Keeping with the Tacoma streetcar motif, here’s a photo of a “Pagoda Station” in Tacoma, courtesy of that Streetcar Guy’s flickr pool. There are other great shots of Tacoma, including this one of old streetcar there in the same pool. Over at Vintage Seattle there’s a scan of an old postcard that features streetcars running on Pacific Avenue in Tacoma. You can find more old photos of Tacoma here at B Nagurski’s flickr pool, a couple of which feature the interurban stations in them.
Erica Barnett has a different takeaway from the study that showed a VMT reduction I linked to last week. She says that nothing can reduce congestion, and she is absolutely right that we cannot build our way out of congestion. However, in reality, congestion pricing can definitely reduce congestion, and get much needed revenue for transportation improvements. A win-win in my mind.
(Yes, I know the photo is of HOT lanes, which is not even close to the same thing as congestion pricing, but it’s the closest look we’ve got at the sort of infrastructure required.)
Nothing to add to this, photo by Brian Bundridge.
Seattlest is reporting that Amtrak is testing out WiFi on a Cascades train. Yet another good reason to take the train.
Remember that tomorrow, Wednesday March 18th, is Bus Driver Appreciation Day! Whether you express your appreciation through a nice card, some cookies, or even a sincere “Thank you!” just make sure that your driver feels a little bit better tomorrow.
It’s still pretty skeletal, but still, woohoo!
I would say that Martin described yesterday is not a full and comfortable solution to the funding gap that could force Metro to cut 20% of its bus service. Given the constraints of the situation, Martin’s ideas are strong and well-rounded — but those constraints must be changed by Olympia.
In addition to steep fare hikes (up to $1.25 over the last few years) and a stronger reliance inconvenient transfers, much of Metro’s less popular service would to be severely curtailed. And though these routes aren’t popular, people do depend on them. Additional savings would have to be found by cutting night and weekend service across the region. This would necessarily include even busier routes that operate in Seattle. And finally, we’d see cuts even in good, solid routes that perform well. We would all be affected, even with the smart mitigation that Martin proposes.
So yesterday’s post isn’t this blog outlining a rosy scenario for making the appropriate cuts. We are saying that with a 20% reduction of service, you run out of “appropriate” cuts very quickly and begin to harm the core service that Metro provides. We are saying that cuts would be dramatic and a disaster for the progress that this region has made over the last decade.
And the combination of the above options is not a solution to Metro’s funding gap, it’s a doomsday scenario that will turn many back toward automobile dependence and leave many unable to get to work. That isn’t just bad for congestion. It’s bad for our economy, ruinous for our environment, and a setback for our walkable, livable urban landscape.
This doomsday scenario is something Metro may be forced to do. But it shouldn’t have to.
Legislators in Olympia need to give Metro taxing authority to solve this problem, and local politicians need to use the appropriate tools to put the pressure on. From Rep. Eddy to County Councilmen Constantine and Phillips to Mayor Nickels: You have a responsibility to ensure that Metro doesn’t have to make these drastic cuts. Our region, our county, and our cities depend on you.
So news like this is not encouraging:
King County lobbyist Chuck Williams said one proposal for financing more buses, a 1 percent motor-vehicle excise tax, has gotten the cold shoulder so far from legislative leaders, who told him the idea “is dead on arrival.”
Another measure that would have expanded annual vehicle-license fees also failed to get enough support, as did a bill that would have allowed use of property taxes to help support buses. Another bill, SB5433, is still alive and would allow the county to use up to 0.3 percent sales tax for bus service. It passed the Senate and will be heard by the House Finance Committee Friday. “That’s our last shot,” Williams said.
Lost (by me) in all the HB 1490 noise was Senate Bill 5540 (and companion House Bill 1677), which permits Vancouver and Clark County to impose a .9% sales tax to build high capacity transit to Portland, and to institute the same .9% sales tax authority Sound Transit has to pay for the construction of the transit. The bill amends the language to let any county with more than 400,000 residents that borders another state team up with a transit agency in that other state. Clark County has only very recently passed the 400,000 people mark, and is the only county one of two counties with that many people that borders another state.
The Senate Bill has passed 30-17, mainly along party lines, with the Democrats for and the Republicans against. The two exceptions were Tim Sheldon (D-Potlach) who voted no, and Bob Morton (R-Kettle Falls) voted yes. The Senator representing the area, Don Benton (R-Vancouver) abstained. The House companion bill has passed out of committee and should get a floor vote relatively soon. I’ll keep you posted.
This one is also from the amazing Oran.
This post originally appeared on Orphan Road.
Walking home from the grocery store the other day, it started to rain. Right then I saw an empty bus ride past me. I didn’t think of flagging it down and riding it home. Why? Because that would have cost me $2, and a 6-block trip isn’t worth $2 to me, even in the rain.
Does this situation seem strange to anyone else? A bus paid for mostly with sales taxes (not fares) driving by empty when it could have saved a citizen several minutes and some comfort?
The problem, as I see it, is the fare model. We have a flat fare for simplicity, and we’ve chosen $2 as a rate that will attract the average rider and keep them out of their car. But that makes short-distance bus trips a bad buy while giving long-distance trips a great value.
I propose that once we have ORCA we should consider distance-based fares. Four blocks costs, say, $0.10. Four miles would be around $1. 12 miles would be $3. This not only encourages bus use for those that live close to their workplace, but also encourages using the bus for something other than commuting.