Month: August 2012

Last week, NBBJ, the firm designing Amazon’s new South Lake Union Denny Triangle complex, released updated renderings of the project’s tower designs, which give a glimpse as to how the downtown skyline might change upon completion.  Without a doubt, these buildings will be the tallest in the Denny Triangle, and is a sure sign of the infill development that is to come in the future.

Aesthetically, the towers are of a typical post-modern design heavy on the glazing, which doesn’t really seem to be inciting strong opinions either for or against, given the proximity to downtown.  When looking at street-level renderings, released earlier this year, there’s a fairly strong inclination to emphasize landscaping and open space, which can hopefully be complemented by sufficient activities and uses beyond the typical daytime office worker.

Lynnwood Transit Center is probably the most important transit hub in Southern Snohomish County. It provides all-day access to Seattle, and 18 bus routes converge there.

In a noble attempt to simplify and straighten bus routes, CT consolidated a number of East/West routes in the area into the 196, which, fittingly, travels in a nearly straight path on 196th St SW. Regrettably, this forced it out of a direct connection at the transit center: not only would it have subjected riders to a circuitous detour, but CT’s Martin Munguia says that the added length would have required an additional bus, “which we cannot afford.” Score one for system legibility and directness.

The next best thing would be a 196 stop in both directions on 48th Ave. W to limit the walk to under a half mile, if not an additional stop at 44th Ave. W to facilitate transfers to those buses. Regrettably, neither exists: your eastbound choices are Scriber Lake Rd,. a full mile away and a long block East of Swift; or 40th Ave. W. (Timepoint 2 above), 0.8 miles to the East. Westbound, there’s a stop at 50th Ave. W, “only” two blocks away from the optimum. More after the jump.

Continue reading “Transfers at 196th St.”

Last Saturday I missed an hourly connection from Seattle to Kennydale (550–>560) because of an affable and knowledgeable 550 operator. My bus was held for 4 minutes at International District Station while the operator proceeded to plan 2 riders’ trips to far-flung places. In those 4 minutes she told these riders how to purchase and use ORCA Cards, described several route alternatives, discussed interagency fare structure, and made various small talk about the weather.

As many transit grievances are born out of personal anecdotes, I spent the (delayed) ride to Bellevue thinking about what level of humanity we should generally expect from our transit. By all accounts the driver who forced me to wait an hour in South Bellevue was just being a decent human being, using her considerable knowledge base to inform misguided riders in need. Yet in doing so she was being a terrible transit operator.   More after the jump.

Continue reading “(Im)personal, Rapid Transit”

Following up on the warm reception of the Pike St. OneBusAway sign, Seattle DOT has installed another two, both at Benaroya Hall.

This is part of Seattle’s plan to improve Third Avenue. The sign joins those already at Macy’s, Columbia Sportswear, the Fourth and Madison Building, and the King County Courthouse. As the press release states, “Real-time displays have been shown to reduce stress and foster a stronger sense of safety and security, particularly for passengers waiting at night and during other times when buses do not arrive as often. ”

It’s nice to see Seattle make some capital improvements along future RapidRide corridors. SDOT isn’t even a transit agency, and is well ahead of Metro and ST in real time transit information.

There are several streets in Seattle that function more like highways, or even freeways, than city streets.  If you routinely cross Rainier, Denny, 15th Ave NW, or one of the other dozen or so 4+ lane streets at an uncontrolled intersection, then you know what I mean.  Let’s take my commute as an example.  The pedestrian portion of my commute involves crossing Rainier Ave S. at S. King St., which has no marked crosswalk. 

Legally, the second I step off the curb*, most lanes of traffic** have to stop for me.  It’s an intersection, and therefore it’s an unmarked crosswalk.  But in practice, I’d guess a good half of the cars don’t obey this rule and keep driving.  Not only is this illegal, it can put me in great danger, especially if this starts happening in both directions while I’m in the middle of the road.  I’ve had a bus do this to me (at least he yelled “sorry” out his window, though it was followed by “there was someone behind me”, which fails as a logical excuse).  I’ve had people yell “get out of the road” as they zip by. Continue reading “Using Shame to Cross the Street”

• Federal grant likely to bring first-come-first-serve bike lockers to more Metro park-and-ride.
• Routes 70, 71, 72, 73, 83 and 309 to have long-term reroute off Fairview Ave.
• Report from the Yesler Terrace hearing.
• How ST will make tunneling quieter.
• New proposed tower at 2nd & Stewart.
• New university campus in SLU.
• New lighting at South King transit centers.
• $1m for bike and ped projects in Tacoma.
• KING5 headline rips RapidRide for being too slow, then focuses entirely on wide stop spacing — one of the key speed enhancements.
• Clark County BRT now looking for federal funding.
• VP Nominee Paul Ryan’s record on transportation not good. On the other hand, I would have happily taken Mitt Romney as my governor in the urban-planning context.
• Amtrak rules the Northeast Corridor.

This is an open thread.

Join Rob Ketcherside, me, and the Seattle Public Library tomorrow night for a discussion of the history of Seattle’s streetcars and where urban rail goes from here.

Thursday August 16th

7 to 8 p.m.

Roy Street Coffee & Tea, 700 Broadway Ave E

In 1941, Seattle’s streetcar tracks were torn up and sold for scrap. Now we’re tunneling under Capitol Hill and laying new tracks on Broadway. What has changed? Join in a discussion about the past and present of Seattle’s street railways.

Puget Sound Bike Share (PSBS) has been in the news a lot lately.  They are searching for an Executive Director, and they have published a 5-year business plan which hopes to have bikeshare up and running in Seattle by summer or fall next year. Seattle Bike Blog has posted a thorough summary of the business plan along with an excellent comment thread, both of which are worth reading in their entirety.

In short, PSBS plans to rollout bikeshare in 4 phases (see map):

I have a great enthusiasm for bikeshare, and I think it could be very successful in Seattle — if done right. I am, however, deeply unsettled by some parts of this plan, in particular its phasing, and the prospect of putting bikeshare users — who, if the project is to succeed, must be drawn from the full spectrum of ages and abilities — on the streets of downtown Seattle with the current bicycle facilities. More after the jump.

Continue reading “Bikeshare Doesn’t (Yet) Belong Downtown”

It’s the Rainier Valley’s turn to have their summer festivals. If you’re looking for a summer excuse to take light rail, this is your weekend.

On Saturday, August 18th, the City is shutting down Rainier Avenue through downtown Columbia City. The “Heritage Parade” runs from 11am-12:30pm, and the “street party” continues till 4. There will be the usual booths and amusements.

The very next day, one stop down is the Othello Park International Music and Arts Festival, from noon to 6pm in the park just behind the new apartments. Food, local music, and more booths.