Seattle Transit Blog

Initial results of the primary election in King County. Daily updates will be available at 4:30pm each day. Seattle Times coverage ($). This is an open thread.

On July 10, the Pierce Transit Board of Commissioners gathered to examine a new plan for the Pacific Avenue Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, which would build the first line in Pierce County's Stream" BRT network. The hope was that this would be a workable solution to the financial problems that have been growing for ... Continue reading "Pierce Transit Trying to Salvage BRT Project"

Link will have another split-spine repair period August 12-19 similar to the reduction in April. This time it's to repair a section of track that has settled at Royal Brougham Way. For the first two days the downtown tunnel will simply be closed, with a bus replacement between Capitol Hill and SODO. Then for six ... Continue reading "Open Thread 12"

Along with route paths, the latest proposal for the bus network after Lynnwood Link includes the expected frequencies of each route. This is listed on the page for each individual route (e. g. the 45). Inspired by Davis Lawson's excellent chart displaying the frequency of routes a few years ago, I made a similar chart ... Continue reading "Bus Frequencies of Lynnwood Link Restructure Proposal"

Carmageddon comes this weekend. ($) Taylor Swift has concerts Saturday and Sunday at 6:30pm ending near midnight. There are also Mariners games, a Storm game, the Bite of Seattle, the Capitol Hill Block Party, the Chinatown Seafair parade, a 520 bridge closure, and partial closure of I-5 northbound. Pike Street will be closed between Broadway ... Continue reading "Open Thread 11"

Metro has released an updated bus restructure plan for Lynnwood Link. We wrote about the previous plan here, while also making various suggestions. Some of the proposal incorporates those suggestions, while there are other significant differences to the previous proposal. Dealing with the 130th Station The 130th Street Station is a major station from a ... Continue reading "Metro Updates Lynnwood Link Restructure Plans"

SDOT published a long RapidRide J FAQ in March discussing the alignment details and responses to community concerns. Here's the project page and a map. Construction will start in 2024 and it will open in 2027. The J will replace Route 70 between the U-District and downtown, running on Eastlake Avenue East and Fairview Avenue ... Continue reading "RapidRide J Update"

(Link photo at 4:00.) Just coincidentally, several Link and Metro decisions are being made: Sound Transit's 2024 service plan is published. Provide feedback by August 6th. Virtual information sessions are July 17 and 26. There are separate pages for North, East, and South. STB commentators have already started talking about it. Read the links for ... Continue reading "Getting Value in Transit"

Introduction We are excited to share our 2023 primary endorsements for Seattle City Council and King County Council. Seattle Subway has been endorsing local races since 2015 and our methodology has changed slightly over the years. For the primary this year we're endorsing candidates that are most aligned with our vision and interests in a ... Continue reading "Seattle Subway Primary Endorsements 2023"

Everett Link planning has expanded to two dozen alternatives for the six stations, one provisional station, and the maintenance base (OMF North") in the extension north of Lynnwood Station, according to Stephen Fesler in The Urbanist. (Thanks to Anonymouse for the link.) We just covered this extension two weeks ago, but the opinions continue to ... Continue reading "Everett Link Again"

Metro, Sound Transit, Kitsap Transit, and the Seattle Streetcars will be free July 11-12 (Monday and Tuesday) fo the All-Star Week baseball tournament. This includes Link, Sounder, buses, streetcars, the King County Water Taxi, and the Kitsap Fast Ferry. Other agencies are not participating (i.e., not Community Transit, Pierce Transit, the Monorail, or Washington State ... Continue reading "Transit Fare Holiday"

Meetings Sound Transit: Rider Experience & Operations Committee Meeting and Executive Committee Meeting (typically first Thursday of the month) are cancelled. Community Oversight Panel Meeting: Wednesday, July 12, 5:30pm - 8:15pm.details System Expansion Committee Meeting: Thursday, July 13, 1:30pm - 5:00pm.details Board of Directors Meeting: Thursday, July 27, 1:30pm - 4:00pm. details King County Metro: ... Continue reading "Transportation Events July 2023"

On Thursday northern Link at noon was standing room only with half the aisles filled. And I regularly see a dozen or more people getting on each train and another dozen getting off at Capitol Hill in the afternoons. This made me think Link has quietly reached a European level of ridership in the northern ... Continue reading "Open Thread 10"

The Sound Transit board on Thursday refined the Everett Link plan ($). Mike Lindblom in the Seattle Times reports that the main Everett Link station is moved to the downtown arena. This puts it right in the middle of Everett's most walkable streets like Broadway, Hewitt Avenue, and Colby Avenue. The arena is where the ... Continue reading "Everett Link Station Moves Downtown"

A few more changes in the downtown Link tunnel. At Westlake Station, the eastern escalator/stairs to the platforms are in alcoves. A few months ago ST moved the ticket machines (TVMs) from the back walls to the front of the alcoves. Now ST has added a yellow stripe on the floor in front of the ... Continue reading "More Yellow Stripes"

In the video Reese argues that German U-Stadtbahn trams work well because they only have a short tunnel in the city center. Beyond that you should either have surface light rail or tunneled high-capacity metro, but not light rail with extensive tunnels. He mentions Link and a few other cities as what not to do. ... Continue reading "Video Roundup"

Meetings Sound Transit: System Expansion Committee Meeting: Thursday June 8, 1:30pm - 5:00pm. details Community Oversight Panel Meeting: Wednesday June 14, 5:30pm - 8:15pm details Board of Directors Meeting: Thursday June 22: 1:30pm - 4:00pm details King County Metro: Transit Advisory Commission Meeting: Tuesday June 20, 6:00 - 8:00pm. details Regional Transit Committee Meeting: Wednesday ... Continue reading "Transportation Events June 7 - July 5"

NE 130th construction update: Current construction at NE 130th St Infill Station is focused on the concrete platform and canopy structural steel. This work will be completed prior to electrification of the Lynnwood Link Extension overhead traction power, which allows operational testing prior to Lynnwood Link's projected opening in July 2024.... The station finishes contract ... Continue reading "Open Thread 9"

Two weeks ago, Metro announced the decision to temporarily suspend twenty peak-only routes as part of its service cuts. The focus on peak-hour reductions aligns with Metro's current operational challenges, like fielding the high number of operators required for lots of peak-time service. But some riders are disappointed that their peak routes will be shut ... Continue reading "Understanding King County Metro's Suspensions of Peak-Only Routes"

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell's solution to revitalizing downtown includes reviving the City Center Connector streetcar ($). Where the pitch for the line was once purely transit-based, its new title as a Culture Connector' bestows a loftier purpose of injecting life into a part of town lacking it in recent years." The article says transit advocates ... Continue reading "The Streetcar is Back"

The West Seattle Link extension (WSLE) is proceeding to a final EiS expected in 2024. The Ballard Link extension [BLE] with DSTT2 is heading to a new Draft EIS, timeline TBD. (Per Sound Transit email update.) Federal Way Link is now expected in 2026. The bridge over weak soil will add $72 million ($) to ... Continue reading "Open Thread 8"

Matt Driscoll writes about the political dangers of struggling transit projects. The mission of Trailhead Direct has changed slightly ($). I-5 traffic will be re-routed onto and off of Montlake Boulevard this weekend, likely slowing down the 48, 255, 271 and 542. Sound Transit report mentions cost overruns for West Seattle, along with other issues. ... Continue reading "Open Thread: Priorities"

Sound Transit is reenvisioning Sounder South, and will update its strategic plan this year. Sign up for email announcements; there’s not much else to do at this point yet. ST had been planning to lengthen trains and platforms, but is now looking at running more trains at more times instead. It will depend on negotiations … Continue reading "Open Thread 7"

On September 2nd Metro will suspend or reduce some bus routes to make the remaining service more reliable. The problem is a shortage of bus drivers and mechanics, and supply-chain challenges. Currently 5% of scheduled bus runs are being cancelled due to lack of drivers or buses. The change aims to shrink the schedule to … Continue reading "Metro Cuts in September"

Sound Transit CEO Julie Timm answered questions in a forum hosted by The Urbanist. Among the questions were the Link downtown reduction, the East Link Starter Line, Lynnwood Link, Federal Way Link, the CID station alternatives, all-day Sounder, and ST Express in the ST2/3 era. Alon Levy is not impressed with the overuse of transit … Continue reading "Open Thread 6: Timm Q&A"

Last night, Sound Transit reported that Link service will finally be restored to regular service starting tomorrow today, May 8th: CEO Julie Timm had actually broke the news on Saturday, revealing that there was a push to restore service as early as that evening, but with the caveat of further disruptions down the road. Fortunately, … Continue reading "Link service returns to normal today"

Metro’s weekend newsletter has several things this weekend: 3rd Avenue will be closed for construction between Pine and Union Streets from 8am Saturday to 5pm Sunday. RapidRide C, D, E, and other north-south bus routes I spot checked will stop at 2nd & Pike southbound or 4th & Pike northbound. Route 49 westbound will stop … Continue reading "Open Thread 5"

(Part of a series on high-performing transit routes in the Puget Sound region) Every year, King County Metro provides statistics on their bus services in their System Evaluation, available online. One measure that is presented for all regular bus routes is Rides per Platform Hour. It answers a core question: “how many people does this … Continue reading "The Surprising Efficiency of RapidRide A"

Trains are running every 15-20 minutes. All trains terminate at Pioneer Square Station and require transferring to the other platform continue further north or south. ST has a useful chart of bus alternatives for various station pairs, and urges people to use them if feasible to avoid the downtown tunnel. ST’s alert page has the … Continue reading "Link Reduction Day 3"

This is an open thread for miscellaneous comments related to transit or land use. The News Roundup will resume when things calm down. A Link update will be coming later today, and a non-Link article in couple days. The RapidRide G article is still open for comments, two articles before this.

Update 4/28/2023 11pm: Trains are running every 15-20 minutes. All trains terminate at Pioneer Square Station and require transferring to continue further north or south. ST urges people to use other alternatives if feasible. (The link has a very nice chart of bus alternatives.) Westlake, University Street, and International District/Chinatown are using only one platform … Continue reading "Link Reduction Downtown"

The RapidRide G (Madison) restructure is finally here. Construction is 50% complete, and the line is expected to launch in Fall 2024. Metro has a survey until May 8 about changes to other routes around it. Metro proposes to reroute the 10, 11, and 12, and to delete the currently-suspended 47. The G will run … Continue reading "RapidRide G Restructure"

Overflow topics from the Park & Ride article. This is an open thread.

Ever since the advent of commuter express routes, park-and-rides (P&Rs) have been a mainstay in the built environment of the American suburb. You can see why it was an easy proposition to make: after postwar suburbanization but with jobs still in city centers, policymakers needed a way to keep transit viable among white-collar workers. The … Continue reading "The age of the park-and-ride is over"

I’ve started numbering open threads if there’s no compelling title. A Link contractor blames the T-line delay ($) on government red tape. (This is the MLK extension to Tacoma Link, not related to the 1 Line extension to Tacoma Dome.) The article has a few quotes applicable to general ST/contractor/Link issues, too many to list … Continue reading "Open Thread 2"

More people are falling behind in car debt. (NPR) People whose car is repossessed need transit to do errands. Bye bye Southport ($). The office complex near Renton Landing will be auctioned due to no leases. The hotel, convention center, and apartments in the business center don’t appear to be affected. It’s another blow for … Continue reading "Open Thread"

The Sound Transit System Expansion Committee met yesterday and heard the latest briefing on project updates. Of note is East Link’s frustratingly sluggish progress, largely due to poorly built plinths, which now have to be entirely scrapped in the segment between International District and Mercer Island. Mike Lindblom has more details in the Times: Kiewit-Hoffman decided … Continue reading "East Link delayed to spring 2025 at earliest"

Transit in rural America. An NPR radio story about rural transit in various parts of the US. Nobody Lives Here ($), an exhibit at the Wing Luke Museum on the impact of I-5 on Chinatown. Where people who move from King County go to ($). Denver transit. (Alan Fisher video) Toronto rail junction is completed. … Continue reading "Open Thread: Rural Transit"

Redmond 2050 is having hearings on the Southeast Redmond and Redmond Downtown Link station areas. I can’t find the specific proposals online, but maybe somebody can describe them and the recent open house. (Thanks AJ and Nathan D for the link.) Pike/Pine rechannelization. Next year SDOT plans to extend the one-way streets on Pike and … Continue reading "Open Thread: Redmond"

RapidRide G construction is closing East Madison Street between 16th and 14th westbound to extract “old cable car infrastructure located under the roadway. This closure is expected to be in place for at least a week.” (SDOT) Sound Transit press release on choosing a preferred alignment for the West Seattle and Ballard Link Extension (WSBLE) … Continue reading "Open Thread: Cable Car"

Various publications have summarized the March 23 decisions on the West Seattle and Ballard Link Extension (WSBLE): Publicola, Crosscut, NW Asian Weekly, and the Urbanist. Mike Lindblom even mentioned the single tunnel alternative in his Seattle Times ($) article. Most surprising were the late additions: The result of these is that the preferred alignment moves … Continue reading "Still No Final CID Plan"

A little light reading after a busy transit week. Train Daddy is Andy Byford, a British transit administrator who has gotten a lot of accolades for his work at train and subway agencies in Sydney, Toronto, New York City, and London. He’s now moving to Amtrak to become executive vice president. Sound Transit needs one … Continue reading "Open Thread: Train Daddy"

This is a live discussion of Sound Transit’s monthly board meeting, which is choosing a preferred alignment for the West Seattle and Ballard Link Extension (WSBLE) environmental impact statement (EIS). Meeting page with video link and documentsAgendaProposed amendments Update: The following amendment descriptions weren’t quite accurate, and they’re too complicated to explain here. Amendment #2 … Continue reading "ST Board Meeting on WSBLE"

Destinations on RapidRide H. (Urbanist) Hannah Krieg of The Stranger compares the arguments for and against the North of CID Link station. (The list is useful even if the wording is juvenile.) Mike Lindblom on ongoing repairs in DSTT stations. ($) The worst transit project in the US is canceled, on an extension in Philadelphia. … Continue reading "Open Thread: RapidRide H Destinations"

In his recent article, Martin Pagel outlined why a single downtown tunnel is a win-win. I’ll emphasize mainly that transfers are crucial in a world where the suburb-to-downtown commute is no longer as common as it was. And transfers are a million times better when one only has to switch platforms in a tunnel than … Continue reading "A single downtown tunnel is completely possible and provides the best outcomes"

New proposals for a second tunnel would increase cost, but none provide a compelling rider experience. Let’s just improve our existing tunnel and use the savings to make up for lost time on other projects. ST3 promised higher capacity transit through downtown by building a second tunnel with seamless transfers at Westlake and Chinatown/International District … Continue reading "A win-win for the CID dilemma: Stick with current tunnel"

Washington Supreme Court struck down fare-enforcement checks by police. ($) Fare ambassadors, who are not police and focus on education, still appear allowed. Sound Transit and Metro switched to fare ambassadors several months ago. The decision (thanks Tlsgwm). Downtown Seattle work commutes continue to evolve. ($) (Mike Lindblom) 60% of 320,000 workers come to the … Continue reading "Open Thread: No Fare Police"

In my last post a few weeks ago, I argued that Sound Transit is uniquely exposed to changes in regional commute trips caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, that it has yet to pivot the ST3 package of investments in a meaningful way (aside from the wrong-headed proposal to consolidate the Madison and CID stations), and … Continue reading "How I’d pivot ST3 post-Covid and mitigate the CID conundrum"

In “Every City NEEDS a Transit Hub”, Reece Martin at RMTransit explains how sticking with the originally-planned second CID Link station is a unique opportunity to create the biggest and most-used multimodal transit hub in the Pacific Northwest. It would connect all of Link lines 1, 2, and 3, Sounder, Amtrak Cascades, Greyhound, the First … Continue reading "A CID2 Link Station is Important"

“North of CID” station concept for the Ballard Link extension: Portland transit network review (RMTransit) Mostly MAX, a bit on fares, buses, WES commuter rail, and bikeshare. Are urban growth boundaries effective? (City Beautiful) With examples of Seattle and Portland. Yes, there’s walking in L.A. ($) A meditation on Rosencrans Avenue. It’s not a walker’s … Continue reading "News Roundup: Walking in LA"