Reminder: TCC is hosting the Sound Transit South King County Town Hall tonight, 6-7:30pm, at Highline College in Des Moines.

Local News:

• Op-Ed: Urging Transit Officials to Join the 2026 Week Without Driving (The Urbanist)
• The free Waterfront Shuttle will start circulating downtown Seattle on May 21 (Metro Matters)
• Sound Transit Board Grapples with Plan to Rebalance ST3 (The Urbanist) while Seattle city leaders call for both WSLE and BLE to be finished on time.
• Tell Sound Transit what you’d like to see at the Tacoma Dome Link Extension’s stations (ST Project Update)
• Bellevue Gets Regional Buy-in for Grand Connection Crossing Plan (The Urbanist)
• Mayor Wilson says the Mayor Says KCRHA’s Initial Response to Audit Findings “Did Not Adequately Address My Concerns” (PubliCola)
• Discord brewing at City Hall as City Council staff complain that the Mayor’s staff is ordering them around (PubliCola)
• The art deco sign bridge over the former Alaskan Way Viaduct now spans Bell Street at Western Ave in Belltown (Seattle Now And Then)
• Roadside Chat with SDOT’s head of construction & mobility discussing the city’s preparation for the FIFA World Cup this summer (SDOT Blog)
• Seattle finally legalized “Shared Streets” where speed limits can be set as low as 10 mph and prioritize pedestrians while still allowing general traffic (Seattle City Council Blog)

Continue reading “Midweek Roundup: Week Without Driving 2026” | 0 comments

Paris’s ultra-useful transit is getting better. (Transit Tangents)

Stockholm’s beautiful metro stations are “the world’s longest art exhibition”. (Not Just Bikes)

We need visionaries like this, and politicians who can prioritize the right things get it done. Paris has automated trains, platform screen doors, service every 5 minutes on many metro and bus lines, station entrances with a pedestrianized street and walk-up retail at both city and suburban stations, no bias against gondolas or funiculars where appropriate, extensive cycletracks, tram tracks in grass beds, etc.

Both Stockholm and Sound Transit spend 1% of their station budget on art, yet Stockholm has much better art. Each station built since the 1970s has a unique look so you can tell at a glance which station you’re at. In Seattle each of the DSTT stations are unique, but the U-Link/Northgate Link underground stations all look alike, so if you can’t see the signs because they aren’t visible from your viewpoint or people’s heads are blocking the view and you missed the audio announcement, it can be hard to figure out whether this is your station or not, so sometimes you just have to go out and hope it is. Whereas if each station were unique, you could tell at a glance at any part of the wall or floor whether this is your station.

The two guys narrating each taking up half the picture reminds a bit me of West End Girls. London in the 80s, with transit.

This is an open thread.

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In 2022, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) launched a project to redesign Aurora Ave. The highest ridership bus route in Washington, Metro’s RapidRide E Line, carries 13,000 people along the corridor every day. Aurora Ave is consistently one of the most dangerous streets in Seattle. Over the past few years, SDOT has received thousands of responses from the public on how the street should be changed. Based on this feedback, the agency shared a few concepts in 2024. The long-term changes on Aurora will include the following infrastructure and safety improvements:

• Sidewalks for comfort, safety, and ease of access
• Better lighting for improved visibility
• Safer, more accessible street crossings for people walking and rolling
• Updated drainage to prevent water accumulation 
• Making it more comfortable and accessible for people walking and rolling
• Reducing crashes for all road users
• Improving bus service so it’s more dependable and convenient

Continue reading “SDOT creating Aurora Ave Community Advisory Group” | 14 comments

BY ISSAQUAH MAYOR MARK MULLET

The Sound Transit Board is facing large decisions regarding its budget shortfall. The Board is now expected to adopt an updated ST3 plan that will help reshape timelines for light rail segments across the region. Some projects, like the West Seattle line, are proposed to move forward now, while others, including Issaquah’s connection, are pushed back again — this time by six years. Meanwhile, construction of the Seattle Center to Ballard line is postponed indefinitely.

Let’s be honest: that’s frustrating.

Continue reading “How to Finish ST3 Sooner (Without Raising Taxes)” | 157 comments

Yesterday, the Sound Transit Board Executive Committee reviewed a proposal assembled by the three county executives to realign ST3 for the second time. Although much of the hubbub since has focused on certain decisions presented in that proposal, including plans to temporarily truncate the Ballard Link Extension to Seattle Center and indefinite deferral of the south Seattle infill stations, an understated assumption of the plan includes discontinuation of the Sounder N Line beginning in 2033.

Continue reading “Sounder North may end in 2033” | 72 comments

There won’t be a Friday Roundtable this week, so here’s your open thread. There will be two regular articles Friday and one Saturday.

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Sound Transit has an Executive Committee meeting right now (10:30am-12:30pm) to discuss the proposed ST3 system plan changes to reduce costs. The meeting page has links to the agenda, the proposal, a reports on the Enterprise Initiative, a TOD progress report, and a link to watch the meeting live remotely via Zoom. The meeting will start with public testimony for 45 minutes; then the committee members will debate the proposal. There will be no decision today; the decision will be in the May 28th full board meeting.

If you’re at the meeting, feel free to liveblog anything interesting below. A video of the meeting will be posted to ST’s YouTube channel within 48 hours.

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Upcoming Link service impacts: Buses replace 1 Line trains between Rainier Beach and SeaTac/Airport this weekend for track and power work on the Tukwila Curve. Link service reductions after 8pm resumed this week as construction of Pinehurst Station continues.

Local News:

• Light Rail Will Reach Tacoma Dome ‘Come Hell or High Water’, Pierce County Leaders Say (The Urbanist).
• Help SDOT make Seattle streets more accessible by completing their ADA survey (SDOT Blog). Survey is open until September.
• Outside Seattle, paid parking starts at some light rail garages (The Seattle Times, $; free via SPL).
• SDOT Advances Upgrades for SoDo’s Fourth Avenue To Handle Busway Closure (The Urbanist).
• Op-Ed: Three Proven Strategies for a People-Centered Puget Sound from Barcelona to Bogotá (The Urbanist).
• Northgate’s slow evolution from parking lots to a walkable Seattle neighborhood (KUOW)
• Washington State Gives Bainbridge Island Marching Orders on Housing Changes (The Urbanist).
• Stories from Dr. Wes’ time as a cab driver in Seattle in the 1980s (Real Change News)
• Seattle front of the pack for bike commuting in U.S. cities (The Seattle Times, $; free via SPL).
• Bellevue’s Transportation Director Wants to Ramp Up Spending on Cars (The Urbanist)
• The newly-opened section of the 2 Line across Lake Washington experienced its first operational hiccup on Monday morning, when an eastbound train lost power for about 45 minutes on the approach to Mercer Island (The Seattle Times, $; free via SPL).

Continue reading “Midweek Roundup: hell or high water” | 21 comments