report […]

On February 17 Metro held a press event to announce that their three all-electric Proterra Catalyst battery-powered buses would be hitting the streets in revenue service that day. The buses will operate on routes 226 and 241—two routes that operate in a loop from the Eastgate Transit Center through downtown Bellevue. Initially 4602 was entered […]

March Madness in rail line openings begins on the 5th in Los Angeles. The 11-mile, 6-station, Foothill Gold Line extension in the San Gabriel Valley opens March 5. When the Regional Connector through downtown LA opens in 2021, the Blue and Gold Lines will be joined, forming a continuous line 48.6 miles long between Long […]

Did you know King County has a program to give out free youth ORCA cards to family members of LIFT card recipients at Public Health offices that issue LIFT (low-income ORCA) cards? I sure did not, and I make it an obsession to stay up on these details. The program is not advertised on Metro’s […]

Wednesday was the deadline for bills to get voted out of their original house in the state legislature. Nine bills dealing with affordable housing made it through, including one pushed by Mayor Ed Murray. Murray has been heavily pushing Senate Bill 6239 (sponsored by Sen. Joe Fain, R – Auburn) as enabling some of the […]

Usually a booming local economy comes with high fuel prices, as fuel demand rises commensurately with demand for housing and other commodities. But despite a strong local economy, weak global demand and purposeful oversupply from OPEC have given us historically low fuel prices. There are a number of reasons why low fuel prices are a policy and […]

Don’t believe the hype; Seattle drivers are great. Want to serve on a HALA Community Focus Group? Applications are due Friday, February 26. Obama’s transportation budget is pretty great. Since it doesn’t stand a chance, Yonah Freemark gives it a simultaneous introduction and eulogy. Check out CityLab on light rail’s future in Seattle, featuring Seattle […]

[Update, Friday 10:46am: Freighthouse Square owner Brian Borgelt has responded to recent coverage here and elsewhere with a scathing email that a source shared with STB, reading in part, “the legion of dingbats has attacked en masse, as they always do.” Read the full email here.] [Update, Thursday 12:03pm: Though the News Tribune didn’t disclose the financial […]

Martin and I discuss Kevin Desmond’s new gig at TransLink, the firing of Lynn Peterson at WSDOT, and whether it’s possible to put more buses on the freeways. Oh, and then I encourage all the kids to get off my lawn. https://media.blubrry.com/seattletransitblog/s3.amazonaws.com/stb-wp/wp-content/podcasts/STB_podcast_010.mp3

Our region’s need for transportation infrastructure and transit service is far from satisfied. Even in Seattle, Prop 1 and Move Seattle notwithstanding, riders continue to struggle with overcrowded buses, scant late-night service, and crumbling or nonexistent sidewalks. Now the global economy appears to be sliding toward a revenue-shrinking recession. So, when our state legislature considers a […]

This Wednesday, February 17, the Washington State Transportation Commission will discuss toll rate options for several tolled highways in the Puget Sound. Among the changes that will be discussed are the recent calls from legislators to end tolling on I-405 on evenings, weekends, and holidays. If you are in Olympia on Wednesday, you will have […]

This summary of ST3 feedback from East King County (including North King other than Seattle) is the fifth in a series of ST3 feedback summaries. See our previous coverage of Pierce County, Seattle, South King County, and Snohomish County. A future installment will look at other Stakeholder Organizations. The Eastside’s ST3 input is well coordinated. As happened last July, several Eastside […]

In the February 5 post on I-405 tolling, I described how WSDOT had agreed to changes in I-405 HOT lane operations. Those include toll-free travel for all vehicles on evenings, weekends and holidays. I should have also mentioned that changes to tolling remain subject to approval by the Washington State Transportation Commission. At this point, the […]

By the standards of most transit agency budgets, Sound Transit’s next round of rail expansion plans will be expensive. Critics, constructive or not, wonder if there’s a cheaper way. There is, in principle, if the transit agency can simply ignore other stakeholders instead of buying them off. The biggest savings comes from simply taking grade-separated […]

This is an open thread.

Many Metro and Sound Transit routes use I-90 between the Eastside and downtown. Sound Transit routes 550 and 554 and Metro routes 212 through 219 together total almost 20,000 riders daily. In less than 18 months, the ride to Seattle will change significantly during the East Link construction process. And of course, that’s just the beginning: I-90 buses will […]

At Thursday’s meeting of Sound Transit’s Capital Committee, Executive Director for Construction Management Ahmad Fazel revealed that problems with tunnel boring machine Pamela are worse than previously thought. Mike Lindblom has more of the technical details ($) in his piece filed last night. The machine had been stalled since December 28th near 47th & Brooklyn, roughly […]

CBC radio had Zach on yesterday to talk about Kevin Desmond and to compare Seattle and Vancouver. His segment begins at 1:27:40. Listen to it now.

This summary of Snohomish County’s ST3 feedback is the fourth in a series of ST3 feedback summaries. See our previous coverage of Pierce County, South King County, and Seattle. Future installments will be East King/North King (minus Seattle), and Stakeholder Organizations. Mukilteo Mayor Jennifer Gregerson’s letter states that her city’s highest priority is finishing ST2’s Mukilteo […]

Obama’s budget includes money for Lynnwood Link, Swift II, and the Center City Connector streetcar ($). The $1.2 billion for Link (out of a $2.4 billion project) far exceeds the $600m ST assumed in its planning. CCC still needs $60m. $43m for Swift II should just about cover it. The congressional outlook is optimistic. More Seattle […]

In breaking news out of Vancouver BC late Tuesday evening, Global News is reporting that Metro General Manager Kevin Desmond will be named the CEO of TransLink on Wednesday morning. Desmond will join TransLink after a tumultuous year for the agency, having lost their equivalent of an ST3 vote last July when their $7.5B CAD […]

Monday, February 15 is Presidents’ Day. The South Lake Union Streetcar is usually open on most holidays, but is closed Monday due to street work, and since there is no “peak” period on a holiday. The First Hill Streetcar will start charging fares on February 16, so get your free ride in while you can. […]

This is part of a series of posts looking at Sound Transit’s candidate projects for ST3. Sound Transit has made it clear they would like a light rail extension to West Seattle part of this fall’s ST3 vote. Not since the days of the Monorail has a rapid transit extension stirred up so much debate […]

On Wednesday morning, a small ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the intersection of Highway 99 and 204th Street SW in Lynnwood to open the newest—and final—Swift bus rapid transit station, located two blocks downhill from Edmonds Community College. Community Transit CEO Emmett Heath was joined by Edmonds Community College President Dr. Jean Hernandez and Lynnwood Mayor […]

Phoenix’s 3-mile, 3-station, Northwest extension opens the same day as U Link, March 19. This is their second extension to open. Last year Phoenix voters approved funding for 70% more bus service and 42 new miles of light rail.

With no advance warning yesterday and with a perfectly whipped caucus, Senate Republicans brought a sudden confirmation vote on WSDOT Secretary Lynn Peterson. The vote failed 25-21, with all Republicans voting no, effectively removing her from office immediately. The contentious 2+ hour hearing was filled with strong critiques of Peterson’s leadership by Republicans on the one hand, […]

Under political pressure from Republicans in the Legislature, WSDOT is paring back the express toll lanes on I-405. The lanes will be open to all drivers without tolls on evenings and weekends. In the Senate, SB 6152 passed out of committee on Wednesday. The bill emphasizes that the imposition of tolls is authorized for a […]

Ten bills dealing with affordable housing made it out of their original committee by today’s deadline. Since none of the policy committees meeting today have any housing bills before them, this is the whole list of surviving housing bills. Any of these bills that got referred next to a fiscal committee (the House Appropriations Committee, […]

This summary of South King County’s ST3 feedback is the second in a series of ST3 feedback summaries. See our previous coverage of Pierce County and Seattle. Future installments will be East King, North King (minus Seattle), Snohomish, and Stakeholder Organizations. Federal Way Short, sweet, and direct, Federal Way’s 3-paragraph letter supports Link to Federal Way via […]

Broadway businesses having second thoughts about the Aloha streetcar extension. Metro and SDOT hatching a plan to fix Route 8 on Denny. They should also look at the ideas Zach floated years ago. Three more Sounder round trips coming, plus previously deferred Kent and Auburn station access improvements. Pronto needs a bailout. Shoreline to present […]

Frank and Martin discuss the opening of the First Hill Streetcar, a rail tunnel for Ballard, the upcoming U-Link meetup, and whether the proposed Renton Transit Center is a good idea. https://media.blubrry.com/seattletransitblog/s3.amazonaws.com/stb-wp/wp-content/podcasts/STB_podcast_9.mp3

This is the first in a series of summaries of Sound Transit 3 jurisdictional feedback letters. Future installments will be South King, East King, North King (minus Seattle which we’ve already covered), Snohomish, and Stakeholder Organizations. City of Lakewood Lakewood’s letter is much as you’d expect, with a strong focus on intra-Pierce County projects. Given […]

Rep. Dick Muri (R – Steilacoom), has introducted a bill to triple the sales tax lid for transportation benefit districts, from 0.2% to 0.6%. HB 2816 will be getting a hearing in the House Transportation Committee Thursday at 3:30 pm. The bill faces a quick deadline of Tuesday, February 9 to pass out of committee. […]

Last week’s story about a new bill to switch Sound Transit to a directly elected board got a surprisingly positive reception from some commenters. It entirely escapes me why pro-transit people might have this reaction, even if they’re prone to dismiss the Sound Transit Board’s decisions as “political.” That choice of words is irritating enough — implying […]

At Tuesday’s Transportation, Economy, and Environment (TrEE) Committee, Councilmember Rod Dembowski will introduce three motions that respond to directives from the major ULink restructure that passed last autumn. In order, they are: Motion 2016-0089 presents the results of the traffic study commissioned by Dembowski to study the general-purpose traffic impacts of adding a northbound bus stop on Montlake […]

Fourteen affordable housing bills, sponsored by a mix of Democrats and Republicans, have gotten, or are scheduled for, committee hearings in Olympia. Two of these bills, HB 2585 and SB 6211, have passed out of their original committees. Any bills that don’t get out of a policy committee by next Friday, February 5, are dead, […]

51 new buses–with options of up to 92 more–are soon coming to the Puget Sound. Sound Transit recently released a Request for Proposals for a joint procurement of double deck transit buses. This joint procurement includes Sound Transit, who currently operates five double deck buses; Community Transit, who operates 45; and Kitsap Transit who evaluated […]

In the long journey to a Sound Transit 3 ballot measure this November, the Draft System Plan is the next step. Expected in March before a Final System Plan is adopted early this summer, the draft plan will select a suite of projects from the list of Candidate Projects that matches the intended tax authority that […]

Kirkland City Council sticks to its principles, supports transit on CKC. Man arrested for assaulting Metro driver. Researchers using mobile phone signals to understand ridership patterns. New dorms ($) coming to UW. I-405 HOT lanes are letting buses move faster. Yet another terrible bill for a directly elected Sound Transit Board, proposed by a couple of […]

The City of Renton is proposing to relocate its transit center as part of ST3. The new center would be located at Rainier Avenue South and Grady Way, just north of the intersection of I-405 and SR 167. It would replace a smaller downtown transit center, adding much more parking and easing access for park-and-ride commuters from the […]

As a Capitol Hill resident I spent a good chunk of the weekend observing the belated launch of the First Hill Streetcar, both actively as a rider and passively as a nearby pedestrian. Though anecdotal observations should be taken with a grain of salt, of course, anecdotes confirming widely-acknowledged structural characteristics should be a bit more […]

The State Environmental Protection Policy Act (SEPA) requires the Washington State Department of Transportation to consider the effects on traffic and parking in its impact statements before construction projects. Impacts to transit operations have not been something WSDOT is required to look at, but House Bill 2757, by Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon (D – Burien), would […]

by RENEE STATON 2016 started with a new, energetic Seattle City Council focused on implementing the Grand Bargain and other recommendations in Mayor Murray’s Housing Affordability and Liveability Agenda (“HALA”). The new year appears to have also renewed efforts by those who oppose the HALA recommendations. Last Wednesday, anti-HALA organizers Greg Hill and Catherine Weatbrook […]

Among the most interesting results of Sound Transit’s BRT studies was essentially no ridership benefit from “high investment” BRT options that spent more to dedicate right-of-way for buses. I asked ST spokesman Geoff Patrick if the ridership model gave a bonus to routes that were more reliable. All models have to ignore certain effects, but omitting […]

UPDATE 1:31pm: The first train will be “approximately noon” on Saturday and service will be free until the Grand Opening. UPDATE: 1:15pm: SDOT has officially announced the launch in a media release, and The Stranger and Seattle Times also have more details. We are still awaiting details on when the first train will be (other than ‘midday’), the duration of […]

A lot of commuters, irate at the ever-increasing bottlenecks due to higher and higher freeway usage, have found their scapegoat: non-general-purpose lanes of any flavor. The problem clearly pre-dated the roll-out of HOT lanes on I-405 north of Bellevue last September. One of my own state representatives, Steve Bergquist (D – 11th District), resisted toll and […]