In breaking news out of Vancouver BC late Tuesday evening, Global News is reporting that Metro General Manager Kevin Desmond will be named the CEO of TransLink on Wednesday morning. Desmond will join TransLink after a tumultuous year for the agency, having lost their equivalent of an ST3 vote last July when their $7.5B CAD plebiscite lost by a 2-to-1 margin. Adding pressure to Desmond’s new role, much of the public criticism of TransLink has been focused on executive mismanagement, giving Desmond a chance to leave a lasting impression should he be able to right the ship.
Long underpaid by national standards – with new Sound Transit CEO Peter Rogoff taking in nearly 50% more than Desmond – the move will come with a significant pay raise to between $325,000 and $406,000 to $365,000 CAD, according to TransLink’s job advertisement. Yet even this figure is a cut from former CEO Ian Jarvis’ $435,000 CAD annual haul.
Desmond leaves a mostly positive legacy from his tenure at Metro. A wonk in a politican’s job, Desmond has long impressed me with his analytical skills and pragmatic streak. During his tenure, Metro has seen iterative (if sometimes halting) improvement in a number of areas, including more transparent service planning, the introduction of RapidRide, and the creation of a nearly citywide frequent service network. He ably rode Metro through the whiplash of the recession that quickly became a boom, arguing for a balance between rebuilding reserves, deploying service, and investing in long-term capital needs.
STB wishes him well as he leaves his home in Tacoma for the Lower Mainland.
Monday, February 15 is Presidents’ Day. The South Lake Union Streetcar is usually open on most holidays, but is closed Monday due to street work, and since there is no “peak” period on a holiday.
The First Hill Streetcar will start charging fares on February 16, so get your free ride in while you can.
Metro will be running a Reduced Weekday and Reduced UW schedule.
The only King County Metro run reductions are for UW classes not being in session for the day. However, after March 19, more riders will be using these routes to get to UW Station before heading downtown. Of the impacted bus routes — routes 31, 32, 48, 65, 67, 68, 75, 167, 197, 271, 277, 331, 372, 373 — most can expect a permanent increase in downtown commuter ridership for minor holidays with U-Link in the mix.
Route 31 has one morning trip cancelled.
Route 32 has one afternoon trip cancelled.
Route 48 (which will be split in the March service change and get frequency upgrades) has six cancelled trips each way.
Route 65 (which will get a major frequency upgrade with the March service change) has six inbound and four outbound trips cancelled.
Route 67 (which will get a major frequency upgrade) has two trips cancelled each way.
Route 68 (which is being discontinued) has three inbound and six outbound trips cancelled.
Route 75 (which will get a major frequency upgrade) has two inbound and one outbound trip cancelled.
Route 372 (which will get a major frequency upgrade and weekend service!) has eight inbound and four outbound trips cancelled.
Route 373 (which will take over a few peak 73 trips) has three inbound and four outbound trips cancelled, which, in contrast to the other impacted routes, constitutes almost half its trips.
.
Suffice it to say that the UW reductions list for the next minor holiday — Veterans’ Day — will bear little resemblance to this UW reductions list.
This is part of a series of posts looking at Sound Transit’s candidate projects for ST3.
Sound Transit has made it clear they would like a light rail extension to West Seattle part of this fall’s ST3 vote. Not since the days of the Monorail has a rapid transit extension stirred up so much debate amongst the armchair planners. While some believe that current bus ridership is too small to justify a multi-billion-dollar light rail line, others note that the peninsula’s recent housing growth, access chokepoints, and cache of transit-friendly voters make it a no-brainer to lay tracks.
Sound Transit has presented three options for West Seattle. All three Two would connect to downtown at International District station, and use the existing downtown transit tunnel to continue to Capitol Hill, Northgate, and eventually Everett, while the third would continue up 1st Avenue on the surface.* The split-spine tunnel is now part of the Ballard project, so the West Seattle options all start from the South end of downtown.
Option 1 starts from a downtown tunnel, stops at Stadium Station, crosses the Duwamish on a new elevated bridge, and terminates at Alaska Junction with stops at Fauntleroy and Delridge. It would cost between $1.7 and $1.9B and serve 39,000-50,000 riders in 2040.
On a recent podcast, Martin and I wondered whether it would be controversial if there are elevated light rail tracks running up to the Junction, along with Mount-Baker-like elevated stations. It’s unclear whether that would be resolved before the extension goes to the ballot, but local advocates are already expressing interest in studying a tunnel.
Option 2 runs at-grade along 1st Ave and then follows the same path as Option 1 to the Junction. It would cost $1.9B for 20,000-24,000 riders. ST says that the cost of rebuilding 1st Avenue to accommodate surface rail makes this about as expensive as Option 1 for half the riders, making it the weakest of the three options. Barring some weird issue where ST decides they won’t build a second downtown tunnel, I have a hard time seeing this one advance.
Option 3 would emerge from a downtown tunnel like Option 1, but instead follow Delridge Way down toward White Center. It’s a much longer route that skips the Junction, but has stations at SW Thistle and SW Roxbury in the heart of White Center. A travel time of 18 minutes and a cost of about $2B is good for 34,000 to 40,000 riders.
Option 1 vs. Option 3 sets up a Junction-vs-Delridge/White Center fight. Whichever neighborhood is chosen, the other would have a bus transfer before the bridge. Option 3 is slightly more expensive and has slightly lower ridership, but serves a more economically disadvantaged and diverse neighborhood.
ST also looked at a light rail extension from the Junction to Burien via Morgan Junction and Westwood Village. This was not presented as an official “ST3 candidate project,” but it was studied. It would cost about $2.8B for a 9.1 mile elevated extension. The 22-minute ride would serve 10,000 to 15,000 riders.
*Update 10:52am: Option 2 would continue on the surface, not in the tunnel.
College Station under construction in early January
On Wednesday morning, a small ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the intersection of Highway 99 and 204th Street SW in Lynnwood to open the newest—and final—Swift bus rapid transit station, located two blocks downhill from Edmonds Community College. Community Transit CEO Emmett Heath was joined by Edmonds Community College President Dr. Jean Hernandez and Lynnwood Mayor Nicola Smith at the ceremony at 11 a.m., with regular service beginning shortly thereafter. The station is unique in not having a matching northbound stop, the closest being 200th Street SW only four blocks north; the nearest southbound station is eight blocks to the north at 196th Street.
The community college, which also houses classrooms for Central Washington University, is already served by a small transit center with three routes: 115 and 116 (which form a frequent link to Lynnwood Transit Center), and 120. Community Transit estimates that about 1,500 weekday boardings occur at stops around the college, with the three routes at the transit enter accounting for 900. The two nearest Swift stations to the college, Crossroads at 196th Street and Heron at 200th Street, see 600 boardings each weekday. The college also offers a commuter “EdPass” that is tied into the ORCA system, and encourages its 11,600 students and 1,600 employees to commute via transit.
The station was part of five stations that were deferred when the line opened in 2009; the other four, located in Everett, were opened in January 2011. The 204th Street station was forced to wait for the City of Lynnwood to complete an extension of the street uphill to Edmonds Community College and the construction of a traffic signal at Highway 99. The city project was completed in August of last year and Swift station construction began in the following two months.
Community Transit is also moving along with its planned second Swift line, which has gained operational funding through a 0.3% sales tax increase passed via a ballot measure last November and is awaiting federal funding for capital construction. The line would run from the Boeing Everett plant through Mill Creek to Canyon Park via Airport Road, 128th Street SW, and the Bothell-Everett Highway, some segments of which already have business-access transit (BAT) lanes. The new line would cross the existing Swift line at Airport Road and Highway 99 in southwest Everett, creating an in-system transfer.
Phoenix’s 3-mile, 3-station, Northwest extension opens the same day as U Link, March 19. This is their second extension to open. Last year Phoenix voters approved funding for 70% more bus service and 42 new miles of light rail.
With no advance warning yesterday and with a perfectly whipped caucus, Senate Republicans brought a sudden confirmation vote on WSDOT Secretary Lynn Peterson. The vote failed 25-21, with all Republicans voting no, effectively removing her from office immediately. The contentious 2+ hour hearing was filled with strong critiques of Peterson’s leadership by Republicans on the one hand, and panicked maneuvers to try to shelve the vote by Democrats on the other. Josh Feit from Publicola has a great play by play of the day’s drama.
Governor Inslee called the sudden election-year guillotine a “shameful about face” and “a blatant misuse of the confirmation process for political purposes.” Just a year ago, Peterson’s role was uncontroversial and she frequently received bipartisan praise, including by Senate Transportation Chair Curtis King (R-Yakima), who said at the time, “I want to thank you for the job you have done over the past two and a half years and I can’t say thank you enough.” Yesterday, King initiated the vote to fire her.
With tensions high both in and out of the chamber, Republicans continued the attack, with Senator Majority Leader Mark Schoesler (R-Ritzville) calling Peterson a racist while Senator Baumgartner (R-Spokane) took a victory lap, warning other agency heads that they might be next.
This blog has been rather hard on WSDOT over the years, and there is certainly much to criticize on urbanist, environmental, and performance grounds. The agency functions almost exclusively as a highway department, delegating transit funding and operations to local agencies. They have long had an excessive attachment to new highway capacity to the detriment of maintaining what we have. And of course, their project management – particularly on ill-conceived megaprojects like the SR 99 Tunnel and an unnecessary widening of SR 520 – has been particularly poor and occasionally scandal ridden.
But yesterday’s Republican exercise in brute power cannot be defended on any of the above grounds. First, WSDOT’s priorities are not its own, as the agency is a product of the projects and funds allocated it by the legislature, and the legislature shares the blame for any flaws that an agency that they continually make in their own image may have.
Second, Peterson inherited the megaprojects from the Gregoire/Hammond administration, and those project’s failures have been at least as much technical as they have been administrative, with the SR 99 tunnel contractor particularly to blame for much of that project’s troubles.
Third, Republicans who ostensibly care about efficient government and free market principles are most aggrieved about WSDOT’s most significant application of their supposed principles to date: dynamic tolling. Using prices as market signals to manage demand should be textbook Republican economics, but it would seem that clear performance data is no match for angry constituent anecdotes in an election year.
So Peterson’s head has rolled, and it’s unclear where WSDOT goes from here.
405 ETL lanes mostly free-flowing at the beginning of the PM peak, while NB general purpose lanes remain congested along almost the entire corridor
Under political pressure from Republicans in the Legislature, WSDOT is paring back the express toll lanes on I-405. If approved by the WSTC, the lanes would be open to all drivers without tolls on evenings and weekends.
In the Senate, SB 6152 passed out of committee on Wednesday. The bill emphasizes that the imposition of tolls is authorized for a two-year period only. The bill would prohibit tolls between 7pm and 5am, on weekends, and on all federal and state holidays. The bill even micromanages lane access, requiring that WSDOT continue to expand the length of the access and exit points to the express toll lanes. Earlier language that would have converted one of the ETL lanes between Bellevue and Bothell to a general purpose lane was dropped.
In the House, companion bill HB 2312 has not gotten out of committee (the deadline is Tuesday). However, House Democrats wrote WSDOT Tuesday evening requesting several of the changes in the Senate Bill. The changes were agreed with WSDOT. WSDOT should “eliminate tolls during evening non-peak hours, weekends, and holidays, to the extent that such a change will improve commuters’ experience on I-405” (thereby giving WSDOT some flexibility in setting hours of operation). The letter also suggests a long list of operational changes. Most notably, WSDOT is to consider “re-instating” a general purpose lane on NB I-405 between SR 520 and NE 70th St, where an exit lane was converted to general purpose use to make room for the ETL. WSDOT is also to modify the highway north of SR 522 to allow shoulder-running (the implications for ST and CT buses that already run on the shoulder here are unclear). The timing of the changes depends on Federal Highway Administration approval, but WSDOT is to report to the Legislature within six months on the impacts.
Ten bills dealing with affordable housing made it out of their original committee by today’s deadline. Since none of the policy committees meeting today have any housing bills before them, this is the whole list of surviving housing bills. Any of these bills that got referred next to a fiscal committee (the House Appropriations Committee, which handles budget bills; the House Finance Committee that handles revenue bills; or the Senate Ways & Means Committee) have until next Tuesday to get voted out of that committee. All of these bills have until February 17 to pass out of their original house.
Rep. Noel Frame
Substitute House Bill 2544, originally by Rep. Noel Frame (D – Ballard), and amended by the House Committee on Community Development, Housing & Tribal Affairs, would allow a city or county to create a local property tax exemption program to promote the preservation of affordable housing available for very low-income households. The tax exemption could apply for up to 15 consecutive years, but could be extended for an additional three years if the project meets certain energy standards.
The exemption would apply to certain multi-family properties if at least 25 percent of their units are rented at rates that are affordable to households with an income up to 50 percent of the median family income of the area. The threshold household income level could be lowered to serve severely low-income households, or raised up to 60 percent of the median family income in high-property-value areas. The affordability and occupancy requirements could be waived for up to three years for an incidental number of units occupied by over-income tenants at the time of the application. The multi family property would have to be part of a residential or mixed-use project and have a 90 percent occupancy rate. It would have to provide at least half of its space for permanent residents.
The city or county would be allowed to establish its own additional requirements, including a limit on the number of units eligible for the exemption, and designate target areas for affordable housing.
The tax exemption would be cancelled if the owner fails to meet the affordable housing requirements or intends to discontinue compliance, fails to complete a rehabilitation plan, or fails to substantially comply with any applicable building, safety, or health regulations.
The committee substitute bill would require cities to obtain county permission before they exempt the county property tax. It would limit the ability of a city or county to waive health and quality standards for qualifying properties. Additional procedures are included for how the tax exemption certificate would be cancelled. Provisions are included regarding the effect of a transfer of property on the tax exemption. The tax exemption could be claimed beginning in 2017.
SHB 2544 passed out of committee Tuesday, and is scheduled to be heard at 10 am today in the House Finance Committee.
Rep. June Robinson
Substitute HB 2585, originally by Rep. June Robinson (D – Everett), by request of the state’s Housing Finance Corporation, and amended to make technical corrections by the House Committee on Community Development, Housing & Tribal Affairs, would shift a portion of the state’s allowed private activity bond sales each year from student loans to the state’s Housing Finance Corporation. The student loan share would drop from 15% to 5%. The HFC’s share would increase from 32% to 42%.
SHB 2585 passed out of committee on January 28 and is now in the House Rules Committee, waiting to be scheduled for a floor vote.
Angle Lake Station Construction – April 2015 (Photo by the author)
This summary of South King County’s ST3 feedback is the second in a series of ST3 feedback summaries. See our previous coverage of Pierce County and Seattle. Future installments will be East King, North King (minus Seattle), Snohomish, and Stakeholder Organizations.
Federal Way
Federal Way Mayor Jim Ferrell
Short, sweet, and direct, Federal Way’s 3-paragraph letter supports Link to Federal Way via I-5 and completion of the spine to Tacoma as “the highest priority in the South King subarea”. Federal Way also says that while their preference is for I-5 through their city, they “will defer to Milton, Fife, and Tacoma” to decide between SR 99 and I-5 between Federal Way and Tacoma. The letter closes by expressing the city’s support for parking demand management strategies, which could include pricing, permitting, or additional feeder service.
Auburn
Auburn Director of Community Development and Public Works Kevin Snyder
Auburn’s letter begins by expressing qualified support for extended Sounder trains (to 8 cars or beyond), asking that any platform extensions be done to the south rather than to the north (which would close its Main Street during train stops). Complicating this process is the fact that BNSF’s Stampede Pass junction lies immediately south of the current platforms.
The letter goes on to ask that Sounder be allowed to become “a mature commuter rail system”, with evening and weekend service and Sounder/Amtrak integration “to [collect] passengers at local stations and them to Amtrak stations.”
The letter closes with strong support for a second Auburn parking garage and full funding for the South Sounder Access Program.
Kent
Kent Mayor Suzette Cooke
Kent has exceeded urbanist expectations for suburban jurisdictions on a number of occasions, including upzones in its town center and in its Link station area near Des Moines. Kent’s letter supports Link to Federal Way with joint station planning at Highline between Kent and Des Moines, as well as increased vehicular, pedestrian, and bicycle access to Kent Station.
Kent’s letter also brings its demographic cards to the table to argue for all-day Sounder service on both ridership and social justice grounds. Noting that Kent is one of the most diverse cities in Washington and the one with the highest non-Seattle Sounder ridership, Mayor Cooke asks that Sound Transit “[expand] Sounder service in both directions throughout the day…a great start toward meeting the needs of shift work, non-peak travel demands such as doctor’s appointments, access to human services agencies, and entertainment options.” Her perspective brings welcome attention to Sounder’s potential to be part of an integrated transit network for all transit riders, rather than its current existence as a (rather effective) peak capacity relief valve for commuters.
SeaTac Mayor Rick Forschler
SeaTac
Making a strong case for the most bizarre letter Sound Transit received, SeaTac’s letter is a strong departure from its (pre-election) comments last summer, in which former Mayor (and current State Legislator) Mia Gregerson supported Link to Federal Way, a second line to SeaTac Airport via West Seattle and Burien, and BRT connections to the airport. Instead, new mayor Rick Forschler functionally withdraws SeaTac’s support for the entire ST3 project, using the “transit share” canard to object to any fixed-route transit spending:
None of [your] projections for ridership, decreased sprawl, and improved traffic have been realized. In fact, the opposite is true[…]
[PSRC] projections for build out of 72 miles of light rail and doubling of bus service by 2040, at a cost of almost 80 billion dollars, show transit ridership going from 3.1 percent of all trips to 4.3 percent. Traffic congestion on arterials would get worse, and despite aggressive land-use assumptions for density around light rail stations, sprawl would continue[…].
Before we lock this region into technology that may be obsolete long before the bonds are repaid, and given the rapid growth of autonomous vehicle technology, we believe it is essential to ensure that any further investments also support future technology trends…This emerging technology suggests a reprioritization of new investments away from rail transit and toward increasing road capacity. [emphasis mine]
With no advance warning yesterday and with a perfectly whipped caucus, Senate Republicans brought a sudden confirmation vote on WSDOT Secretary Lynn Peterson. The vote failed 25-21, with all Republicans voting no, effectively removing her from office immediately. The contentious 2+ hour hearing was filled with strong critiques of Peterson’s leadership by Republicans on the one hand, and panicked maneuvers to try to shelve the vote by Democrats on the other. Josh Feit from Publicola 
