The Tri-County Connectors are going to survive, barely if at all. Via House-Senate reconciliation, thank you to State Senator Barbara Bailey.
Our shared foe Mary Margaret HAGuen used that funding as a way to play hero, I’m told. But of course because it’s not in Seattle and popular locally – no regionally – it won’t get full state funding and local funding resources are severely limited.
Grrr, this is stupid. (1) The legislature makes state funding decisions, not WSDOT. And (2), Seattle has been *heavily* funded recently, but state highways have been the focus. Everywhere else in the state has been waiting their turn when the Seattle megaprojects will be completed. In that climate it is probably very difficult to fund other things in Seattle from state funds. I like this site better when it tries to get at the truth, rather than spewing snide and comforting stereotypes of the bad people who work for the highway agency.
Don’t forget: If it is popular locally and the state allows local funding, make sure money from outside Seattle does not get spent to help Seattle. (Or did ST impose that on itself?)
I took a trip down to Lakewood to get a measure on how sub-area equity is working down there. I got off the first train that gets to Lakewood (the third afternoon train that goes south), which is, technically, right before peak of peak when it leaves Seattle. Deboardings at South Tacoma Station were slightly better than deboardings at Lakewood Station, numbering in the thirties
Upon deboarding in Lakewood, three people headed to the 592 stop to await their trip to DuPont. One more joined them in the fifteen minutes it took for the next southbound 592 to arrive.
When the 592 arrived, four people deboarded it, leaving it empty. Those four people might vote to continue duplicative 592 service. The three who went straight from the train to the bus stop might vote to just have a shuttle waiting for them when they arrive at Lakewood Station.
So, the question arises, could the South Sounder train I was on accomodate those extra four passengers? At least on my traincar, seating was around 60% of capacity at Kent Station, where I got on, and saw roughly the same number of boarders as deboarders. Unless several hundred passengers had already alighted in Tukwila, I’d say the answer is “Yes”.
As a post-script, an ST supervisor saw me waiting for the 594, waved me over, and gave me a ride up to SR 512 P&R. He told me they had the 594 skip the station stop in order to get back on time. The 574 doesn’t serve the station either. Given that I was the only one waiting for the 594 at the station, I think ST was wise to continue having the 574 serve Lakewood Mall, and would also be wise to cancel the 594 pick-up at the station, relying on the 592 or whatever DuPont service replaces it to get passengers up to the P&R (which probably would have taken me less than 10 minutes to walk to).
This would be more accurate if it was titled “State Legislature Funding Guidelines.” They (and local jurisdictions) – not WSDOT – are responsible for funding Metro, Sound Transit, et al. And the South Park Bridge and Mercer – those aren’t WSDOT facilities. And I’ll bet if WSDOT was running Olympia, there would be more funding for 520 and ferries. RE the latter, it was the people’s vote to drastically lower the MVET which torpedoed ferry funding. BTW ferry fares have been raised so many times since I695, they now account for something like 75-80% of operations. And BTW no mention of WSDOT’s strong advocacy for light rail on I-90?
You’ve got WSDOT and the Washington State Transportation Commission/Legislative Committees confused. In addition, federal mandates required the establishment of MPOs years ago. So…PSRC is the region’s MPO determining what programs get FHWA and other federal funding. Local jurisdictions are allowed to raise their own money for their own projects (sidewalks, paving projects, their portion of major projects), but can request grant funding from the State or Feds for big capital projects.
Some of the projects to which you refer are on City streets which shouldn’t have had any funding direct from WSDOT. Funding should have only been allocated from the State Legislature or PSRC. If anything, you should complain to YOUR Seattle legislators (i.e. Frank Chopp, Ed Murray, Jessyn Ferrell) and solicit them for better transportation projects that meet your needs. In my neck of the woods, Representative Ryu (D-32nd Leg District) helped secure funding for the completion of the BAT lane on Aurora from N 192nd to the King/SnoCo Line in the upcoming biennium. It helps when you have an asset on the Transportation Committee.
There is more than meets the eye in transportation funding. Please read the 160 page transportation budget. If you want to look up more about PSRC, you’ll discover that most of the members of the board are ELECTED OFFICIALS! You can vote them out in your local elections! Of the 32 members of the executive board, only two of the members are appointed, the member from the Transportation Commission and the Secretary of Transportation.
You’d be surprised to see how much is involved in transportation. It costs money to operate and maintain these transportation systems (grief to many). …not just to build them. While not all funding strategies are wise, but let’s be fair; be honest. Talk and meet with your legislators, talk to your representative at PSRC, and continue to provide feedback to local transit agencies with your concerns and problems. It works.
Bravo, Andrew.
Sure love your graphic.
The Tri-County Connectors are going to survive, barely if at all. Via House-Senate reconciliation, thank you to State Senator Barbara Bailey.
Our shared foe Mary Margaret HAGuen used that funding as a way to play hero, I’m told. But of course because it’s not in Seattle and popular locally – no regionally – it won’t get full state funding and local funding resources are severely limited.
Grrr, this is stupid. (1) The legislature makes state funding decisions, not WSDOT. And (2), Seattle has been *heavily* funded recently, but state highways have been the focus. Everywhere else in the state has been waiting their turn when the Seattle megaprojects will be completed. In that climate it is probably very difficult to fund other things in Seattle from state funds. I like this site better when it tries to get at the truth, rather than spewing snide and comforting stereotypes of the bad people who work for the highway agency.
This was meant to be satire, sorry if that wasn’t obvious.
Don’t forget: If it is popular locally and the state allows local funding, make sure money from outside Seattle does not get spent to help Seattle. (Or did ST impose that on itself?)
I took a trip down to Lakewood to get a measure on how sub-area equity is working down there. I got off the first train that gets to Lakewood (the third afternoon train that goes south), which is, technically, right before peak of peak when it leaves Seattle. Deboardings at South Tacoma Station were slightly better than deboardings at Lakewood Station, numbering in the thirties
Upon deboarding in Lakewood, three people headed to the 592 stop to await their trip to DuPont. One more joined them in the fifteen minutes it took for the next southbound 592 to arrive.
When the 592 arrived, four people deboarded it, leaving it empty. Those four people might vote to continue duplicative 592 service. The three who went straight from the train to the bus stop might vote to just have a shuttle waiting for them when they arrive at Lakewood Station.
So, the question arises, could the South Sounder train I was on accomodate those extra four passengers? At least on my traincar, seating was around 60% of capacity at Kent Station, where I got on, and saw roughly the same number of boarders as deboarders. Unless several hundred passengers had already alighted in Tukwila, I’d say the answer is “Yes”.
As a post-script, an ST supervisor saw me waiting for the 594, waved me over, and gave me a ride up to SR 512 P&R. He told me they had the 594 skip the station stop in order to get back on time. The 574 doesn’t serve the station either. Given that I was the only one waiting for the 594 at the station, I think ST was wise to continue having the 574 serve Lakewood Mall, and would also be wise to cancel the 594 pick-up at the station, relying on the 592 or whatever DuPont service replaces it to get passengers up to the P&R (which probably would have taken me less than 10 minutes to walk to).
This would be more accurate if it was titled “State Legislature Funding Guidelines.” They (and local jurisdictions) – not WSDOT – are responsible for funding Metro, Sound Transit, et al. And the South Park Bridge and Mercer – those aren’t WSDOT facilities. And I’ll bet if WSDOT was running Olympia, there would be more funding for 520 and ferries. RE the latter, it was the people’s vote to drastically lower the MVET which torpedoed ferry funding. BTW ferry fares have been raised so many times since I695, they now account for something like 75-80% of operations. And BTW no mention of WSDOT’s strong advocacy for light rail on I-90?
Hold on…
You’ve got WSDOT and the Washington State Transportation Commission/Legislative Committees confused. In addition, federal mandates required the establishment of MPOs years ago. So…PSRC is the region’s MPO determining what programs get FHWA and other federal funding. Local jurisdictions are allowed to raise their own money for their own projects (sidewalks, paving projects, their portion of major projects), but can request grant funding from the State or Feds for big capital projects.
Some of the projects to which you refer are on City streets which shouldn’t have had any funding direct from WSDOT. Funding should have only been allocated from the State Legislature or PSRC. If anything, you should complain to YOUR Seattle legislators (i.e. Frank Chopp, Ed Murray, Jessyn Ferrell) and solicit them for better transportation projects that meet your needs. In my neck of the woods, Representative Ryu (D-32nd Leg District) helped secure funding for the completion of the BAT lane on Aurora from N 192nd to the King/SnoCo Line in the upcoming biennium. It helps when you have an asset on the Transportation Committee.
There is more than meets the eye in transportation funding. Please read the 160 page transportation budget. If you want to look up more about PSRC, you’ll discover that most of the members of the board are ELECTED OFFICIALS! You can vote them out in your local elections! Of the 32 members of the executive board, only two of the members are appointed, the member from the Transportation Commission and the Secretary of Transportation.
You’d be surprised to see how much is involved in transportation. It costs money to operate and maintain these transportation systems (grief to many). …not just to build them. While not all funding strategies are wise, but let’s be fair; be honest. Talk and meet with your legislators, talk to your representative at PSRC, and continue to provide feedback to local transit agencies with your concerns and problems. It works.