Seattle Transit Blog

The State Spring Fair is upon is this Wednesday Thursday through Saturday Sunday, April 16-19, at the Puyallup State Fairgrounds. Sounder may by a good way to get there or head home in the late afternoon today through Friday. At other hours, not so much. For Pierce County residents, Sounder will be available on an […]

One of the more interesting developments in Seattle’s recent building boom has been the conversation among some residents of the Central District to attempt to organize in the face of displacement. The community is looking to purchase the Mid-Town Center property on the Southeast corner of 23rd & Union. CHS and The Stranger have covered […]

The ORCA Joint Board will be holding a public hearing this coming Monday, April 13, at 10:30 am, in the 8th Floor Conference Room at 201 S. Jackson St, on its proposal for making the ORCA regional multi-agency day pass permanent, and adding a Regional Reduced Fare Permit version of the day pass. Details of […]

Despite spending $42m on two new trainsets just two years ago, ODOT might be forced to suspend Cascades service south of Portland on July 1. In the post-PRIIA landscape – in which states must fully fund rail corridors of less than 750 miles – Oregon needs $28m in the 2015-2017 biennium to keep the trains rolling. With $17.6m […]

What if there were an oil train fire in the GN tunnel under Downtown Seattle? Due to the hazards of sending in first responders, the city may just let it burn. KING 5 writes up the transit+strollers policy change. Ahem, I wonder where they got the story? A few new cracks and settlement issues have been […]

When Mayor Murray first announced his Housing Affordability and Livability Advisory Committee, there was always a risk that it would be undermined by a lack of specifics. To get the committee on track for a May announcement, the mayor recently announced a goal of 20,000 affordable units over the next 10 years, nearly triple the […]

In the comments of my post last week it came out that Metro had actually adopted a new stroller policy about a week earlier, it just hadn’t made it’s way down to all employees or their website. Later that day we obtained the new operator bulletin confirming the change and outlining the policy. This weekend a spokesperson from […]

Last week ST released its Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the light rail segment from Northgate to Lynnwood Transit Center, due to open in 2023. Mike Orr wrote up the Draft EIS two years ago (and an update here). The main difference is a formal preferred alternative, although it also refines estimates and describes […]

Five years strong, the MLK Business Association is holding it’s Plate of Nations promotion from March 27 through April 12. Similar to last year’s event all participating restaurants will offer $15 and $25 shareable entrees, but new this year every location will also have a vegetarian option. Grab a passport, get your stamps, and qualify for fun drawings. […]

While the year didn’t finish as strong as it began, 2014 was a year of explosive growth for link. Fourteen percent growth for a mature five year old line. While I don’t think Link can maintain that kind of growth rate until U-Link opens (simple math) it will be interesting to see how high ridership can get. […]

You can rest assured that tomorrow’s posts will be as earnest and authentic as any other day’s.* We’ve had some fun with April Fools’ posts in the past (you can share your favorite in the comments), but last year’s generated much more angst than it was worth. And in any case we’ve probably outgrown that kind […]

Just a reminder that we’re having our first-in-a-while meet-up happy hour tomorrow, April 1, at Rock Bottom Brewery in Downtown Seattle from 5-8pm. Sound Transit’s Ric Ilgenfritz and others will be on hand to talk about ST3 and the upcoming ballot initiatives. Come chat with us STB staff and ST folks to learn more about the […]

Last Thursday, SDOT’s Accessible Mount Baker project manager Michael James—a youthful guy with an indifferently tucked shirt and an eager smile, presented an intriguing, but still unfunded, proposal to improve the transit, bike, and pedestrian connections around and between the Mount Baker light rail station on the west side of MLK and the Mount Baker […]

Last year, the ORCA Joint Board conducted a pilot project, to test the long-term feasibility of a multi-agency regional day pass. A press release from Geoff Patrick at Sound Transit informs us the day pass may be coming back, and the ORCA pod is taking input on a proposal to do that: ORCA agencies plan […]

It is very cool that the agency itself produced these videos. CTA sees them as a tool to help riders familiarize themselves with the system and as a historical record. If you a lot of free time, check out the full-length (real time) videos!

On Friday SDOT showed off the first completed streetcar for the First Hill line. The streetcar made a one block trip from the maintenance facility to 8th & Lane. Also, SDOT’s Rail Transit Manager Ethan Ethan Melone provided a tour of the facility, which begins at the 5:55 mark of the video. Hit the break […]

[This is the second in a promised series covering Spokane Moving Forward, the Spokane Transit Authority’s proposed ten-year plan to improve transit in the Spokane region, which will go to an areawide ballot in April. Previously I discussed the proposed Central City Line.] 16 miles southwest of Spokane lies Cheney, a town of about 10,000 permanent […]

This Tuesday March 31st, Metro will launch its first long range planning effort in a very long time with an exciting two-part event at the Downtown Seattle Central Library. The event, which starts at 6:00 pm, will begin with six facilitated break-out sessions that will dive into key topics. Each break-out sessions will be lead by subject area experts from a variety of organizations and include: […]

The House Transportation Committee is underway to discuss ST3 authority and the broader transpo package. Watch live here and refresh for our updates and commentary. You may also follow us on Twitter. 6:19 Committee adjourns after nearly 3 hours of nearly unanimously favorable testimony. No committee discussion of the bills. 5:57 Clibborn is cutting off oral […]

“This isn’t a war on cars. It’s a war of cars. The streets are a depleted resource that realistically can’t be widened to help us drivers.” – Danny Westneat on the situation in SLU. ($) In the context of SDOT’s Westlake transit lane plans, can Westlake be made safe for bikes? After Tuesday’s salmon-induced traffic meltdown, […]

As Martin noted yesterday, ST3 is getting a hearing in Olympia today. This is an important moment for the future of light rail in the city. If you don’t like the idea that a lone fish truck can bring the city to its knees, come to an STB meet-up this Wednesday and learn more about […]

Talk to anyone who has spent any time around Mount Baker station about the situation down here and one word crops up a lot, awful. The place is a car sewer. A few years back DPD proposed an improvement that went no where (the bowtie), but now SDOT is taking a look at the problem. Preliminary […]