Model of the latest design for the Montlake Triangle
The new design for the Montlake Triangle project was publicly presented at an open house hosted by Sound Transit and its project partners (UW, WSDOT, SDOT) on Wednesday. The project improves access for pedestrians and bicyclists to the University of Washington Link Station from the main UW campus, UW Medical Center, Burke-Gilman Trail, and area bus stops. It also improves the aesthetics of the area to create an inviting gateway to the university and enhance the Rainier Vista view corridor.
The new design essentially combines Sound Transit’s original plan with UW’s Rainier Vista Landbridge plan with modifications and additions. There will be a 30-foot wide pedestrian/bicycle bridge across Montlake Boulevard from the station house to the center of the Montlake Triangle, instead of a new signalized crosswalk. A landbridge connecting the Rainier Vista path to the Triangle will be created by lowering Pacific Place and the Burke-Gilman Trail, reducing traffic conflicts. A new plaza will be created inside the Triangle, framed by trees that will mostly obscure the busy intersection and street, while drawing eyes up towards the mountain. Another path leads from the plaza to a new crosswalk and bus stop on NE Pacific St opposite the Medical Center. The entire Triangle will be universally accessible with ramps and handrails.
Materials from the open house should be posted on Sound Transit’s UW Station project page by the weekend. You can find plenty of design documents from UW Capital Projects Office’s project page. Also, see more photos of the design model shown at the open house.
STB takes a strongly pro-streetcar stance, but personally I’ve never been all that excited about them. They have a lot of the same problems as buses, are more expensive, and I’ve preferred to invest my enthusiasm in truly rapid transit.
However, one of the things I’ve learned over the years is that every mode has its place, and the place for streetcars is short-haul, high-volume trips where the speed doesn’t matter that much and the capacity does. Some advance material from the Seattle Transit Master Plan advisory process has convinced me that the Seattle Streetcar Network deserves a lot more support than it’s getting. More after the jump. (more…)
A map showing the demand for internal trips that aren't from home to work. 83% of internal trips aren't commutes.
Representatives from the Seattle Department of Transportation briefed the city council yesterday on early findings from work on city’s new Transit Master Plan. This is the first update to the plan in more than five years, and will likely in the end contain a recommendation for a major capital project such as an extension of light rail or the city’s streetcar network.
In the presentation, SDOT said it has asked reached out to citizens for information on their travel patterns and reviewed “the state of transit in Seattle.”
One strong conclusion is that 83% of transit trips internal to Seattle are not “work trips,” and are significantly less likely to head downtown. The city notes that urban-village-to-urban-village service is in general much weaker than urban village-to-downtown service. The image on the right represents demand for these trips. The city hopes to use the results from the Transit Master Plan to help Metro re-align city bus service.
- Queen Anne and Capitol Hill residents were the most likely in the city to use transit, with between 4,000 and 5,000 transit trips between those neighborhoods and downtown every day.
- Transit tended to be least reliable downtown (where buses are subject to frequent traffic jams) and in far-flung neighborhoods like White Center, South Park, and Bitter Lake (where service tends to be less frequent).
- The report also notes that Seattle’s transit system is oriented toward moving people to and from downtown at rush hour—”a fraction” of all trips in Seattle. Reorienting the system to serve more people outside downtown might be more efficient, the report suggests.
Capitol Hill Seattle blog has its own report with, of course, a neighborhood-focused perspective.
[Update @ 12am: train service all the way to the airport is restored.]
It’s snowing at a decently fast clip in Seattle, and all King County Metro and Pierce Transit buses are running on snow routes as of 9:30 pm. We haven’t heard terrible things about bus service around the area, so let’s hope everything passes smoothly.
A car on light rail tracks near Tukwila. Photo from KOMO's Twitter feed.
[UPDATE: as of 11:11 pm, Sound Transit's Twitter reports: "#STLink back to full service between downtown and airport."]
Link light rail is experiencing more serious problems. According to Sound Transit’s Twitter, the car pictured above is somehow on the tracks near 144th & Macadam in Tukwila. As one can see from Google Maps’ satellite view of this area, these tracks are grade separated. Q13 reports that a car actually fell onto the tracks, just like a snowflake. KOMO reports that the driver escaped with minor injuries.
A rider alert isn’t available, but here’s what we know from twitter:
Link service is interrupted between Tukwila & Rainier Beach Stations. Link service is operating between Airport and Tukwila and Westlake and Rainier Beach. (tweet)
Pierce Transit is holding a series of Open Houses, beginning tomorrow, to explain the Feb. 8th ballot measure asking for more sales tax. Staff will answer questions.
Gig Harbor/Key Peninsula
Wednesday, January 12, 5 – 7:00pm
Gig Harbor Civic Center
3510 Grandview St, on Routes 100, 102
Sumner/E. Pierce County
Tuesday, January 18, 4 – 6:00pm
Sumner City Hall – Council Chambers
1104 Maple St, on Routes 408, 409
Lakewood/University Place
Wednesday, January 19, 4 – 6:00pm
Pierce Transit Training Center
3720 – 96th St SW, on Routes 48, 300
Tacoma
Monday, January 24, 4 – 6:00pm
The Evergreen State College (Commons Area)
1210 – 6th Ave, on Routes 1, 16, 26, 28
Tacoma
Tuesday, January 25, 4 – 6:00pm
Tacoma Goodwill Industries
Milgard Work Opportunity Center
714 S 27th St, on Routes 3, 26, 45, 48
Puyallup/South Hill
Wednesday, January 26, 4 – 6:00pm
Puyallup Library (Board Room)
324 S Meridian, on Route 402
The end of the year data shows continued ridership growth on the South Lake Union Streetcar. There were over half a million riders in 2010, a 15 percent increase over 2009, and 25 percent greater than ridership in 2008, the first full year of operation. The gains were driven largely by increased weekday trips. Average weekday ridership was over 1,800, peaking at over 2,200 in August 2010. While seasonal peaks continue to be evident, employment growth in South Lake Union led to sustained ridership growth. In fact, the month with the highest increase over 2009 was November with an increase of 128 percent.
For a fun but totally unfair comparison, at 1.3 miles it’s exactly 12 times shorter than Central Link (15.6 mi). The streetcar would have 21,600 daily weekday boardings for 15.6 mi at that rate of boardings per mile. Full 2010 Central Link ridership is not yet available, but is likely to be not too far from there.
If you’re looking to bail out from work today to beat the snow, Sounder’s giving you a new option:
In anticipation of adverse weather, two extra Sounder trains will operate Tuesday afternoon in addition to regularly scheduled Sounder trains. An early train will depart King Street Station southbound for Tacoma at 2:30 p.m. Another train will depart Tacoma Dome Station northbound for Seattle’s King Street Station at 3:50 p.m.
Another year, another light rail ride without pants. STB reader “Atomic Taco” has posted pictures of Sunday’s event to our Flickr pool and uploaded a fun video to YouTube:
Also note that our site logo, up top, is still in the pantless mood.
Good evening, readers. Tonight, Metro’s Regional Transit Task Force (RTTF) is hosting a town hall-style forum at the University of Washington. Among a panel of Task Force members are King County councilmember Larry Phillips and Seattle city councilmember Tom Rasmussen. The forum tonight includes a presentation followed by an open Q & A session. Follow along for live updates below the jump.
There’s talk of a snow coming Tuesday afternoon. As we all know by now, snow in the middle of the day means people stuck at work and disaster all around. From Metro:
Transit users should plan ahead for afternoon and evening trips that could be disrupted, delayed, reduced, or on snow routing. Even though weather in the morning may be clear, leave from a bus stop or park-and-ride that also has service when buses are on snow routes in case travel conditions deteriorate by the afternoon commute.
Today, King County Metro unveiled a new website that displays monthly ridership, service quality, safety and security, financial, service effectiveness data. The data is aggregated system wide, not route or subarea specific. From Metro’s press release.
King County Metro Transit now has performance data online that provides up-to-date information about bus ridership, vehicle breakdowns, accident rates, and even how often buses show up on time.
“As a public agency, Metro Transit is accountable to the people we serve,” said Metro General Manager Kevin Desmond. “We want to make it easy for our customers and others to find information about our performance, and see how we are measuring up to our targeted goals.”
The new “Monthly Performance Measures” website currently features graphs and data about ridership trends, service quality measures, safety and security data, and some financial information. Navigation through the website should make Metro data and reports more accessible. Desmond said this is just a beginning, and he hopes the website will evolve over time with more data and other information the public will find interesting or helpful.
The deadline to submit comments for the East Link SDEIS is today. If you haven’t already done so, you can send your thoughts to eastlink.sdeis@soundtransit.org or mail a letter, postmarked today, to:
Sound Transit, Union Station
Attention: East Link SDEIS Comments
401 S. Jackson St., Seattle, WA 98104
The Regional Transit Task Force will be holding a forum to discuss transit with the public on Monday evening from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm at Kane Hall’s Walker Ames Room on the UW campus. More details and a list of the panelists from UW Transportation Services website.
In tragic news, on Thursday around 12:42 pm, a man was struck fatally by a northbound Link train while crossing against multiple warning signals at S Holgate St in SODO. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office has ruled the death a suicide, the Seattle Times reports. This is Link’s second fatality since it opened in July 2009. The first fatality was also a suicide that occurred in the same area shortly after Link opened.
Every now and then there’s second guessing of the decision to route Central Link through the Rainier Valley instead of a more direct route to the airport down East Marginal Way. The idea is that a faster trip to Seatac would boost ridership, and more importantly, make South Link a better competitor with existing freeway express buses.
I have three basic objections to this line of argument:
Ridership and Federal Funding. Station boarding data shows that about half of Link trips begin or end in the Rainier Valley. It’s true that some people would board in Georgetown or along Boeing Field, but it’s obviously a much smaller market and anecdotal Route 124 performance* doesn’t suggest robust demand. Cut ridership by a little less than half, and it threatens federal funding and offends basic cost/benefit considerations. Furthermore, bus transfer opportunities from South County are almost by definition riders brought from buses, which FTA formulas frown upon. And of course, North subarea savings couldn’t have been used to extend the line further south.
Low Development Potential. The idea of an MLK alignment is that there is a lot of development potential to join existing reasonably dense neighborhoods on either side.** The East Marginal Way walkshed is fundamentally limited by an airfield on one side and a river on the other. Furthermore, Seattle has shown no interest in rezoning these areas from industrial, and the economics of redevelopment are fundamentally limited by environmental contamination issues. The big employer, Boeing, has tons of free parking on their campus there.
It’s not a Commuter Line. Ignoring the Rainier Valley to increase speed on South Link is a direct sacrifice of all-day ridership to provide better connection between distant homes and jobs. Although it makes sense to serve work trips wherever possible, optimizing it for commutes gives you commuter rail. Light rail and subways are about providing high-capacity all-day connectivity. Sometimes you have the money to do both through grade separation, as is the case with North Link. That wasn’t the case here. I would rather run express buses to Federal Way forever than skip good, close-in markets for rail.
Next: the outlook for constructing a bypass in the future.
* How about some spring 2010 performance data, Metro?
** The fact that Metro has done a poor job of connecting those neighborhoods to Link is aggravating, but fixable and an issue wherever you put it.
Beginning Jan. 15, parking guidelines will be emphasized for vehicles parked:
Over 24 hours
In emergency lanes, “no parking” and loading zones
In ADA-designated spaces, where a vehicle is not marked by a state-issued disabled parking placard or license plate
In more than one parking space
In a manner blocking other vehicles and/or pedestrian pathways
Sound Transit will provide a one-week grace period for transit lot users. Between Jan. 15 and Jan. 22, warning notices will be given to vehicle owners who park outside the guidelines. Starting Sunday, Jan. 23, cars that either exceed the 24-hour limit or fail to observe other regulations may be immediately towed.
This is probably improvement on the status quo. If spending thousands of public dollars on a parking spot that delivers 2 boardings per day is a shaky investment, a spot used as airport parking for 7 days is even worse.
Still, a much more elegant solution is to simply charge for parking in high-demand lots. If it’s valuable for someone to park in a Sound Transit lot for an extended period, then so be it, but let them pay for it.
Furthermore, properly priced* paid parking generates revenue for transit agencies; encourages carpools, ped, bus, and bike access to transit centers; and provides customers with a reasonably high certainty that there will be a few spaces available at any time of day.
For example: suppose I live a half mile from a Sounder station. I’m a bit lazy, it’s raining, etc., so it’s easier to just drive. Charge me a couple of bucks to park, however, and that small incentive may tip me into walking, freeing up the spot for someone who has no attractive alternative. Instant ridership!
* Meaning, priced just high enough so that there are a few spaces available throughout the day. If fears that “no one will park there” are accurate, then you’re doing it wrong. At a lot usually filled to 60% capacity, the proper price is $0 (or to sell off some of the lot).
In the next four months, critical decisions will be made to shape the future of transportation in our region for years to come. As a policymaker committed to creating viable transportation choices, I need your help.
Pierce County voters will make the first critical decision on February 8th as they grapple with how to fund local transit infrastructure. Unlike King or Snohomish County transit systems, Pierce Transit has not fully utilized the taxing authority that the state has granted it over the years. By approving this increase and matching the transit investments of our other urban counties, voters would save current service and allow for some enhancements.
If you live in Pierce County, you can also do your part for transportation choices by voting YES on Pierce Transit’s Proposition 1. If you are like me, and don’t live in the county, but care about our regional transportation system, you can support the Yes campaign at their website.
The second major decision that will be made in the coming months is whether we take action to prevent devastating cuts to Metro service and restore some lost service in Snohomish County. I will be introducing legislation to provide these local transit agencies with some short-term revenue options to help them survive the recession.
You can find out more about this legislation, including the bill number and the details, by following me on Facebook or Twitter. We are still working through the final legislative details; expect the bill to be introduced later this month.
Finally, the Legislature will continue grappling with the challenges of funding long-term investments in transportation, and this discussion will take time to develop. Across the state, our infrastructure is aging and our declining gas tax revenues are not keeping up. We need a 21st century transportation policy with sustainable funding.
You can help advocate for transportation choices and real investments in transit by reaching out to the many transportation advocates we are blessed with in this region. Transportation Choices Coalition is a good place to start, but there are many good organizations that need active supporters.
The future of our region depends on whether we can muster the political will to create a connected and diverse transportation system to mirror our connected and diverse society. I am proud to be pro-choice, transportation and otherwise!
Representative Marko Liias serves Washington’s 21st district, and is a vice chair of the House Transportation Committee.
Because the question keeps coming up: Couldn’t we use those billions of dollars for something else right now?
The simple answer: Yes. We could definitely use those billions for something else right now. The list of needs, from social services to other transportation projects, is endless. But to re-appropriate those tunnel billions for something else you’d first have to remove them from of the place where they’re being held.
First of all:
There’s $2.4 billion in state funds allocated for building the downtown tunnel, but that giant hunk of money is cobbled together from a bunch of different sources: $339.8 million in federal funds (can’t re-appropriate those); $247.4 million in other state transportation funds (which could only be re-appropriated by an act of the legislature).
I made this mistake at first too, but a lot of that $247.4m is gas tax money, just not from the 2003 or 2005 gas tax increases. The rest is vehicle license fees and so on. There’s no way Sanders should have known that, as I found out in a private tweet from Mike Lindblom.
Onward!
If you can get a constitutional amendment passed, then next you grab $700 million to $1 billion from the tunnel project’s pile of gas tax cash and leave the rest. It will be needed for tearing down the existing Alaskan Way Viaduct and implementing the I-5 improvements / surface transit option.
For the record, the DBT is $4.0 billion without transit improvements, surface/transit/I-5 is $3.5 billion. So the difference $500m or $700m if the state decides to keep its promises. However, in a surface/transit option the $400m in tolling money evaporates, so we’re down to the low hundreds of millions.
Lastly, a constitutional amendment is just about the most painful way to go about this kind of change. Much more direct is replacement of most of the gas tax with repeal of the sales tax exemption for gasoline. This subsidy amounts to $500m a year from the state (p.291) and $156m a year from local governments, including by my calculation about $28m from Metro. Some of this sales tax revenue would flow directly to transit agencies, and much of the rest to unrestricted funds with no constitutional requirement for highway building. That’s the equivalent of one U-Link every 3 years.
