- Sound Transit and the MVET issue (1:58)
- Automatic transit lane enforcement (23:25)
- High Speed Rail(25:57)
Critiquing the ST Express Fare Restructure Proposals
Sound Transit has rolled out a survey offering 2 options for restructuring ST Express bus fares.
Both options would institute flat reduced fares ($1.50 for low-income and youth riders and $1 for Regional Reduced Fare Permit holders), getting rid of the de facto county line surcharge for each of these payer categories. This is the first low-income fare reduction on any transit service, anywhere in the country, beyond the low-income fare set at implementation of a low-income fare category.
Option 1 would institute a $3.25 regular adult flat fare, splitting the difference between the current $2.75 single-county fare and the $3.75 multi-county fare.
Option 2 would keep the current adult fare levels of $2.75 and $3.75, based on whether the route crosses a county line, rather than the current honor system based on whether the passenger crosses the county line. Continue reading “Critiquing the ST Express Fare Restructure Proposals”
Sunday Open Thread: Tiny Homes Need THIMBYs
This is an open thread.
Republican Representative Proposes a More Progressive MVET Restructure
R – Puyallup
While many in the State House have been in a rush to assuage car drivers angry at being taxed more, and trample on Sound Transit’s ability to build the ST3 capital program, one Republican representative has offered a bill that uses some of the lenses we’d expect from Democrats to craft a more economically-progressive twist to altering the Motor Vehicle Excise Tax formula, albeit only impacting Sound Transit’s portion of the MVET.
House Bill 2825 would provide graduated partial ST MVET exemptions based on the existing state property tax exemptions detailed in the Revised Code of Washington Section 84.36.381. To qualify, a person has to be at least 60 or unable to get gainful employment due to a disability. Due to how the bill references the property tax exemption, the person also has to be a property owner (which can include owning one’s condominium or part of a cooperatively-owned property).
The exemptions would be 20%, 35%, or 60% of the MVET due based on income.
- Qualifying property owners earning less than $30,000 would get a 60% break on the ST portion of their MVET.
- Qualifying property owners earning $30,000-$35,000 would get a 35% break on the ST portion of their MVET.
- Qualifying property owners earning $35,000-$40,000 would get a 20% break on the ST portion of their MVET.
The bill’s three obvious weaknesses are that those not owning property don’t qualify for the exemption; that no replacement revenue source is being offered to Sound Transit; and no other entities would have to take a hit on their MVET collection.
No fiscal note for the bill is expected until it is granted a hearing in the House Transportation Committee, which is not guaranteed to happen.
Meanwhile, back over in the Senate Transportation Committee, several bills directed at Sound Transit are being heard this coming Wednesday afternoon at 3:30, including a couple bills by Sen. Steve O’Ban, and SB 5955, a bill sponsored by several Democrats that would give car tab payers a “credit” based on the difference between the valuation method used in 1996 and the current car tab valuation. The bill will get a makeover in committee, as it was submitted last year, when there was a different balance of power in the legislature.
I-90 Bus Routes Changing in September
Credit: Metro and Sound Transit
King County Metro Transit and Sound Transit released the September 2018 service changes to I-90 bus routes, prompted by the closure of the Rainier Freeway Station.
Construction of Judkins Park Link Station, part of East Link, requires the closure of the Rainier Freeway Station and the I-90 bus ramp that connects buses to the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (DSTT). The East Link Extension and the Judkins Park Link Station are expected to begin operation in 2023. Changes to the bus routes are scheduled to take place September 22, 2018.
Of the buses impacted by the closure, some will bypass Rainier Avenue South and others, to maintain bus access to the Rainier Valley, will use a new bus stop at South Charles Street. All will continue to serve downtown Seattle
Continue reading “I-90 Bus Routes Changing in September”
News Roundup: Resolutely Pro-Housing
- In response to growth, Chinese cities choose metros.
- Highway 99 tunnel in Seattle will open to traffic this fall ($), the state and contractors say.
- Morning Crank: Resolutely Pro-Housing.
- Here’s a PDF of PSRC’s funded 2017 Transportation Alternatives funding.
- Podcast ($): As Seattle faces an even worse traffic nightmare, do officials have a plan or are they just managing through the mess?
- Amtrak gives Oregon, Washington timetable for activating safety enhancements.
- Seattle-area rents drop significantly ($) for first time this decade as new apartments sit empty. Watch for anti-housing “concerned neighbor” groups to pivot from saying “more housing won’t make rents cheaper” to “these falling rents prove we don’t need more housing.”
- Santa Monica looks to cap Interstate 10 in new downtown plan.
- A farming tale: In Whatcom County, farmers have much to say about the urban-rural divide.
- SEPTA’s billion-dollar plan for new trolleys takes a step forward.
- In Phoenix, a light rail station designed for, and by, people with disabilities.
- Downtown San Jose transit village near planned Google mega-campus steams ahead.
- In Missoula, houses are replacing farmland. Can lessons from Vermont keep local agriculture alive?
- Democrats worry planned cuts to car-tab fees could endanger Tacoma light rail.
- Don’t leave the rear end of your car blocking the sidewalk, people.
- Tampa Bay Transit: How rapid buses left light rail in the dust. A less hyperbolic headline would be “Regional leaders favor rapid buses over light rail for cost reasons.”
- The Urbanist’s 2018: Goals, Obstacles, and Resolutions. I’m a big fan of the first two.
- Drivers should pay more to drive more, report tells TransLink.
- Curbed thinks backyard cottages may be a big answer to the urban housing crisis. My advice is to curb your enthusiasm a bit.
- 80.7% of all humans live within an hour’s travel of a city.
- House bill would require PTC by end of the year, and give the railroad industry a cool $2.6B ($) to achieve that.
- New Adidas trainers double as Berlin transit passes ($).
- Subway problems get headlines, but who’s going to solve NYC’s other transit crisis?
- California bullet train cost surges by $2.8 billion: “Worst-case scenario has happened.”
- Elements of Access: A Friendly Guide to Transport Planning.
- A herculean effort is underway to reconnect wildlife habitat east of Snoqualmie Pass.
This is an open thread.
Lege Considering Transit Lane Enforcement Cams
D – Burien
Last week, State Representative Joe Fitzgibbon introduced House Bill 2403, which would add transit-only lane enforcement cameras to the list of automated traffic safety cameras authorized for use in the state.
The bill provides the process for enacting local ordinances for transit-only lane cameras, but sticks to existing language governing the use of such cameras.
The currently authorized uses of traffic camera enforcement are:
1. to detect running red lights.
2. to detect illegal railroad crossings.
3. to detect speeding in school zones. (Tacoma is the only locality permitted to use speed cameras, and is limited by statute to just one such camera.)
The regulations on use of transit lane cameras would be similar to those for the other three classes of cameras: Continue reading “Lege Considering Transit Lane Enforcement Cams”
How Much Would High Speed Rail Actually Cost?
Earlier this year, Seattle Transit Blog covered possible routes for high-speed rail (HSR) to Vancouver. Zach Shaner wrote the first two parts, and I wrote the last two. In December, Washington State DOT (WSDOT) released a study about the possibility of HSR in the Pacific Northwest. The study is bearish on HSR, with high cost estimates and unusually low operating performance—but the numbers themselves are suspect, suggesting a unit conversion error. WSDOT says that the numbers in the study are right—but there is cause for skepticism. If the numbers are wrong, the entire study must be redone, and would point to a more positive conclusion about the prospects of HSR.
Continue reading “How Much Would High Speed Rail Actually Cost?”
How to pay for fixing the MVET
Here’s the idea in a nutshell. Revise the valuation schedule for the MVET, per HB 2201, so that the ST3 MVET (0.8%) is levied on the more accurate 2006 schedule. Pay for it by extending the Sound Move MVET (0.3%) that is otherwise scheduled to expire in 2028. The extended 0.3% MVET can use the 2006 vehicle schedule too, and can be set to expire once the funding gap is made whole. Sound Transit’s ability to deliver voter-approved projects on time will not be impaired. Car owners will see an immediate tax cut, offset only by a delay in the expiration of the Sound Move MVET after 2028.
Let’s recall some MVET history and ST3 financing. Continue reading “How to pay for fixing the MVET”
House Tables Vote on MVET for Now
Democratic legislators are reexamining legislation that would lower car tab fees, reducing funding for Sound Transit and potentially delaying the expansion of light rail around the region.
According to the News Tribune, State Sen. Marko Liias, (D-Lynnwood) said the party is looking at a range of ways to lower car tab fees, but also limit the hit to Sound Transit’s bottom line.
“I’m not with the transit advocates in believing that this is sort of the sky is falling and we’re not going to get light rail,” Liias told The News Tribune. “But I also am convinced based on everything we’ve seen over the last year it probably makes sense to just have a conversation about how we make sure light rail gets to Everett and Tacoma like it’s been promised.”
Last week the House tabled plans to vote on HB 2201, which passed easily out of the chamber last year with both Democratic and Republican support.
The bill adjusts the rate of the motor vehicle excise tax Sound Transit collects. ST3 uses a motor vehicle excise tax schedule from the 1990s, which many have criticized as inflating the value of cars and increasing the cost of renewing car tabs.
If passed, ST estimated the agency would lose $780M in direct funding over the next 11 years, with indirect financial impacts, such as higher debt costs, costing Sound Transit nearly $2.3B. Voters passed the $54 billion transit package in 2016.