Good evening, readers. Tonight, Metro’s Regional Transit Task Force (RTTF) is hosting a town hall-style forum at the University of Washington. Among a panel of Task Force members are King County councilmember Larry Phillips and Seattle city councilmember Tom Rasmussen. The forum tonight includes a presentation followed by an open Q & A session. Follow along for live updates below the jump.
There’s talk of a snow coming Tuesday afternoon. As we all know by now, snow in the middle of the day means people stuck at work and disaster all around. From Metro:
Transit users should plan ahead for afternoon and evening trips that could be disrupted, delayed, reduced, or on snow routing. Even though weather in the morning may be clear, leave from a bus stop or park-and-ride that also has service when buses are on snow routes in case travel conditions deteriorate by the afternoon commute.
Do what you need to do.
Today, King County Metro unveiled a new website that displays monthly ridership, service quality, safety and security, financial, service effectiveness data. The data is aggregated system wide, not route or subarea specific. From Metro’s press release.
King County Metro Transit now has performance data online that provides up-to-date information about bus ridership, vehicle breakdowns, accident rates, and even how often buses show up on time.
“As a public agency, Metro Transit is accountable to the people we serve,” said Metro General Manager Kevin Desmond. “We want to make it easy for our customers and others to find information about our performance, and see how we are measuring up to our targeted goals.”
The new “Monthly Performance Measures” website currently features graphs and data about ridership trends, service quality measures, safety and security data, and some financial information. Navigation through the website should make Metro data and reports more accessible. Desmond said this is just a beginning, and he hopes the website will evolve over time with more data and other information the public will find interesting or helpful.
The rest of the release is after the jump…
Continue reading “Metro Unveils Monthly Performance Website”
The deadline to submit comments for the East Link SDEIS is today. If you haven’t already done so, you can send your thoughts to eastlink.sdeis@soundtransit.org or mail a letter, postmarked today, to:
Sound Transit, Union Station
Attention: East Link SDEIS Comments
401 S. Jackson St., Seattle, WA 98104
Regional Transit Task Force Town Hall Forum
The Regional Transit Task Force will be holding a forum to discuss transit with the public on Monday evening from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm at Kane Hall’s Walker Ames Room on the UW campus. More details and a list of the panelists from UW Transportation Services website.
UW Station Community Meeting
Sound Transit, UW, and WSDOT will host this open house on Wednesday, January 12, from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm at the Museum of History and Industry in Montlake. The latest plan and design for connecting the station to the Triangle area and the campus will be revealed. This will determine how well the station can be accessed and the ease of bus-rail transfers.
This was taken on January 3rd. It’s nice to see the architecture of these freeway stations progress in some way.
In tragic news, on Thursday around 12:42 pm, a man was struck fatally by a northbound Link train while crossing against multiple warning signals at S Holgate St in SODO. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office has ruled the death a suicide, the Seattle Times reports. This is Link’s second fatality since it opened in July 2009. The first fatality was also a suicide that occurred in the same area shortly after Link opened.
Every now and then there’s second guessing of the decision to route Central Link through the Rainier Valley instead of a more direct route to the airport down East Marginal Way. The idea is that a faster trip to Seatac would boost ridership, and more importantly, make South Link a better competitor with existing freeway express buses.
I have three basic objections to this line of argument:
Next: the outlook for constructing a bypass in the future.
* How about some spring 2010 performance data, Metro?
** The fact that Metro has done a poor job of connecting those neighborhoods to Link is aggravating, but fixable and an issue wherever you put it.
They’re cracking down:
Beginning Jan. 15, parking guidelines will be emphasized for vehicles parked:
- Over 24 hours
- In emergency lanes, “no parking” and loading zones
- In ADA-designated spaces, where a vehicle is not marked by a state-issued disabled parking placard or license plate
- In more than one parking space
- In a manner blocking other vehicles and/or pedestrian pathways
Sound Transit will provide a one-week grace period for transit lot users. Between Jan. 15 and Jan. 22, warning notices will be given to vehicle owners who park outside the guidelines. Starting Sunday, Jan. 23, cars that either exceed the 24-hour limit or fail to observe other regulations may be immediately towed.
This is probably improvement on the status quo. If spending thousands of public dollars on a parking spot that delivers 2 boardings per day is a shaky investment, a spot used as airport parking for 7 days is even worse.
Still, a much more elegant solution is to simply charge for parking in high-demand lots. If it’s valuable for someone to park in a Sound Transit lot for an extended period, then so be it, but let them pay for it.
Furthermore, properly priced* paid parking generates revenue for transit agencies; encourages carpools, ped, bus, and bike access to transit centers; and provides customers with a reasonably high certainty that there will be a few spaces available at any time of day.
For example: suppose I live a half mile from a Sounder station. I’m a bit lazy, it’s raining, etc., so it’s easier to just drive. Charge me a couple of bucks to park, however, and that small incentive may tip me into walking, freeing up the spot for someone who has no attractive alternative. Instant ridership!
* Meaning, priced just high enough so that there are a few spaces available throughout the day. If fears that “no one will park there” are accurate, then you’re doing it wrong. At a lot usually filled to 60% capacity, the proper price is $0 (or to sell off some of the lot).
by MARKO LIIAS
In the next four months, critical decisions will be made to shape the future of transportation in our region for years to come. As a policymaker committed to creating viable transportation choices, I need your help.
Pierce County voters will make the first critical decision on February 8th as they grapple with how to fund local transit infrastructure. Unlike King or Snohomish County transit systems, Pierce Transit has not fully utilized the taxing authority that the state has granted it over the years. By approving this increase and matching the transit investments of our other urban counties, voters would save current service and allow for some enhancements.
If you live in Pierce County, you can also do your part for transportation choices by voting YES on Pierce Transit’s Proposition 1. If you are like me, and don’t live in the county, but care about our regional transportation system, you can support the Yes campaign at their website.
The second major decision that will be made in the coming months is whether we take action to prevent devastating cuts to Metro service and restore some lost service in Snohomish County. I will be introducing legislation to provide these local transit agencies with some short-term revenue options to help them survive the recession.
You can find out more about this legislation, including the bill number and the details, by following me on Facebook or Twitter. We are still working through the final legislative details; expect the bill to be introduced later this month.
Finally, the Legislature will continue grappling with the challenges of funding long-term investments in transportation, and this discussion will take time to develop. Across the state, our infrastructure is aging and our declining gas tax revenues are not keeping up. We need a 21st century transportation policy with sustainable funding.
You can help advocate for transportation choices and real investments in transit by reaching out to the many transportation advocates we are blessed with in this region. Transportation Choices Coalition is a good place to start, but there are many good organizations that need active supporters.
The future of our region depends on whether we can muster the political will to create a connected and diverse transportation system to mirror our connected and diverse society. I am proud to be pro-choice, transportation and otherwise!
Representative Marko Liias serves Washington’s 21st district, and is a vice chair of the House Transportation Committee.