Archives for December 2010

Federal Omnibus Dies, Local Projects OK

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The Federal Omnibus spending bill had a number of transit-related earmarks for Washington, including a $110m installment for University Link and $21m for RapidRide C. Unfortunately, that omnibus bill died in the Senate. However, ST spokesman Bruce Gray assures me that the “continuing resolution” that passed instead authorizes FTA to follow the previous Full Funding […]

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2011 ST Budget Approved

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On December 16th, the Sound Transit Board approved its 2011 budget. The draft budget came out in October, and there aren’t any big changes from the draft. If you’ve lost track of the rail timeline: Sounder to Lakewood in 2012. First Hill Streetcar in 2013. Link to UW Station and S. 200th St. in 2016. […]

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The Israel Ad Flap

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Metro is basically a victim in a flap over a bus ad attacking Israeli actions: [Monday] afternoon, King County Executive Dow Constantine ordered a review of KC Metro’s policies concerning non-commercial bus advertisements, in response to controversial posters advertising “Israeli War Crimes,” which are slated to appear on 12 King County buses on December 27th […]

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Amtrak adding four Cascades trips for Christmas holidays

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If you’re journeying down to Portland or coming back for the Christmas holidays, you may want to consider taking a Cascades train, as Amtrak will be adding four trips, one roundtrip on Thursday, December 23rd and another roundtrip on Sunday, December 26th.  Both roundtrips will operate on an identical schedule for both days. You can […]

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Redmond’s TOD plans for Overlake

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I recently sat down with Redmond city planner Terry Marpert to talk about the city’s plans for the Overlake area when East Link comes in (hopefully) by 2021.  When the project’s SDEIS (Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement) came out last month, I took an editorial slant favoring the D2 NE 24th Design Option over the […]

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The Next House Transportation Committee

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PubliCola has the intel on the next group of Democrats: Transportation Clibborn [Mercer Island], Chair; Billig [Spokane], Vice Chair; Liias [Edmonds), Vice Chair; Eddy [Kirkland/Redmond]; Finn [Shelton]; Fitzgibbon [West Seattle/Burien]; Jinkins [Tacoma]; Ladenburg [Tacoma]; Moeller [Vancouver]; Morris [San Juans]; Moscoso [Bothell]; Reykdal [Olympia]; Rolfes [Bainbridge Island]; Ryu [Shoreline]; Takko [Aberdeen]; Upthegrove [Kent] Overall, this is […]

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Transit Master Plan – Scope of Work

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Starting in January the planning process for the Transit Master Plan will start in earnest. The past few months have been used to create a work plan, create an advisory board (which Martin is on), and other scoping type work. Below is the draft scope of work from the enabling resolution 31238, as passed by the […]

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Editorial: Bad Tunnel Arguments

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A day late, I finally watched the PubliCola tunnel debate. Adam already shared his reaction and I endorse it. Thursday’s debate also illustrated some of the arguments in the broader debate, on both sides, that I think are unconvincing: Anti-Tunnel Let the Voters Decide. In principle, asking the electorate to judge a project of enormous […]

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Sound Transit Reduced Fares Drop Next Month

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In my Metro fare increase reminder I forgot to mention that selected Sound Transit fares are actually going down next month. The “reduced” (Senior/disabled) 2-zone ST Express fare will drop from $1.25 to 75 cents, in line with the Metro rate. Central Link reduced fares will be a flat 75 cents instead of varying between […]

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Link Track Maintenance Policy

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[UPDATE 1:30pm: Tonight’s trackwork has been canceled. Link will operate normally.] Alert reader Carl Stork, who has gone as far as to compose a guest post on the topic, directly contacted ST with his concerns and received the following very encouraging response from Deputy Executive Director of Operations Mike Perry: [Sound Transit is] implementing a […]

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Viaduct Debate

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Seattle Channel Video can be played in Flash Player 9 and up [Update 11:02 pm] Most of the debate was rehashing of topics that have long since been old news for most people following the debate. What I find disturbing is how transit was hardly brought up. As a project that primarily serves downtown Seattle, […]

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Tracking Down Link Maintenance

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I was curious with the maintenance Sound Transit was doing the week before the pre-Thanksgiving snow storm, so I went for a field check. The Rider Alert said southbound platforms at Mount Baker and Beacon Hill would be closed, telling me the general area of work. I arrived at MLK and Walden around midnight, where […]

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If You Missed the Meetup

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You missed a lot of fun. Tom Rasumussen gave a great rundown of the RTTF and how the hard work isn’t done, we now need to convince the Regional Transit Commission (RTC) that that RTTF was on to something. Stay tuned, especially if you work or live in a suburban city. Jack Lattemann who has been […]

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News Roundup: More Trackwork

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Tunnel Initiative language released, but doubts exist over whether it would accomplish anything. Cary Moon produces an epic objection to the tunnel EIS. SDOT has concerns as well. Seattle upzones pass the full council. First of four new Swift stations opens Dec. 21st. Heavily reduced Central Link service this Thursday and Friday after 8pm. Jarrett […]

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Meetup Reminder

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Just a reminder that we’re having our meetup tonight starting at 5pm at the offices of GGLO.  We’ll have Jack Lattemann, Metro service planner, and Tom Rasmussen, Seattle city councilmember, on hand as our guest speakers.  If you’re coming and haven’t done so already, please drop an RSVP in the comments here.  Hope to see […]

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WSDOT Secretary to Head Rail Group

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Washington Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond has been elected by her peers to lead a national passenger rail coalition: The States for Passenger Rail Coalition was established in 2000 and is an alliance of 32 state departments of transportation with a mission to promote the development, implementation and expansion of intercity passenger rail services. The coalition […]

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Tax Deduction Update

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We’ve been following the effort to keep the transit pass subsidy limit in the federal tax code equal to the parking subsidy at $230 a month. Fortunately, the measure seems to have made it into the federal tax cut compromise. The extension only takes us through 2011, but it’s a start. PubliCola reports cloture in […]

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