Month: October 2017

In January, Metro rolled out free carpool parking permits at 6 park-and-rides around the County. Like the 9 park-and-rides under a similar Sound Transit program, the permits reserved spaces for permit holders until 8:30am. The program is meant to increase parking predictability and increase the yield of riders per parking space by encouraging carpools. In each case, the vast majority of spots are unchanged.

Beginning November 1, nine more park-and-rides are in Metro’s offering: Green Lake, Aurora Village, Shoreline, Kenmore, Bear Creek, Bothell, Kingsgate, Wilburton, Renton Metropolitan Place, and Tukwila.

The number of reserved spaces depends on the number of permits issued. The six lots in Metro’s current program average about 100 permits combined. Northgate is the most popular location.

A more straightforward way to encourage carpooling is simply to charge for parking, but for some that raises equity issues and accusations of a revenue grab. The permit program neatly sidesteps those issues, although parking remains among the most expensive ways to bring riders to a transit hub.

You can apply for a permit here.

Distance-based fares have a lot of fans among transit nerds, for a number of reasons, from practical – raising more revenue when the train lines become really long – to the patently absurd, such as that they will incentivize people to live closer to their jobs or incentivize Sound Transit not to build really long lines. The latter has already been disproven.

Distance-based fares have had some practical impacts we didn’t see coming in 2009. Continue reading “The Practical Pitfalls of Link’s Distance-Based Fares”

When Seoul removed an elevated expressway and restored the stream that was buried for decades. How is it faring over ten years later?

In a tight workspace with barely enough room to turn around, light rail operators enjoy some of the most unusual views of Seattle from their cabs as they traverse the city.

Like all Link operators, Kevin Gumke started out driving for King County Metro Transit, before transferring over to the light rail side in 2010. To qualify, bus drivers must have a squeaky-clean driving record and complete 8 weeks of paid training, starting with a week of classroom instruction.

Continue reading “A Job With A View”

This week Seattle kicked off planning for the North Downtown Mobility Action Plan to identify and prioritize transportation improvements in the Uptown, Belltown, and South Lake Union neighborhoods.

Potential changes are coming to the area, including the redevelopment of Seattle Center Arena and a new downtown public school on the Memorial Stadium site. SDOT is partnering with SLU Community Council, Uptown Alliance and Project Belltown to improve movement throughout the North Downtown area.

SDOT’s goal is to have a list of projects identified before the draft environmental impact statement for the renovation of the Seattle Center Arena, expected in the spring of 2018. SDOT acknowledges that “sustainable transportation options are fundamental to the long-term success of the arena project.” Councilmember Sally Bagshaw, who represents the district where the Seattle Center is located, was present at the October 23 workshop.

In a deal negotiated by former Mayor Ed Murray, and still needing council approval, the Oak View Group will spend $600m to overhaul Key Arena to NBA and NHL standards, nearly doubling its size. Included in the agreement is an additional $40m for a transportation fund, which will pay for some projects in the North Downtown Mobility Action Plan.

The plan is part of the broader One Center City strategy of near-term and long-term comprehensive transit and traffic projects to connect ten of central Seattle’s neighborhoods.

Continue reading “City Kicks Off Mobility Planning in North Downtown”

It’s a routine pastime among local pundits to trash opinion in The Seattle Times for being banal, internally inconsistent, factually inaccurate, disingenuous, morally repugnant, or all five at once. That’s easy, and at this point no longer news. It’s still news, however, when some of these afflictions reach the newsroom. For the latest example, see the credulous and misleading twin pieces on the 45th District race (Dhingra, Englund) ($) by Joe O’Sullivan in Sunday’s paper.

The second paragraph of the Englund profile tries hard to establish her moderate bona fides, to reassure moderate 45th District voters that she’s not one of those Republicans:

Englund, a 33-year-old who believes in human-caused climate change and supports closing some business-tax exemptions and enacting certain gun-safety regulations, didn’t hesitate.

“I am not,” she said. “ I am anything but the status-quo Republican, if you look at me.”

She believes in climate change! So voters concerned about the environment but uneasy about taxes can vote with a clear conscience. Let’s hear some more about her plans to do something about the climate!

She criticizes the increased taxes voters approved for Sound Transit 3…

To reduce congestion on Interstate 405, Englund said she would convert one of the two HOV toll lanes into a free, general-purpose lane.

And that’s it. That’s as close as O’Sullivan gets to exploring the climate issue and whether or not the “moderation” described up front has any real world implications whatsoever.

I’ll fill in the rest. Englund is going to vote for the Republican Senate leadership that doesn’t believe in climate change. They won’t allow climate bills to come to the floor, so Englund will never have to test if any actual climate legislation is good enough for her to act on her beliefs.

Continue reading “Credulous Reporting on Climate”

The MV Suquamish, photo by SounderBruce

• 23rd Ave corridor Vision Zero work to continue in 2018.
• SeaSub goes in to bat for the CCC. Next City summarizes the debate.
• Mercer Island and Sound Transit finalize settlement agreement ($). Paraphrasing slightly, the settlement “does not address access to I-90 for single occupant vehicles at the Island Crest Way westbound on-ramp […] but does include funds for key community-identified priorities, including traffic and safety enhancements, last mile solutions, parking and bus-rail integration.”
• A couple of reactions to the Madrona Ventures autonomous vehicle hype.
• Auburn eyes old lumber store site for Sound Transit’s second parking monstrosity.
• New Mexico commuter rail ridership is in a long-term slump.
• With faster buses, de Blasio promises to ease life in a ‘tough city’.
• NYT Style section pens an obit ($) for some of the worst ’60s era urban freeways.
• How to rezone Seattle’s single-family neighborhoods. Yes, please.
• Two state senate republicans drop a hit piece ($) on Sound Transit.
• WSF commissions ($) a new Olympic-class ferry, the Suquamish.
• Maybe Bellingham’s ex-industrial waterfront will finally, actually get redeveloped.
• The Times asked readers where they wanted more all-way walks and got an earful ($). The Barnes Dance does need to be deployed pretty selectively.
• Anchorage’s revised bus system went live on Monday. Jarrett discusses the process.
• Contributors to the #MeToo movement describe an epidemic ($) of sexual harassment and assault on transit.
• One more ride around the block on the ol’ Monorail taxing authority.
• Spokane’s new bus bulbs on Sprague are making buses faster and more reliable.
• Seattle likely to study downtown congestion charging ($).
• Seattle one of 12 cities to promise zero-emission streets by 2030, and buy only zero-emission buses after 2025.
• London levies ($) an extra congestion charge for old, smoggy diesel cars.
• American commuters fail miserably as last-mile mobility. While the author is not wrong, the original sin here is post-war zoning and the built environment it has given us; last mile problems are mostly a symptom.
• SDoT seeks input on Key Arena / SLU area mobility plan.
• Mayor of North Vancouver wants train line to downtown Vancouver, around Burrard Inlet.
• Sydney will be divided into three Sydneys, for shorter commutes.
• Pierce County hiring an Executive Director of Planning and Community Development.

This is an open thread.