56 Replies to “Sunday Open Thread: Freeman vs. Constantine”

  1. New book due out this week:
    “Waiting on a Train: The Embattled Future of Passenger Rai Service” by James McCommons, bubished by Chelsea Green Pub in Vermont.. I received an advance copy and finished it last week – damning of both politicians and Amtrak but cautiously optimistic nonetheless. $17.95 at your local independent bookstore – you may need to special order this one.

  2. I noticed that there is construction at the link maintinance base. It looks like they are pouring the settings for the pole to support the catenary wire.

  3. I’ve got to say Herr Freeman has some good points on cost, bike lanes, and BRT. Still, I’m not convinced BRT would be that much cheaper once you invest enough to make it reliable. It certainly would be more expensive to operate on a per passenger basis. That said, I can’t agree with anybody who says we need more general purpose lanes. HOT/HOV lanes should be the only freeway expansion going forward.

    On a somewhat unrelated item, here is a rare item I ran across in Bellevue. A “for rent” sign from Kemper Development: http://twitter.com/VeloBusDriver/status/5342983429

  4. Whats the deal with the anti rail bias on this video? Where did it come from? I’m confused. I feel hated on and it’s not even noon.

      1. Probably should have thought King Street Station should have been Main Street Station on the Eastside line?

    1. Not based on the original plan that was sold to voters. Of course bids are coming in under budget today and ST doesn’t get any sort of credit for that so it’s a double-edged sword.

  6. Why does Kemper Freeman get any more say than any other citizen? Sure he owns a bunch of real estate, but he’s still just one man with one vote. I own almost as much land as he does, should I start my own transportation committee? It really annoys me how this country values businessmen over everyone else, haven’t we learned our lesson yet? Hasn’t everyone seen Wall Street?

    1. Like it or not, successful businesspeople are thought to be valuable because they created a business from scratch or can run an existing one well. These businesses create jobs for “everyone else” and pay taxes that allow government to function. Given the difficulty in securing financing, finding and hiring capable employees, and dealing with rules and regulations thrust upon them by “everyone else”, it’s a miracle they can succeed sometimes. That said they aren’t the only voice out there worth listening to. Good government provides the environment for good business to function. It is equally or even more difficult to pull off so individuals with long histories in civic service should also command the public’s attention.

      And yes, I’ve seen Wall Street. It’s one of my favorite movies. Of course, it’s just that – a movie. When you’re getting pissed off about the evils of Business, just remember that there are a LOT of smart, capable, civic-minded, and philanthropic businesspeople out there who give a ton back to society. Warren Buffet won’t be passing on his billions to his family – virtually all of it is headed towards charity. Same goes for Bill Gates.

    3. The Republican’s came up with this brilliant scheme. It says Corporations are “people” too and that Money is speech! The more money you have, the more speech you get to make. Never mind that pesky one person one vote thing…

        1. Awesome – thanks for the updated photos – it seemed like I hadn’t heard any new info on airport link for at least a month. Looks like they’ve made some good progress.

        2. I see from your first photo that you were confronted by ST’s hired “Security” goons. Please print out and carry this document – it outlines your rights as a photographer:
          http://www.krages.com/phoright.htm

          I was all over MUNI in SF last week taking hundreds of photos with nary a peep from any of their “Security” or SFPD.

        3. I’ve seen that document before. It’s just an outline of guidelines; it gives me as many legal rights as a note from my mom.

  8. Just returned from a 10 day trip to San Diego via Amtrak. 5 different trains (Starlight to SAC, San Joaquin to Bakersfield, bus to LAX (Los Angeles Union station), Surfliner to San Diego and a return Surfliner to LAX and Starlight to Seattle. Only the Surfliner north from San Diego was late (about 10 minutes into LAX) and the Starlight was early both into SAC and SEA!. The Starlight had some seats available but not many, the Surfliners were full mostly (they do a lot of short haul station to station work) and the San Joaquin had a few seats. Service was good — not outstanding except for our sleeping car attendant from LA to SEA (we did coach going down) who was really good and the bus driver from BFD to LAX — among the top 10 drivers I have ever ridden with in my life — including myself — and I told her so when we got to LA.

    Advantages — kept our shoes on while boarding, got to bring along as many liquid products as we wanted, even had a knife in my cooler to cut the fruit we had to munch on, on time performance, didn’t have to put the tray table in an upright and locked position when coming into a station, good service, friendly fellow travelers. Downside ?? We were on vacation so time wasn’t an issue — I can’t think of any downside.

    To quote an old Southern Pacific ad — “NEXT TIME TRY THE TRAIN”

      2. Also, check out the Discover section of the Rail 2 Rail page. It shows one of the Sounder cars ST leased to Metrolink a while back.

  9. So it’s official: I will be a mommy soon!

    Guess I need to start reading Bus Chick to get ideas. Anyone go ideas on how I’m going to carry baby around in a power wheelchair?

    I roll around in this: http://www.spinlife.com/Zip%27r-Mobility-Zip%27r-4-Wheel-Travel-Scooter/spec.cfm?productID=77541

    And here is what Old Trusty sorta looks like: http://www.spinlife.com/Invacare-Tracer-EX2-Standard-Wheelchair/spec.cfm?productID=70550 (except Old Trusty is red not blue)

    2. Something like this for the travel scooter?

      http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000H4E7EO/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000G22QHW&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0K1EA3AA858QD62NCKQJ

      It is the kind of bike seat that attaches to the handlebars and has the child sit in front of you, between you and the handlebars.

      You’d have to lose the basket.

      I also found this:

      http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?p=14306701

    1. The northbound 564 stopped at the bay you have marked as 99009. ST’s schedule claims that it stops at Bay 1. I remember seeing a PT bus laying over on the East side of the bus mall. I can’t remember if all of the bays had a shelter, but either way Bays 4 and 5 are positioned too far west.

  11. Anyone know why MAX, the Portland Streetcar, and the SLUT all don’t have level boarding?

    1. Can’t speak to the Shkoda products, but in the case of MAX, it was built as a high-floor, climb-aboard system using the original cars built by Bombardier/BN based on a car design from Rio de Janeiro. These required lifts at each station, which the train operators had to leave the train to operate. My recollection is that hen the Siemens low-floor cars came into service, nothing was done to raise the station platforms.

      3. But why not make the new Green Line (and other lines built after they got low-floor LRVs) platforms so they could level-board, and they could use the bridge plate at the older stations?

  12. I have 2 questions for the open thread. One, does anyone know why Tukwila International Boulevard and Mt. Baker stations weren’t built as center platform stations? It seems like center platform stations would be much less expensive. Two, does anyone know why they didn’t incorporate the new Mt. Baker Transit Center with the Mt. Baker station? The other day I was marveling at all the space under the station and wondering why they didn’t use it for a bus transfer point. It seems like with a little creative planning and cooperation between Sound Transit and Metro they could have built the transit center right under the station.

    1. My thoughts and questions:

      The space underneath is wide enough for two lanes and platforms. There’ll be no space left for passing lanes or layover if it’s a two-way configuration. How will buses access and exit the station? The way it is right now works well for the 14 and the 48 as it avoids the congested MLK & Rainier intersection. It becomes problematic for the 8 which runs through in both directions.

      When the area around the station is developed into residences and retail, do we want the area underneath to function as a public gathering space or a space for buses? Mount Baker is not Tukwila International Boulevard.

      If Tukwila and Mt Baker were center platform stations, tracks leading into the station would need to split apart. Reconfiguring the platform layout is not the issue. The issue is building additional structures to support two individually elevated tracks instead of a single column. That would’ve cost more.

  13. Kemper Freeman doesn’t want any of THOSE people scaring off shoppers from his upscale malls.

    2. Don’t be a hater. Kemper Freeman’s malls won’t be accessed from any of the proposed Eastlink alignments. He has nothing to lose here and so is doing exactly what you are doing. Expressing his opinion on what he thinks is best for his city.

      1. Kemper is very anti-rail transit. If it was up to him there would be NO rail transit on the Eastside at all. Furthermore he wants massive freeway expansion with major widening of all of the existing freeways and the cross-lake bridges, along with many new highways including “I-605” along the Cascade foothills.

        I take anything he says about transit in general and rail transit in particular with a huge grain of salt.

  15. Now for rail opponents that think it don’t help congestion, it sure comes in handy when the highways are out of action. WOnder if Freeman has seen the news out of San Francisco and Oakland about the Bay Bridge. Still closed as of now, possibly not opening in time for AM Commute. BART continues to be the best option for many commuters. Here is an interesting photo from Day 1 of the crisis, showing a commuter on BART, reading the print edition of the Chronicle, with the Banner headline Bridge Fix Fails!(I think it was staged myself).

    http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2009/11/01/BAE11ADOBI.DTL&object=%2Fc%2Fpictures%2F2009%2F10%2F28%2Fba-bridge28054mk_0500773079.jpg

    I also noticed that BART, for it’s next generation rail cars, they propose to go to three doors per side per car instead of 2. Probably wished they had something like that now as they are carrying record crowds.

  16. really, kemper… light rail can’t work in small cities?

    maybe you should get out of bellevue every once in a while. maybe you should visit freiburg, germany which has a population of less than 220,000 inhabitants, yet offers real choices in public transportation (on top of the connections of autobahn/regional train) …

    4 tram lines utilized for over 200,000 daily trips
    multi-nodal bus system complementing the tram (imagine that)
    extensive bike paths

    Freiburg’s VAG should be the small town standard – it’s efficient, fast, easy to use and very extensive.

    it’s also the green capital of europe. ugh. he could stand to learn a thing or two from these gurus.

    1. The difference would be that Freiburg, Germany grew up around a rail line while the powers that be are trying to impose a rail line on Bellevue. It is a very different result.

      1. If you knew anything about the history of Germany you’d know how ridiculous your statement is.

    1. Good luck and solidarity to my brothers and sisters in Philadelphia. I know a few people who work for or have worked for SEPTA and I have not heard many good things about management and the bare bones way that organization is run.

      1. Fair enough, but beginning a strike at 3am w/no warning just adds insult to injury for riders, don’t you think?

  19. The whole point of a strike is to cause the most disturbance possible so that you can show management you are serious and that you are not expendable. That’s the harsh reality. Septa management is brutal to their workers and their whole system is not well run at all because of managements ineptitude. I hope it’s a quick strike for everyone involved. A strike is the last thing workers want, this is no fun for them. The fact that they were angry/desperate enough to strike shows you how bad their situation is.

  21. Don’t you think you really ought to be asking Sound Transit since this site is bought and paid for by Sound Transit?

    1. Cindy,

      since this site is bought and paid for by Sound Transit?

      I’ll assume this statement comes from ignorance, and not as a totally unwarranted and unsupported attack on our integrity: we are an absolutely independent website. No one that writes here (aside from Guest contributors, always disclosed) has any relationship with Sound Transit except the one that all media outlets have with them.

    2. To add to what Martin said, some people posting comments here may work for Sound Transit, Metro, or other transit agencies. However they have the same say you or I have.

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