Month: March 2011

We are passing this American Public Transportation Association (APTA) announcement along to our young readers. Looks like an amazing opportunity.

This June, APTA will host its second youth summit—Generation Green on Board: A Youth Summit To Advance Public Transportation—and APTA needs your help attracting student  applicants.

Students from across the country who will be high school juniors and seniors in the 2011 -2012 school year will come together June 26-30 in Washington, DC to learn how public transportation helps build vibrant communities and improves the environment. The summit will also expose participants to transit career opportunities.

The all-expenses-paid opportunity includes these highlights:

• Experience five days in the Nation’s Capital
• Learn about the benefits of public transportation and how transit is helping shape a brighter future
• Meet lawmakers and congressional leaders
• Participate in hands-on local transit tours
• Discover the wide range of exciting career paths within the transit industry

APTA member organizations are asked to work with local schools and encourage students in their communities to apply for this unique experience.

A program overview and application are available at http://apta.com/youthsummit or you may contact Cheryl Pyatt at cpyatt@apta.com with questions.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: April 15.

Apparently, repairs to the CNG fueling station will be measured in months, not weeks:

Since February 28th, a fire in our Compressed Natural Gas fueling station has limited the number of buses we can put into service each day. We are now learning that repairs will take several months and that we will be unable to return to regular service levels. As a result, we are operating Emergency Reduced Service through June 11th.

The brochure lays out the route-by-route impacts.

Large, temporary transit disruptions are terrible for many people’s lives, but in this case the cuts are coming anyway so it’s tempting to say people might as well adapt now. On the other hand, current reduced service operates under unique constraints and is likely quite different from the eventual shape of service.

Transportation Choices Coalition (TCC) has a good analysis of all three of the proposed transportation budgets on their blog and copied below. Since the release of the House’s budget earlier this week $4 million dollars in funds for Sound Transit’s Lakewood to Tacoma Sounder vehicle project have been added back (out of $4.5 million dollars). This project was not initially included in the Regional Mobility Grant despite being one the top ranking projects. This amendment was proposed by Rep. Upthegrove and approved by Transportation Committee Chair Rep. Clibborn, is noteworthy and promising. The proposed budget also funds $5.2 of the $8 million dollars requested by ST for the S. 200th Link extension.

There are a lot of moving pieces right now with the transportation budgets in the Legislature.  Here is a comprehensive rundown [as of mid-day 3/24] of what is going on with the three transportation budgets (House, Senate, and Gov.), differences between then, and where we stand.

Here is a chart depicting the major differences between the three proposed budget (numbers are in millions unless otherwise noted) is below.

The following comments will in included in TCC’s testimony on the Senate Budget, which will be heard at 3:30 this afternoon.

More after the jump. Continue reading “TCC: Transportation Budget Analysis and Rundown”

After another round of comments, Metro staff has finalized its recommendation for changes to Eastside bus service centered around RapidRide B opening on October 1st.

The recommendations go to the County Council for approval, which is not a mere formality. The relevant committee is holding a public hearing on April 12th, 6pm, at the Mercer Island Community Center, where riders are invited to make comments. Also, there’s an email option, probably less effective than showing up.

Here are the changes from the previous proposal:

Revised Route 222 would be renumbered as Route 241

The revised western section of Route 230 would be renumbered as Route 235

Revised Route 233 would be renumbered as Route 226

Route 240 would serve the South Bellevue Park-and-Ride, Bellevue Way SE, and 112th Avenue SE rather than SE 36th Street, the Eastgate Park-and-Ride, Richards Road, and 112th Avenue SE. [Metro apparently went with Bellevue’s recommendation on this subject].

Revised Route 249 would run on NE 29th Place between 148th Avenue NE and NE 24th Street instead of through the intersection of 148th Avenue NE and NE 24th Street.

See also this informative service frequency chart. The B line, 255, 271, 545, and 550 will constitute the frequent (15 min. mid-day) service network, with the 245 only a few trips short. Many more maps and other details are available at the project website.

I thought I’d pass along a data reference tool that I’ve found very useful in understanding our city and region.  A few months ago the New York Times launched a project called Mapping America – Every City, Every Block.  The maps use data from the 2009 American Community Survey to display basic population data (density, race/ethnicity, income, education etc…) but they are especially useful in their use of automatic scaling; the maps adjusts your viewing for either census tract or county depending on your level of zoom.

It’s always nice to have a reliable and easy-to-read data source to use in urban research.  Enjoy!

Following the release of the House’s transportation budget on Monday, the Senate released their budget yesterday. The Tacoma News Tribune has a good summary:

Outside of the ferry system (more on that below), the two proposals are fairly similar, reflecting a lack of money to pursue many new projects beyond those already in the pipeline.

Both budgets restore cuts [$20 million dollars] Gov. Chris Gregoire would have made to transit agency grants. Locally, the program would spend $3.5 million on a Hawks Prairie park-and-ride project and $3 million on the planned commuter rail connection to Lakewood. The Senate version also would provide $701,000 for Pierce Transit to improve bus access in Parkland.

…

There are now three very different proposals for increasing ferry fares. Senators said their plan assumes approval of a 25-cent surcharge on each ferry fare, but otherwise it wouldn’t increase fares more than the 2.5 percent hike already approved.

The House budget doesn’t include the surcharge but would raise fares 7.5 percent instead of 2.5 percent. Gov. Chris Gregoire’s proposal would change the increase to 10 percent, while adding a different surcharge that would vary based on fuel prices.

The big take away of all three budgets is that transportation funding is essentially in a holding mode. Uncompleted projects identified under the Transportation Partnership and Nickle Package are being pushed out because there simply isn’t enough money for them. Most funds from those packages are already spoken for and are now going to pay off bonds over the next 25 years.

• High gas prices are projected to cause millions to switch to transit.
• However, cash-strapped transit agencies were turned away after requesting more funding from the Federal Government.
• Meanwhile, cities should question what Congress is sparing from cuts, while urban and suburban agenda items get the knife.
• WSDOT is still working out the bugs in the “Good to Go” pass.
• Will overweight Americans change bus safety rules?
• A suggested tourist route.
• Babbage at The Economist likes Wi-Fi on the Amtrak Cascades.
• The stadium taxes may be made permanent to pay for local concerns, including local infrastructure. A pet issue of mine.
• This Jefferson County Driver needs a sponsor for the International Transit Roadeo in Memphis.
• The state wants to collect more gas tax from Native American tribes.
• WSDOT has unveiled automatic earthquake closing gates for the Alaskan Way Viaduct.
• U-Link construction alert!
• The 520 bridge replacement hasn’t broken ground, but has already cost $377 million.
• One person’s idea of our most pressing problem. Not 100% on board, personally.
• One person coming to grips with the potential tunnel referendum. Not sure about route, but more or else agree with the destination.
• WSDOT has open house today for the Eastside 520 HOV and Transit project, 5 to 7 pm at Chinook Middle School in Clyde Hill.

As always, this is an open thread.

Yesterday House transportation leaders released their 2011-2013 biennial budget. From their press release.

The $8.9 billion transportation budget proposal for the 2011-13 biennium takes a multi-modal approach to planning for future needs with investments in highways, ferries, commercial and passenger rail, transit, and bicycle and pedestrian improvements. More than 43,000 jobs are expected to be created or sustained through the budget’s $4.9 billion capital construction plan.

….

Taking into account the diversity of transportation preferences across the state, the budget makes significant multi-modal investments, including $402 million for passenger rail, $237 for ferry terminals and vessels, $88 million for urban and rural transit, $44 million for freight rail and $11 million for the Safe Routes to School and bicycle-pedestrian safety programs.

The Times is reporting, as many have been expecting, that the state legislature is looking to next year for new transportation revenue.

State legislators will neither cut nor add big highway projects this year, but voters can expect a mix of road and transit taxes on the ballot in 2012, the House Transportation Committee chairwoman said Monday.

Rep. Judy Clibborn, D-Mercer Island, said she wants lawmakers to suggest the “bare bones” of the 2012 package by the end of this spring session.

At least four factors explain the push for new taxes:

• In the past decade, the number of miles driven has flattened, while cars are more fuel-efficient, so gas-tax income is forecast to gradually decline.

• Lawmakers overpromised what the 2003-05 gas and car-tab revenues could deliver, so more cash is needed for postponed projects such as the redecking of Interstate 5 in Seattle.

• Demand still exists for new routes, such as extensions of Highway 167 serving the Port of Tacoma, that stalled when voters rejected the 2007 Roads and Transit measure.

• Finally, transit boosters are frustrated by sales-tax losses that are forcing bus agencies to freeze or cut service — and some would like to hasten new rail and bus-rapid transit.

The Senate should be releasing it’s budget later today.

Possibly the easiest way to improve land use is to repeal legal restrictions that prevent profit-maximizing developers from also doing desirable, urbanist designs. Parking minima are an obvious example of this.

What’s harder is encouraging good design when it’s not the profit-maximizing choice. Pedestrians suffer blank walls presented to the street all the time. There’s a solid case that narrow storefronts breed better walkable neighborhoods because it encourages diverse, low-capital startups and means that all that much more variety is within walking districts. However, wider storefronts are common in new construction.

It’s a genuinely difficult problem to encourage this kind of thing while not driving away the development the region so badly needs. However, there is no excuse for public buildings to suffer from these problems. Although costs matter, these buildings are hardly oriented towards maximizing the revenue they generate. More after the jump.

Continue reading “The Low Hanging Fruit of Public Buildings”