Month: May 2018

In September 2014, when the median single family home price in Seattle was $431,000, the city council passed a resolution aimed at increasing Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs).  In 2016, when the home price was $513,000, neighborhood activists sued to stop the policy, forcing the city to conduct an environmental impact statement (EIS).  Now, in 2018, as the single family home price cruises past $800,000, the Draft EIS has been released.

Erica has the a great explanation of how the EIS functions as an indictment of exclusionary zoning.  It states pretty plainly that detached single family houses are only affordable to the wealthy, and allowing more diverse housing types in single-family zones would (a) not materially impact parking, (b) spur the production of thousands of affordable units, (c) result in fewer tear-downs of existing houses, and (d) make single family zones more diverse and inclusive.

Continue reading “Backyard Cottages Would Help Affordability”

Early Tuesday morning, a construction foreman for Kiewit-Hoffman was killed after falling 30 to 40 feet from a column on the East Link guideway, near the 148th Avenue interchange on State Route 520 in Overlake. The accident, only the second fatal incident at a Sound Transit construction site, triggered a one-day halt in girder work on the Overlake segment and an investigation by the Department of Labor and Industries according to KOMO.

The Times reports ($) that there are 100 workers involved in the Overlake segment of the East Link project and they will be given time to mourn before returning to work and being interviewed by investigators. In statements to KING 5, Kiewit and Sound Transit sent condolences to the worker’s family and friends and their shared commitment to a safe work environment for employees and the public.

We at STB would also like to express our condolences to the worker’s family and friends and express our gratitude towards those who are helping build out our regional transit system.

After returning with additional modifications, Metro gained approval from the Burien City Council for RapidRide H improvements (previous coverage here).  See Omaha Sternberg on Twitter for the play-by-play.  You can read Metro’s full proposal (Alternative C) on the Burien website (PDF).

RapidRide H, the upgraded version of Metro Route 120, will use Business Access and Transit (BAT) lanes for much of its route through Burien, thanks to the rechannelization scheme that passed the council last night.  Ambaum Way SW, which is five lanes wide in many areas, will get BAT lanes, two general purpose (GP) lanes, and a center turn lane.  Previous alternatives proposed more aggressive rechannelization.  The new Alternative C has no real road “diets,” since no lanes are being removed, they are simply being repurposed for BAT use.  The main exception is a short, curved stretch of Ambaum Way, which will go from 4 lanes to 3.  I’m not personally familiar with this stretch, but the fact that someone thought to put concrete barriers between the road and the sidewalk certainly suggests that it has serious safety issues.

To ameliorate motorists’ concerns about being stuck behind the bus, Metro will avoid placing bus stops in areas where the road narrows to “only” 3 or 4 lanes.  That will mean stop spacing approaching half a mile in some spots, which is normal for rapid transit but has not been the norm for RapidRide.

The new alternative will only slow cars by 5-8%, while decreasing bus travel times by 13% in both directions.  New pedestrian crossings and signals will further enhance safety.   RapidRide H will launch in 2020; Metro projects 12,800 riders by 2023.

Photo by Zach Heistand, via STB Flickr Pool

Beginning Monday, potential riders in some areas of Pierce County will have the option of a free Lyft ride to or from a nearby transit hub. The Federal Transit Administration is providing the $205,000 for this one-year pilot. From the press release:

The Limited Access Connection project’s goals include addressing mobility challenges for those with limited or no access to transit; finding solutions for the growing problem of at-capacity Park & Rides; reducing road congestion by getting more people on transit; guaranteeing a ride home for those traveling outside regular bus service hours; and meeting the transportation needs of more remote riders. These objectives are unique in that they are focused on helping connect people to/from transit.

The concept is pretty simple. If you’re in one of the shaded areas, you can request a Lyft ride with a special promo code, as long as your destination is one of the designated transit stops. Similarly, you can travel from one of those hubs to one of the areas. Riders are limited to a total of 48 free rides per month.

Regrettably, the rules get a bit more complicated than that. 4 of the promo codes apply seven days a week, while 2 others (18RAIDERS and 18FIFEPUY) are weekday only. The hours are different for each: most cover the bulk of the day, but 18RAIDERS is only from 8:30-10:30pm when bus service to the campus stops.

Creative ways to solve last-mile problems are great, and spending $205,000 on this sure beats building 2 or 3 park and ride spaces. I doubt that having this service be entirely free is sustainable, but one hopes it’s successful enough for PT to find some way to keep it going.

Whether or not things pencil out in 2018, this is probably the future of exurban and rural transit. Assuming that automated cars are ultimately workable, it’s hard to see why transit agencies would continue to operate traditional buses on low-volume coverage routes, even as the major trunk lines will still require large vehicles. Whether those vehicles are best actually owned and maintained by the agency or a contractor is an open question. This and the 10 other pilots nationwide may help to answer it.

Wheelchair-accessible vehicles are available by phone, though not through the Lyft app. Smartphone-less riders can also use the phone or a webpage.

Continue reading “Pierce Transit Experimenting with Lyft Rides”

• After much debate, a compromise version of Seattle’s employee head tax is now law
• The Tom and Curley Show is on point on affordable housing
• Portland streetcar breaking ridership records
• Slower streets, not autonomous cars, are the real safety breakthrough (Props to Wired for publishing this bit of techno-skepticism)
• The feds pony up $75M for Tacoma Link
• Los Angeles can’t get enough walkable neighborhoods
• CityLab gives Seattle’s bus network the glossy treatment
• Mercer Island takes Sound Transit’s money to build park and rides
• Could the Olympics overload Tokyo’s subways?
• Enjoy that sunshine: 10 car-free hikes
• Lots more people space (and asphalt) in the new waterfront designs
• Seattle has room for 56,000 backyard cottages

This is an open thread.

Photo by SounderBruce in the STB Flickr Pool

Update August 2023: contact us to write an article.

It’s come to my attention that our hiring of a paid staff reporter has introduced a little confusion into the process for volunteer contributors. Transit enthusiasts who are not seeking payment for writing, and are able to commit to contributing articles on a regular basis, are welcome to start the much simpler process to join the STB volunteer staff:

1. Open a Page 2 account.
2. Write an article, save it in draft, and email contact@seattletransitblog.wpcomstaging.com. Do NOT publish it.
3. If it meets our standards, after some editing, we’ll publish it as a guest post on the front page. If there is a sustained rate of guest posting, on the order of once per month or greater, the writer will be invited on staff.

Being a volunteer staff writer has a few advantages. You get direct access to the front page. Most enthusiasts would probably enjoy access to the staff group, which has a lively internal communication channel and a few social events.

I’ve found that the ability to write well on this subject and the drive to do so, for free, on a regular basis is a rare combination. If you think you fit the description, it would benefit the organization and the transit community for you to give it a shot.