If you’re out celebrating this evening, and you need a cab ride home, the company offering Seattle’s first taxi-hailing app is running a promotion that may be of interest:
Flywheel wants to make sure Seattleites are safe tomorrow evening while enjoying all the Halloween festivities. Flywheel is offering free rides up to $20 for the first 300 Flywheel requests starting at 8pm tomorrow evening. […] This offer applies to all Flywheel users in the Seattle area – not just first timers!
Flywheel joins a competitive and sometimes controversial market of ride-sharing apps in US cities, which includes licensed town-car hires (Uber), unlicensed drivers working for donations (Sidecar, Lyft, UberX) and taxi-hailing services (Taxi Magic, Hailo). Flywheel cars will initially be provided by East Side for Hire:
Flywheel has initially partnered with Seattle’s leading transportation company, East Side for Hire, to launch their service in the area. They have equipped over 260 East Side for Hire cars and drivers with the Flywheel technology needed to respond to ride requests in Seattle and the surrounding areas including Bellevue, Burien, Federal Way, Issaquah, Kent, Kirkland, Mercer Island, Northgate, Redmond, SeaTac and Shoreline.
East Side for Hire maintains fleets similar to taxis, but instead of a meter, they offer customers flat rates calculated by pickup and drop-off zip code. The company has received superior ratings and is the most affordable option in the area, with a typical for-hire ride from downtown Seattle to the airport costing $29.
Affordable, safe, easy-to-use taxis are a part of car-free living, and Hailo worked well for me when I was recently in London. I’m glad to see more players move into the Seattle market.
Central Link failing to meet, meeting, or beating projections is a common topic when it comes to discussing the success (or failure) of the initial segment. This discussion will only intensify as we move towards a possible 2016 Sound Transit 3 ballot measure. In order to help the discussions be as fact based as possible I’ve put together a couple posts discussing the different projections for Central Link over time compared to reality, and thrown in some unscientific projections of my own just for visualization. This first post will focus on short term projections gathered from Service Implementation Plans.
The original projections come from the 2009 and 2010 SIPs, both produced before the full Initial Segment was open. As discussed multiple times due to the Great Recession (80,000 less jobs downtown than projected) and other factors Central Link did not meet its initial ridership projections. After having a full years worth of data to analyze, in 2011 Sound Transit lowered their projections. In response to the downward revision and Sound Transit’s initial numbers being off in the first place Martin had a great piece with Sound Transit planner Bob Harvey on the process for creating projections and why the projections were off. It’s well worth a refresher read. A more detailed explanation of individual factors was given in the Central Link – Initial Segment Before and After Study discussed last week.
The continued strong growth in the years since opening caused Sound Transit to revise their numbers back upwards in 2012. And this year Link has beaten even those higher projections. In August Link reached a yearly moving average of 27,925 weekday riders compared to Sound Transit’s projection of 27,900 at years end. If Link can maintain its 10.7% year over year growth rate in the four months from September through December it should finish the year with an average of around 28,832 weekday boardings. In the 2013 Service Implementation Plan Sound Transit projected 29,600 weekday boardings for 2014, meaning that on January 1st 2014 Link will already be over a third of the way to their year end goal of 1,700 additional riders.
Because I like data and graphs I put this all down into my ridership excel spreadsheet and created the below. Projections come from 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 Service Implementation Plans. The 2009 SIP had the same projections as 2010 so it was removed. The ridership data comes from Sound Transit’s monthly ridership reports covered here.
It’s not shown on the page but if Central Link can maintain the 10% growth its experienced since opening then in 2018 actual ridership will cross the 2009 and 2010 SIP projections. That is of course completely hypothetical as basing 5 years of growth on 3 years of data is extremely shaky, not to mention the fact that in 2016 with the opening of the University Link Extension it all becomes academic anyway.
There’s another development project in the pipeline for Columbia City, and the growth is creeping ever closer to the station. This one is about a block east of Link, at the Zion Prep site, and consists of 244 units in six buildings. That’s the good news.
The mixed news is that the project also includes 222 parking spaces, 93 in the buildings and 129 on the surface. Overall, that’s a decent ratio for new construction. There are two ways to look at the surface spaces: they’re terrible for pedestrians, but they’re also potentially more temporary. The optimistic view is that as they prove the market for these units and the extent the parking is overbuilt, they can convert some of that space into more housing.
The bad news is that the City’s zoning for this parcel is pathetic: Lowrise-3, which is what limits these buildings to 3 or 4 stories. That parcels zoned like this exist over four years after Link opened is, frankly, astonishing. According to Council Spokesperson Dana Robinson Slote, there are no plans to review the site’s zoning, and on a “quasi-judicial matter” Councilmembers aren’t able to comment. The Mayor’s office didn’t answer an email on the subject.
The future of our region depends on our creating a comprehensive transit system that:
Builds out a light rail spine that moves as many people as rapidly and efficiently as possible;
Ensures critical transit, bicycle, and pedestrian connections to light rail stations and among our urban centers and villages; and
Promotes transit oriented communities that build affordable housing and density so that we can get people away from automobile dependence.
Richard Conlin
We cannot do just one of these three things. We have to do them all in order to realize the vision of a truly sustainable region. We’ve succeeded in some of the basics and we’re ready to create the framework for a truly integrated vision. I have the experience and commitment to make sure that the City Council and Sound Transit give priority to all three of these as we make crucial policy decisions.
The spine: With light rail funded from Lynnwood to Federal Way and across Lake Washington to Overlake/Redmond, we are building the core system. But we must not forget how tough it is to actually do this. I remember how close the first Sound Transit vote was in 1995 (when we lost) and in 1996 (finally winning), how difficult it was to face the reality that it was harder and more expensive to build out the first line than we had thought, and ultimately having to take the incredibly tough decision to shorten it but still persist with the vision of a line that makes light rail an engine of community development. I remember being in the front of meetings in Rainier Valley with hundreds of Seattle residents attacking me and the other Councilmembers for moving the light rail program forward.
Tense negotiations seem to come with the territory. The UW demanded extraordinary measures to protect research from vibrations when the route cut under the campus. We faced lawsuits over the use of I-90 and an attempt in Bellevue to derail construction, which was only overcome through a careful and patient negotiation between three Sound Transit Board members (I was one of them) and Bellevue City Councilmembers.
Sound Transit has posted several video animations of Lynnwood Link making its way north from Northgate. This is a great way to visualize the NE 130th Station option and Segment C options previously covered on the blog. Looks like Northbound riders should have an excellent view of the 15th hole at Jackson Park Golf Course. It’s no nude men’s beach, but then what do you expect for a measly $5.83 cost per boarding?
Lynnwood Segment A
Segment B & C after the jump. If you’re having trouble seeing the embedded video, you can view it on ST’s site.
Sound Transit’s long range planning is starting with a little public comment. This process will update the 2005 edition and will be a primary input to Sound Transit 3.
“In the next decade Sound Transit will deliver more than 30 miles of light rail extensions, increase south line commuter rail service and continue operating popular express bus routes. Updating the Long-Range Plan will define the options for where regional transit can go beyond the projects and services voters have approved,” said Sound Transit Board Chair and Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy…
Preparing a supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) to update the plan provides an opportunity to consider questions including:
Which corridors should be identified or reconfirmed as priorities for potential future light rail extensions?
Which corridors should be designated for potential high-capacity transit/bus rapid transit?
Should the region make more investments in commuter rail?
Where should the system provide improved parking facilities and access for pedestrians and bicyclists?
I think there might be some opinions about these subjects among our readership. There is a longish survey available through November 25th that asks a lot of the right questions. There are also six public meetings:
Seattle: Tuesday, Nov. 12, 5:30-8 p.m. Seattle University Campion Ballroom, 914 E. Jefferson St.
Federal Way: Wednesday, Nov. 13, 5:30-8 p.m. Federal Way Community Center, 876 S. 333rd St.
As part of the process of updating its Transit Master Plan, the City of Bellevue has published a “Transit Service Vision Report.” The report is the culmination of a year-long public process intended to help the City of Bellevue identify its future transit priorities. The report includes proposed networks for 2030, 2022, and 2015, modified for each of three funding scenarios.
Part of the map for the “Growing” funding scenario
The unifying theme of the proposed networks is “Abundant Access,” which incorporates goals of frequency, convenience, efficiency, simplicity, directness, and effective regional connections. The networks include only service that serves Bellevue destinations, although the maps cover almost the entire Eastside, so some mental “filling-in” will be necessary as you look at the maps.
At a high level, the proposed networks are outstanding examples of frequent, gridded network design. High-ridership lines connecting major destinations are improved, with more frequent routes than exist today even in the Reduced funding scenario. Coverage to extremely low-ridership neighborhoods is mostly eliminated in the Reduced and Stable funding scenarios, with priority given to services that accommodate high numbers of riders. Construction impacts from Link are taken into account in the 2015 and 2022 scenarios.
Some specific changes in the 2030 proposals, below the jump, are likely to get riders’ attention.
Last Monday evening, Mayor McGinn and Councilmember Conlin held a ‘Seattle Transit Reception’ (slides) showcasing the city’s recently adopted Transit Master Plan (TMP), the Ballard rail study, ST3 planning, and recent progress on the Center City Connector project. The reception was open to the public but also clearly aligned to be of use for Rail~Volution attendees.
For visitors in town for Rail-Volution, McGinn’s words about the TMP were a good primer on Seattle’s geography and the various corridors the city is prioritizing for transit investment. In the five TMP corridors that the plan designates for high capacity transit (in most cases rail), the mayor reminded the audience that those select corridors are only part of a larger strategy to improve the performance of the city’s highest ridership bus routes.
The most interesting news of the evening was about the evolving design of the Center City Connector project. STB readers will already know that 1st Avenue was selected as the alignment to connect the South Lake Union and First Hill lines through downtown, but the remarks at the reception (and a subsequent Great Cities presentation Tuesday) clarified much about the current state of the project:
While a single-line operational model will be studied, SDOT prefers that the SLU and First Hill lines be operationally distinct, interlining for 5-minute combined headways on the shared segment between the King Street Hub and Westlake
Only one alternative for connecting to SLU was selected for further development: a Stewart/Olive connection to McGraw Square, running two-way (including contraflow) on Stewart west of 3rd, and on the Stewart/Olive couplet between 3rd and 5th.
Projected year of opening is 2018
No bicycle facilities are integrated into 1st Avenue in the conceptual renderings
From SDOT
The last detail that Conlin and McGinn touched on, and no doubt the most crucial to the reliability of the project, was the configuration of 1st Avenue’s right-of-way. The city presented two designs illustrating center platforms with center-running rail, one with the streetcar operating in mixed-traffic and one with the streetcar operating in an exclusive lane. As one might guess, there is a significant travel time difference between the two options, the mixed-traffic configuration taking an average of 6 minutes longer to traverse the short 1st Avenue alignment than the option with exclusive lanes. While an additional 6 minutes may not seem like much, on a 1.3 mile alignment a 12 minute travel time is just 6.5 mph average speed (no better than current downtown trolleybuses), while a 6 min travel time would be 13 mph average speed (possibly faster than any other surface transit downtown). Note too that the 6 minute difference for a mixed-traffic line is an optimal scenario under baseline traffic conditions. Actual reliability could only be equal to or worse than this baseline.
Exclusive ROW will add 3,000 daily riders over the mixed-traffic scenario (31k vs. 28k), exclusive ROW will cost $2m less annually to operate ($16m vs. $18m), capital costs are cheaper for exclusive lanes (one less vehicle needed), and an overwhelming majority of public feedback preferred both 1st Avenue and exclusive lanes. Despite this, however, the Great Cities report stated: “Most believe mixed-traffic operations will be necessary given limited north-south rights of way.”
I encourage anyone interested in seeing this project succeed to attend SDOT’s upcoming open house for the project on October 29th, see the plans up close, and provide feedback on SDOT’s City Center Corridor design.
