Month: February 2011

[UPDATE 5:00pm 3/1: PT’s website indicates that service interruptions will be worse than previously thought, lasting several days.]

[UPDATE 6:13am – Pierce Transit’s website announces that “Emergency fueling efforts were successful and all Pierce Transit service is operating on schedule.” Very nicely done on a logistically difficult operation.]

[UPDATE 7:50pm – video from KING5 above]

[UPDATE from Martin 7:31pm: PT Spokesman Lind Simonsen says the explosion occurred at 5:05pm in the building that houses the natural gas compressors for the fueling station. The damage was limited to that building. All PT staff are accounted for and there are no  injuries.

The site has not yet cooled down enough to be properly inspected. PT has a contingency plan to fuel PT and ST buses that run on CNG, but there are likely to be service disruptions in the morning. Check the PT website for service updates, possibly tonight but certainly by 5:30am or so tomorrow.]

Just after 5pm today, a natural gas explosion occurred at a bus barn behind the Pierce Transit administration building.  From what we can gather, it looks like it might have occurred while a bus using compressed natural gas was being refueled.  According to a radio report I heard shortly before 6, at least one bus is a total loss but thankfully there are no injuries.  We don’t know much more than what local media is reporting right now.  We’ll post any major updates so stay tuned.

After some worries that the recent House bill to cut transit funding would wipe out money for the state’s intercity rail projects, agreements signed between the FRA and WSDOT have finally guaranteed the $590 million in federal stimulus funds that were granted to Washington earlier last year.  According to WSDOT, the funds not only help upgrade track and separate crossings, they also add two additional roundtrips to the Cascades between Seattle and Portland:

• “Two additional daily Amtrak Cascades round trips will be added between Seattle and Portland, for a total six, by 2017.
• On-time reliability is expected to increase from 62 to 88 percent.
• More consistent speeds will be possible throughout the corridor, resulting in faster travel times between Seattle and Portland.
• Major construction projects will be completed that will include building bypass tracks to allow for increased train frequency and multiple upgrades to existing track.
• Several safety-related projects will be completed, including grade separations and the latest technology in advanced-warning signal systems. This will reduce passenger/freight congestion, making passenger travel times shorter with more reliable on-time service.”

The press release from WSDOT has much more on this.  USDOT Secretary Ray LaHood also had a few words to say about the agreement:

I am thrilled to congratulate the State of Washington, BNSF, and Amtrak for their contributions to the agreement signed today by the Federal Railroad Administration and Washington DOT that will make $590 million available for work to begin on significant improvements to the popular Cascades corridor, which connects Eugene, Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver.

While the agreements do secure the first round of grants, the state has yet to finalize the roughly $160 million refused by Wisconsin and Ohio.  Governor Gregoire has also said that she will vie for additional funds recently returned by Florida Governor Rick Scott.

One feature of Metro’s planned Eastside service reorganization is shifting Route 240 to serve Eastgate. Here’s Metro’s writeup of the change:

Why these changes are being considered

• Attract more riders through improved connections and reduced wait times.
• Provide two-way, all-day service to portions of Richards Road and 112th Avenue SE, which have significant mixed-use density (offices, housing, courthouse, and hotels).
• Provide a new all-day connection between Renton and Bellevue College via Newcastle, Factoria, and Eastgate.
• Connect at the Eastgate Park-and-Ride with routes that serve Issaquah, Overlake, and Crossroads.

Tradeoffs

• Trips to and from Bellevue would be about five minutes longer for riders in areas south of Factoria, such as Newcastle and Renton Highlands, but those riders would have improved connections with Eastgate, Bellevue College, Issaquah, Overlake, and Crossroads.
• Riders along 112th Avenue SE, Richards Road, and SE 26th Street would have more frequent service and longer hours of service.
• Bellevue High School would be served via revised Route 249 on 108th Avenue SE and Route 550 along Bellevue Way SE.
• Riders between Clyde Hill and the Bellevue Transit Center would be served by revised Route 246 instead of Route 240, with shorter hours of service.

Much more below the jump… Continue reading “Route 240 Diversion to Eastgate”

[Note from Martin: This is not the “bash Republicans” thread. Please keep the discussion on high speed rail and subsidies for other modes of transport.]

The Republicans are very keen on scrapping Obama’s high speed rail initiative, but I think there’s a fairly solid conservative argument in its favor. Continue reading “In Defense of High Speed Rail”

[NOTE: To be clear, the figures are from Kevin Desmond, the analysis is mine.]

As Adam linked to yesterday, an “emergency” transit funding bill, SB 5457, survived the Senate Transportation Committee, which had been the chief obstacle to previous transit bills. PubliCola has a lot more on the bill’s prospects and how it might change before becoming law. I had a brief chat with Metro GM Kevin Desmond about the short and long term implications of the Senate bill.

Although the long-term deficit is wider, the 2012-2013 shortfall has long been reported as about 400,000 service hours, or about $40m annually. That’s around a tenth of total service. Metro projects that concessions by the ATU and other unions late last year will save $9m this year, $13m in 2012, $14m in 2013, and $20m by 2015. A $20 license fee generates about $26m $28m a year. Assuming the bill passes and the County Council acts, that means that Metro will not face immediate pressure to cut service before 2014, unless fuel prices increase steeply or Congress does something bad.

Afterwards, the funding gap widens further to $60m annually, just as the new revenue authority would expire.  The payroll savings cut that to $40m, but that’s still a large cut. It also implies non-delivery of 360,000 hours of non-RapidRide, non-service partnership bus service that was promised in Transit Now but deferred due to the crisis.

As Erica Barnett points out, Community Transit, Jefferson Transit*, and Sound Transit are the other agencies that don’t have any other taxing authority to solve their problems. The House version helps CT out but the Senate bill does not. Still, this bill is likely to delay disaster in King County for two years, which gives everyone time to build a stronger legislative coalition to support bus service.

* Jefferson just increased to the limit to solve their problems, so they shouldn’t need to go back to the well.

Streetsblog DC reports on H.R. 1, which passed last weekend:

The “base bill” of HR 1 – not the amendments – would do the following:

• Eliminate the entire high-speed rail program.
• Cut $430 million of the $2 billion allocated for the Federal Transit Administration’s New Starts program, the federal government’s primary means of support for transit capital investments.
• Eliminate TIGER, which provided more than $2 billion to innovative state and local transportation programs around the country last year, and rescind all unspent funds from last year.

I’m having trouble finding a report with the final provisions of the bill, but in any case it appears likely the Senate will restore many of these cuts. But if not, or the if the conference committee goes awry, the local implications would be large:

• $34m of high speed rail funding is going to the D to M Sounder extension, and another $9m to Tukwila Station. That’s in addition to the long list of Amtrak Cascades projects funded under that umbrella.
• According to Metro, the House Bill cuts $21.3m in 2011 from the RapidRide C budget and $38m in 2012 for RapidRide E and F.
• Any shrinkage of the New Starts funding pool of course makes it harder for upcoming projects, like Sound Transit 2, to obtain federal funding. In general, the project list assumes a large federal contribution and will suffer serious casualties if the federal government reduces it commitments.
• University Link already has a Full Funding Grant Agreement. It’s Sound Transit’s understanding that the House bill does not intend to renege on those agreements, and in any case U-Link is extremely competitive even in a tighter environment.

One presumes Sen. Patty Murray has our back on this, but it never hurts to send her a note letting you know how important it is for you.

A modified version of the bill has just passed out of the Senate Transportation committee. Publicola has the details.

Via TCC’s blog:

Senate Transportation Committee has 24 Hours to Save Transit Service

Below is an action alert that was sent out this afternoon.  The ability to save transit service rests in the State Senate Transportation Committee’s hands.  Please note the action alert only works if you are a constituent who lives in the district of a Senator who is on Transportation and represents agencies affected by the bill. That said, if you live in the 11th, 21st, 30th, 34th, 41st, or 44rd district please TAKE ACTION!

• Background on the Brooklyn Station decision.
• Amtrak mudslide closures well above historic average, WSDOT asking Feds for help.
• City of Olympia hands Lacey Amtrak station costs over to Intercity Transit.
• Roosevelt Design Group scaling back proposed rezone, from 16 to 12 stories. No matter what they decide to build, Seattle should make the height limit as high as possible.
• Rainier Ave. transit improvements are basically done.
• Emergency transit funding may have to have a public vote, delaying implementation.
• Allowing private vendors at park-and-rides is a long overdue change and kudos to Rep. Steve Hobbs for proposing it.
• McGinn vetoes tunnel deal, Council will override shortly.
• UW organizes carpooling.
• Report on the John Mica forum.
• McGinn’s light rail pledge now tied to the Transit Master Plan.
• Mileage-based insurance bill gutted in Senate, may be restored.
• UW regents approve Montlake Triangle plan.

This is an open thread.