Where someone lives is often a deeply personal choice. Sometimes it’s not so much personal as circumstantial (drive-til-you-quality) or temporal (no traffic! [not yet, anyway]). So questioning where someone lives is destined to create contention — we all know that.
If I criticize a portion of Bellevue’s cul-de-sac development, a commenter is just as likely to deride my urban elitism as seriously analyze the serious consequences of that development. And true, Seattle itself is hardly the best example of perfect development. We can’t get density on major rail corridors without seeing “threatening” images of Hong Kong.
So State House Speaker Frank Chopp may want to take a billion or two from Sound Transit. What’s new? The legislature has been going after Sound Transit money for years now, and this is just the latest attempt in a long line of attempts. I’ve been writing about the state’s transportation funding troubles for two years now, and much of this story will be familiar to long-time readers. Whole history (as I see it) below the fold.
Update: Andrew points out that Ben made a fairly similar point two weeks ago.
As we’ve reported on the R8A saga, we’ve focused on the agency of Mercer Island Representative Judy Clibborn, based on her sponsorship of various legislative items, past statements skeptical of Link on I-90, position as chair of the House Transportation Committee, and service to a constituency that has a vocal minority opposed to light rail.
Today, however, Goldy at Horsesass reports that the ultimate culprit may be House Speaker Frank Chopp (D-43rd), in an attempt to raid Sound Transit funds to build his preferred (expensive) SR 520 bridge option.
I can’t say anything intelligent about Goldy’s sources in Olympia, but I can add that the political economy of this makes a lot of sense, in spite of the North Korea-style margins by which Prop 1 won in Chopp’s District. After all, you have a fairly large number of voters and interest groups clustered around (or with a view of) the Montlake interchange, and 100% of them care very strongly about what that interchange looks like while having little regard for costs incurred by the state. Moreover, a larger constituency just wants to get the SR520 bridge done, and the more money that’s thrown at the project the quicker that’s going to happen.
Against that, you have a relatively diffuse group in the district that’s excited to take light rail to the Eastside. If this kind of thing had flown under the radar, a delay to East Link may very well have been framed as Sound Transit incompetence, while important 43rd district interests would have gotten their goodies. All in all, it’s a win-win for Chopp and a loss for regional voters and taxpayers who want a comprehensive transit system.
Goldy’s right, however, that any shakedown of ST by WSDOT is a straight transfer of dedicated transit funds to roadbuilding, and should be viewed as such.
Cap’n Transit described diesel multiple units (DMU) as “light rail” in a post about the Federal Railroad Administration’s relaxing of safety rules that mostly prevented DMUs from operating on freight lines. A DMU is a passenger rail car with a built-in diesel engine, so it doesn’t need to be pulled by a dedicated locomotive. Similarly, an electric multiple unit, or EMU is a passenger car with a built in electric motor; all Link cars are EMUs. The Cap’n Transit post struck me as odd: I had never heard of DMUs describe das “light rail” before. It got me thinking: what exactly does “light rail” mean?
You may remember that George Bush, Mary Peters, et al. implemented an immensely stupid rule that transit agencies cannot provide game-day service to sporting events if any private operator is interested in providing service. It doesn’t matter whether a private operator actually has a contract to provide service, as long as one is interested in bidding, public transit agencies cannot provide the service.
Fine, but Bush hasn’t been president since January, and there are still no buses for Mariners games. (H/T to Frank Friend) Hey Obama, LaHood, can I get a bus to a baseball game yet for chrissakes?
On a vaguely related note, I went to a game at Hiroshima’s brand-new Mazda Stadium. The Hiroshima Toyo Carp beat the Chunichi Dragons 2-0 (Kenta Maeda threw a shutout on his 21st birthday and went 3 for 4 from the plate). The stadium is beautiful, and what’s especially cool is that you can see Shinkansen, normal JR trains and Hiroshima’s streetcars all from the stadium, since it’s right next to Hiroshima station. Pretty cool! For some reason, in my mind at least, trains and baseball just go together.
Active Traffic Management (ATM) is cutting edge (at least in the US) implementation of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). So then what is ITS? ITS is the application of technology (sensor, communication, processing, and dissemination) to the transportation field. It is an umbrella term that includes many specific technology such as Transit Signal Priority or Advanced Parking Management Systems.
This should make Martin happy. Sound Transit is soliciting bids for a study to determine whether park and rides on the Sounder South line could be pay parking. Many of the lots are full, and instituting a charge may encourage people to carpool, take the bus, or ride their bikes to the stations rather than drive. Via the DJC. H/T to Ryan.
by GREG NICKELS, Mayor of Seattle and Chair of Sound Transit Board
There are those who say the debate over light rail in Seattle began in November of 1851, with the landing of the Denny party at Alki. Most, however, point to the defeat of the 1968 and 1970 Forward Thrust mass transit bond issues (did you know Seattle’s federal match went to Atlanta to build MARTA?) as the time when political courage failed and mass transit first became political road-kill for a generation.
My involvement began in 1988, when two young County Councilmembers (Cynthia Sullivan and me) sponsored an advisory ballot asking King County voters whether we should plan for, finance and build a light rail system with construction to start in 1995 and the first stations to open in 2000. That November nearly 70% of the voters said yes and broke the political logjam created with the defeat of Forward Thrust in 1968 & 1970.
Following the 1988 election the Times ran a Brian Bassett cartoon showing a forlorn figure on a hand pump rail car with the name “Light Rail Planning”. The forlorn figure is saying “Well…It’s a start” – I purchased the original from Brian and have posted it here.
The long awaited (!!!) line that began with the 1988 Advisory Ballot opens this summer. Sound Transit opens Tukwila, Rainier Beach, New Holly, Columbia City, Mount Baker, Beacon Hill, SODO, Stadium District, ID, Pioneer Square and 2 Downtown Stations in fewer than 100 days!
To celebrate this history making milestone I will be posting frequently with facts, figures, a little history and a few photos (maybe even a map or two) as we count down to opening day.
Earlier this month we asked readers to reach out to legislators to make sure that Link light rail to the Eastside was able to be delivered on schedule. The proposed budget had stripped funding work on two-way HOV lanes across I-90 (called R8A), work which is necessary to build East Link on schedule. It looks like your emails worked!
The House came through today and funded R8A by an amendment (pdf) offered by Rep. Clibborn (D-Mercer Island). Clibborn, chair of the Transportation Committee, had earlier shifted funding away from this budget but told Seattle Transit Blog that her change of heart came about when she “found out that we needed to do the engineering in this budget in order not to get behind on the R8A ramp.”
Also adopted was Rep. Simpson’s amendment clarifying the negotiating process (pdf) for light rail use of the I-90 center lanes. This amendment was offered in contrast to dramatic language in the proposed budget which excluded Sound Transit from the valuation of those lanes. Simpson’s (D-47th) amendment brings Sound Transit in the process, states that negotiations on these lanes must conclude this year, and doesn’t prevent WSDOT from signing the final EIS. A much better piece of legislation is the result. (We’ll have more on these lanes in the coming weeks.)
This blog has long made the case that Rep. Clibborn has long been opposed to Link crossing I-90, so we hope that this is the first sign of a House that is friendlier toward transit — perhaps due to advocacy pressure. One legislator described our outreach campaign as “a deluge of emails set off by bloggers,” but we think it’s important that transit advocates let the state know how important voter-approved light rail projects are to the region.
University of Washington Commuter Services is proposing a drastic increase in the cost of the ubiquitous U-PASS.
The monthly cost to students would nearly double from $16.67 to $33. For staff, cost would increase from $23.33 to $40/month.
As the U-PASS allows unlimited rides on Metro, Sound Transit, Community Transit, Everett Transit, Pierce Transit, and Kitsap Transit, this is still a tremendous deal. An equivalent PugetPass would cost $171 and not get you anything on Kitsap Transit. Of course, in practice most students and staff don’t take the Sounder all the way from Tacoma (maximum fare of any non-ferry transit trip), and therefore would purchase a cheaper pass. A peak-hour commuter within Seattle would pay $72 for his or her pass, and $80 after the scheduled February 2010 Metro fare increase.
SOV parking passes would also increase from $95 to $120 a month, and the daily maximum in the lots would climb from $12 to $15.
The proposed increase is a result of widespread fare increases, a higher payment to Metro based on ridership, city parking taxes, and an effort to manage demand due to the loss of some campus parking.
There will be a public hearing Wednesday, April 22, from 12:30-2:30pm in Room 310 of the HUB. There is also a web comment form.
The Seattle Times has picked up on the fact that the West Seattle Water Taxi (aka the Elliot Bay Water Taxi) is one of the best and cheapest travel/outdoors recreation activities in the city, by putting information about the taxi in the “Travel/Outdoors” section of the paper. The water taxi runs from Pier 55 to Seacrest Park in West Seattle, a couple hundred feet from Alki Beach. It’s $3 or free with a Metro Pass. It’s an awesome activity to do with out-of-town guests, and an event better one to send your out-of-town guests on when you are at work or just want them out of your hair for a day.
I’ve got a couple of out-of-town guest groups crashing with me this summer, and I am definitely sending them on a trip to West Seattle via the Taxi.
Apparently, they have installed TVM’s at Westlake Station (I’m still in Japan so I cannot verify). Here’s photographic proof, via Brian Bundridge. The photo was taken with a cellphone, so apologies for the poor quality. Are you excited yet?
The Detroit City Council has voted to raze the along-abandoned Michigan Central Terminal in Detroit. Click here for more images of the beautiful Beaux-Arts building. King Street and Union Station – both beautiful – look like barns compared to MCT. Very sad. And people in Seattle get their knickers in a knot over a Denny’s.
Here’s a site full of photos of abandoned buildings, including glorious art-deco skyscrapers. Here’s a photo essay of 100 abandoned homes in Detroit (there are tens of thousands of them), including a couple of formerly lovely Edwardian townhomes.
Another great train station was destroyed in 1963, the Old Neo Classical Pennsylanvia Station in Midtown Manhattan (more photos here). That was under different circumstances, the train station was stilling being used, though ridership was down at the time. A New York Times Editorial lamented then:
Any city gets what it admires, will pay for, and, ultimately, deserves. Even when we had Penn Station, we couldn’t afford to keep it clean. We want and deserve tin-can architecture in a tinhorn culture. And we will probably be judged not by the monuments we build but by those we have destroyed.
Right at this moment, you can watch East Link public comment and discussion at the Sound Transit board meeting.
As I wrote about yesterday (and we’ve seen in the comments), routing for East Link is a contentious issue. I hope you have a moment to click and see what people are saying to the board in person!
I’ve always imagined a lot of decisions are made and discussions are had on the way to picking the interior of intercity rail cars. I had not imagined the makers of passenger rail cars made fancy advertising videos about the choices.
There is only one consensus for routing East Link through downtown Bellevue – almost everyone wants a tunnel. Unfortunately, few agree about which one. Only two of the many alternatives (PDF) came out of the public comment process with strong support – C3T (PDF), a bored tunnel running under 108th St and turning east on 12th, and C2T (PDF), a cut-and-cover tunnel running west on Main, up 106th, and east on 6th. Both tunnels surface as soon as they turn east. Also note that B3 and B7 are the big contenders for segment B, so the south edge of both C options look approximately the same.
It’s that surfacing where the trouble starts. C3T would require the demolition of a few houses, much like Capitol Hill station, and potentially displace a small office building next to I-405. C2T would close (and remove) the relatively new Bellevue Transit Center, relegating buses to various reroutes during construction. It would also permanently result in one-way, one-lane access to Meydenbauer Center, which I believe is Bellevue’s largest convention space. Meydenbauer’s front door would face an embankment and elevated light rail. The list of impacts continues – the plaza cut from the Galleria, temporary loss of the pedestrian walkway that replaces part of NE 6th… essentially, every pedestrian and transit amenity in downtown Bellevue would be torn up for the C2T option.
[UPDATE: Rep. Eddy, in the comments, points out that the bill does not require a public vote in King County to raise the tax. Corrected below.]
The battles over Sound Transit aren’t the only thing going on in Olympia. For supporters of transit, SB 5433 is a definite step in the right direction, and better yet, has passed the Senate. HB 1147 is the companion bill, and it’s currently sitting in the House Rules Committee, the last obstacle to going to a floor vote. The Striker by Rep. Ross Hunter (D-520 Corridor) is the relevant document (pdf).
The bill is titled “Modifying provisions of local option taxes” and specifically increases the taxing authority that King County can dedicate to transit by allowing existing (unused) Ferry District taxing authority to be used for buses and streetcars instead. Andrew discussed the topic here before.
The current ferry district taxing authority is a property tax equal to 0.075% the value of the house. That’s a huge potential revenue source, equal to approximately $250m a year for King County, and well in excess of any ferry plans the county has. (This very high tax rate is actually in place for rural counties with smaller tax bases). The current King County ferry tax rate is 0.005% – one fifteenth of its authority.
The bill would reduce the ceiling for counties with over 1.5m people (ie, King) to 0.0075% for ferries. (Sec. 7). However, it would also create a new 0.0075% taxing authority for King County which could be applied to transit. (Sec. 8). King County expects that this would generate approximately $25m in revenue, which would plug about a third of the hole in 2010.
Oddly, 13 1/3% of this levy would be reserved for adding bus service along the SR520 corridor. I emailed Rep. Hunter about this, and he responded that Rep. Judy Clibborn (D-Mercer Island) is behind this provision. As House Transportation Chair, she is trying to grab federal “urban partnership” dollars. If early tolling on SR 520 passes, the Feds may buy us some buses and establishing a funding source will help in that effort. However, it’s unclear how a requirement for new service would interact with the general climate of cuts likely to impact all service areas.
It’s important to note that this bill would not actually impose the tax, but allow the King County Council to vote to impose the tax, in turn, to put such a tax increase to a public vote. The sources I’ve spoken to are pretty optimistic that this bill is going to pass, and it’s reasonable to expect the County Council will use the authority.then send it to the ballot this fall.
I shot this yesterday evening as the high clouds started to move in. I’m looking forward to seeing the many views of our mountain ranges from the train. There are views of all of our areas mountain ranges from the Central Link, imagine when the system gets built out?
There is only one consensus for routing East Link through downtown Bellevue – almost everyone wants a tunnel. Unfortunately, few agree about which one. Only two of the 
