When Sound Transit opened the Crosslake Connection in March 2026, over 200,000 people went for a ride on the first day. Since then, the 2 Line has carried thousands of passengers between Seattle and the Eastside everyday. Many of these passengers are new transit riders who used to drive across Lake Washington, while others switched to the train from an ST Express bus. Sound Transit’s decision to wait until August to restructure its bus network gives us an opportunity to examine the Crosslake Connection’s impact on ST Express ridership.

The agency has not yet published Link ridership data for March and April, but it has shared ridership data for its ST Express bus routes. Unless otherwise stated, the analysis below is looking at the average weekday ridership in April 2026 (percentages are compared to March 2026).

Crosslake Routes

Route 542’s ridership has remained stable, just a 1% increase to 1,517 passengers. This route is significantly faster than the 2 Line (26 vs 53 minutes) between Redmond and UW, so it is unlikely that many passengers would have switched to the train. Last year, Route 542 had a nearly 18% increase in ridership between March and April.

Sound Transit’s other all-day route on SR-520, Route 545, was impacted by the Crosslake Connection opening. Ridership was down 13.5% in April. Despite this, the route’s 4,281 daily passengers still make it the busiest ST Express route. Route 545 saw a slight increase in ridership between March and April 2025.

Continue reading “Friday Roundtable: Crosslake Connection’s Impact on ST Express Ridership” | 44 comments

Update: The resolution passed with some of the amendments. Analysis at end of article.

The Sound Transit board meets today at 1:30-5:00 to revise the ST3 system plan to reduce costs. The meeting page has links to the agenda, resolution, amendments, reports, and information on how to view the meeting and give public testimony in person or remotely. A video of the meeting will be posted to ST’s YouTube channel within 48 hours after the meeting.

The proposed resolution postpones some ST3 projects to get costs down to the available debt limit. 13 amendments reverse or soften some of the changes. As reported, Dan Strauss proposed focusing on Ballard while deferring the second downtown tunnel. Vice Chair Claudia Balducci proposes studying automation and other cost reduction measures and other details. Another resolution would increase the car rental tax. Each resolution requires a supermajority vote to pass.

This article is to collect comments from the meeting and its outcome.

Continue reading “ST Board Meets to Postpone ST3 Projects” | 166 comments

On Wednesday, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson unveiled an amendment to the Sound Transit 3 realignment plan that would keep the Graham St infill station on track to open in 2031. The ST3 realignment plan was proposed by Board Chair Dave Somers in early May as a means of aligning the agency’s future Link extensions with the available funding. In the plan, Link extensions to West Seattle, Everett, Tacoma, Issaquah, Kirkland, and the new downtown tunnel would be built first. The extension from Seattle Center to Ballard and the infill stations (Graham St and Boeing Access Rd) would be designed with current funding but construction would be deferred until additional funds are available in the future.

Mayor Wilson teamed up with King County Executive Girmay Zahilay and King County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda to propose an amendment to Somers’ resolution. The amendment directs Sound Transit to “incorporate $25M in secured federal grant funds for project construction, apply identified cost savings opportunities, and pursue additional local and federal grant opportunities”. In addition, any cost savings from Pinehurst station should be allocated for the Graham St station. As Seattle owns the right-of-way on MLK Way, Wilson is committing that the City will “expedite permitting, resolve ROW-related risks, and support cost reduction efforts”.

Continue reading “Wilson, Zahilay, and Mosqueda Propose Plan to Save Graham St Station” | 35 comments

Service Alerts:

• Sound Transit’s Monthly Maintenance program comes to South King County this week, with Link 1 Line service between Angle Lake and Federal Way being replaced by buses from around 9pm to end of service the nights of May 25 to May 27.
• Dual disruption coming to Link this weekend, May 30-31: buses replace all trains between Capitol Hill and Stadium, and replace the 2 Line between South Bellevue and CID.

Local Headlines:

• Community Transit is retiring its last Seattle route, Route 424, on June 13 (CT News)
• Bellevue Poised to Stop Giving Away Curbside Parking for Free (The Urbanist)
• Seattle Times opinion piece on Vision Zero is dangerously misleading (Seattle Bike Blog)
• Hundreds of happy people ride with Mayor Wilson to open Bicycle Weekends (Seattle Bike Blog). Additional coverage by The Urbanist.
• Op-Ed: South King County Deserves the Light Rail Stations It Was Promised (The Urbanist)
• Dan Strauss Restarts Downtown Tunnel Debate on Eve of ST3 Plan Update (The Urbanist)
• West Coast Cities Turn to Vacancy Taxes to Grapple with Housing Crisis (The Urbanist)
• “City Erased” exhibit at UW’s Gould Hall highlights the buildings destroyed by I-5 (Seattle Now & Then)
• Seattle Advances Zoning Package Spurring Towers, Mass Timber, and Passive House (The Urbanist)
• Seattle Social Housing Developer Acquires First Building (The Urbanist)
• Seattle has the No. 1 big city school district. We should act like it (The Seattle Times, $; free via SPL)
• Seattle is giving out 100 free Seasonal Café permits for Seattle businesses (SDOT Blog)
• $8.4M in Federal funding to enhance transit service during the FIFA World Cup (PSRC)

Continue reading “Midweek Roundup: dual disruption” | 82 comments

In light of the recent news that Graham Street Station is set to be deferred yet again, I thought it would be worth considering if there may be a better way forward. Despite the early promises of the Enterprise Initiative, we are heading towards a future where a key Link Station is deferred indefinitely yet again. This article looks at the most effective and cost-effective alternative for Graham Street station, how it compares to ST’s preferred alternative and ST’s other alternatives, and larger problems in the Enterprise Initiative process and the ST3 decision-making process as a whole that lead to substandard station and alignment decisions and unnecessary costs. This article is an abridged version of a more detailed and technical article on my website.

We have a lot of ground to cover, but our first point to consider will be the Spring 2025 Alternatives Development and Evaluation Technical Memorandum. In this memo, Sound Transit released its preferred alternative for Graham Street, with the option chosen being a center platform on the south side of Graham Street (see below).

Continue reading “Graham Street Station and the Failure of the Enterprise Initiative” | 165 comments

Sound Transit boardmember Dan Strauss is proposing three amendments to the ST3 system plan update on Thursday. The full list of amendments is expected Tuesday, and it sounds like there will be a lot of them. Strauss is a Seattle City Councilmember for northwest Seattle. His amendments are:

1. Prioritize building the Ballard-Westlake Link segment now, and postpone the second downtown tunnel (DSTT2) until after it.
2. Use the 70% of unused debt capacity ST has, and ask Olympia for permission to issue longer-term bonds. Strauss says there are some “limited, commonsense adjustments” to debt policy that ST can make.
3. Set a target date for finishing Ballard Link, rather than leaving it indefinite.

To me, #1 is consistent with our call to build the best parts first. I’d still like to see automated trains and canceling DSTT2 (especially to eliminate the excessively passenger-hostile tunnel-to-tunnel transfers), but this is an important step. Let’s not make the perfect the enemy of the good. If somebody offers me half of what I want, I’d rather take it, and leave the rest as something to try for later.

Re #2, there may be room to optimize existing debt capacity, but I’m still not convinced of longer-term bonds. Re #3, setting a target date for Ballard makes sense, and would avoid leaving people in limbo for years.

Update: Seattle Subway endorses #1 and #3, has a petition to sign for it, and urges people to contact their ST boardmembers starting now.

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Why it’s illegal to walk to the World Cup Final in New Jersey. Hint: It’s not just highways and chain-link fences. (Evan Edinger)

What if we removed the Lexington Avenue subway line in Manhattan? How many car lanes would we need to allow all existing passengers to drive? (CityNerd)

In other news, on Friday afternoon a northbound Sounder “N” Train hit a pedestrian ($) on the track and killed him. Our thoughts are with the victim’s family. STB editor Michael Smith was on an Amtrak Cascades train at that moment, which was behind the Sounder train, and his train was stopped for a few hours south of Carkeek Park because of the incident with the Sounder train.

This is an open thread.

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Seattle Parks & Recreation’s annual Bicycle Weekends program returns this summer starting tomorrow, May 23. This summer, Lake Washington Blvd (LWB) will be closed to non-local car traffic every weekend until Labor Day between Seward Park and Mount Baker Beach. This includes holidays (May 25, July 3, and September 7), but excludes August 1-2 due to Seafair. The road will close to cars at 7pm on Fridays and open for cars at 6am on Monday. All seven parking lots along LWB will be open and accessible to people driving. People driving to homes along LWB (residents, visitors, and deliveries) may enter from the nearest cross street.

Despite the branding, Bicycle Weekends are not about bikes. This program is an opportunity for people to enjoy Lake Washington while they walk, run, or roll. It is an opportunity for friends to have a picnic next to the water without speeding traffic mere feet away. It is an opportunity for kids and adults to learn how to roller skate, skateboard, or bike on a flat surface (a rare amenity in South Seattle). It is an opportunity for all Seattleites to share a valuable community resource that is reserved for drivers 332 days each year.

Continue reading “Friday Roundtable: Lake Washington Boulevard Car-free Weekends 2026” | 24 comments

During the pandemic, fares were suspended on a number of transit agencies in Washington State including Metro and Sound Transit for public health reasons. While transit was free for part of 2020, Metro and Sound Transit suspended fare enforcement until Spring 2025 and Fall 2023 respectively.

On Seattle’s buses and trains (and Snohomish’s, Spokane’s, and Vancouver’s BRTs), agencies employ a “Proof of Payment” system. Common in Northern Europe, fares are not enforced by turnstiles or bus drivers but by transit employees who randomly board transit vehicles and check that riders have proof of payment. Turnstiles prevent the possibility of unique fare media (a free bus ticket with a hotel or, as in Seattle, arena ticket) and barrier-less Youth Ride Free. They also save on capital costs associated with fare gates and operational costs by enabling shorter bus dwell times with all door boarding.

One downside of proof of payment systems is that fare enforcement is more complex. In Washington State, most agencies with off-board fare payment also have a fare enforcement program to issue fines or citations to riders who illegally boarded without paying.

Continue reading “The Status of Fare Evasion in Washington State” | 136 comments

Local News:

• With a fresh new name, the Seattle Streets Alliance plans street party to celebrate 15 years (Seattle Bike Blog)
• Reversing Harrell cuts, Parks is now installing the remaining Lake Washington Blvd safety compromise plan (Seattle Bike Blog)
• Op-Ed: Trailhead Direct Transit Is Great. It Can Be Even Better. (The Urbanist)
• New County Transportation Funding Measure Could Shortchange Seattle (The Urbanist)
• Deaths on Washington roads drop again (KUOW)
• Amid light rail money crunch, what now for West Seattle, Ballard, Everett? (The Seattle Times, $; free via SPL)
• After TDLE: How Pierce Can Pivot to Harness the Benefits (Transportation Matters)
• Op-Ed: Renton needs commitment from Sound Transit (The Seattle Times, $; free via SPL)
• Join SDOT’s Transportation Funding Task Force (SDOT)
• Sound Transit officials chase more money to close $35B funding gap (The Seattle Times, $; free via SPL)
• RapidRide I Construction Update (Metro Matters)
• The Not-So-New Kids on the Block: Sound Transit’s staff ambassadors are here to help you ride (The Platform)
• First Amtrak Cascades ‘Airos’ Arrive in Seattle for Testing (The Urbanist)
• UW and Challenge Seattle released “Gridlock 2050: A Call to Action” and created new interactive transportation visualization platform (UW Mobility Innovation Center)
• Wilson Rolls Out Four New Public Bathrooms in Pioneer Square (The Urbanist). Also on the SDOT Blog.
• Katie Wilson’s ‘Taller Denser Faster’ Plan Starts to Get Fleshed Out (The Urbanist)
• An elected Sound Transit board would ensure accountability (The Seattle Times, $; free via SPL)

This is an Open Thread. Uncivil comments will be moderated.

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