Month: July 2018

Last year Mercer Island settled its lawsuit with Sound Transit for some money to improve access issues for the future Mercer Island Station. I’m pleased to say that one of those programs will be easy to like: a 25-Ebike pilot program with Limebike, running from mid-July to mid-October.

The Mercer Island Reporter says that Limebike would have shared data, responded to safety and parking issues within time limits, and rebalanced bikes weekly for free. For a monthly subsidy of up to $1,625, Limebike will rebalance bikes every weekday. Enter the settlement money.

Riders will pay the usual E-Bike rate of $1 plus 15 cents per minute.

Most of Mercer Island’s road network is poorly optimized for buses. Alternative measures like this one come at nominal cost and are likely to somewhat improve transit accessibility on the island. Unfortunately, it’s not clear there are enough “reverse commuters” heading deeper into the community in the morning to insure adequate turnover of bikes and reliable supply in the afternoon. The City should do what it can to encourage trips other than peak-direction commutes to make this a program that helps more than 25 people a day.

True to their word, climate activists that found reasons to oppose I-732’s carbon tax have gathered the signatures for a new measure, I-1631. It’s now virtually assured of appearing on your November 2018 ballot.

The measure would levy a “pollution fee” on the carbon content of all consumed fossil fuels, and electricity generated or imported here. On January 1, 2020, this would be $15 per ton of Carbon. In each new year, this would increase by $2/ton plus inflation, until Washington’s mandated 2035 greenhouse gas goals are met, and the board judges that compliance with the 2050 goals is likely.

The revenue, after administrative costs, has numerous specified uses. The Department of Commerce would develop a budget (“investment plan”) for approval by a Board appointed by the governor. Some limits on the spending:

• 70% must be used for “clean air and clean energy”, broadly defined as projects that can reduce emissions. The definition of these projects is very long, but includes public and nonmotorized transportation, as well as “affordable transit-oriented housing”. The investment plan must reduce annual carbon emissions by 20m metric tons in 2035 and 50m tons in 2050. 15% of this fund must “directly reduce the energy burden of people with lower incomes.” Beginning in the mid-2020s, a further $50m of this fund would be dedicated to support workers leaving the fossil fuel industry.
• 25% is for “clean water and healthy forests” to improve their resilience to climate change and ocean acidification.
• 5% is for “healthy communities,” basically wildfire preparedness and relocating tribes threatened by sea level rise.

There are further restrictions: 35% of the total must be spent to benefit “pollution and health action areas” (read: poor census tracts) and 10% must be supported with a formal resolution of an Indian tribe.

Utilities can get pollution fee credits for some carbon reduction activities. There are other fuel exemptions for fossil fuels to be exported, aircraft fuels, fuels for “agricultural purposes,” coal plants that will close by 2025, and so on.

This is not a perfect measure: in my view, it would be better to focus the spending more on maximizing carbon reduction and less on carving out funding for various constituencies. But this is a standard that little legislation can pass: building a coalition requires compromises. In any case, the spending seems remarkably focused on emissions reduction and mitigating climate impacts.

This measure would support transit use and dense neighborhoods in two directions, by both discouraging more energy-intensive versions of traveling and living, and providing direct funding to increase the supply of both.

Most importantly, as with I-732, the critical thing is to address the emergency of climate change and not obsess over secondary political priorities. It’s clear that conservatives won’t embrace a climate action plan that addresses many of their policy priorities, so the only coalition that can do something about this issue is one that embraces the entire center and left. This is a good initiative. But even if you have reservations, I urge you to support it strongly if you want Washington to do something about climate change.

According to a University of Toronto paper published in June, the growth of Uber has increased transit ridership in cities across the United States, with some caveats.

The conclusions of the paper support the premise behind last-mile pilot projects on Mercer Island and in Pierce County, and backs up Lyft’s strategy to integrate ride hailing with public transit. It also validates certain parts of Mayor Jenny Durkan’s controversial proposal to reappropriate Seattle Transportation Benefit District funds towards last mile service at Rainier Valley Link stations.

The paper posits that “Uber reduces transit ridership in smaller MSAs [Metropolitan Statistical Areas] while increasing ridership in larger cities.” The paper also finds that Uber has a greater ridership effect on rail lines and in wealthier areas.

In cities with a robust transit network, Uber is more likely to become a viable last-mile option. In that context, Uber can and does amplify the marginal value of reserving exclusive right of way for transit, as “results suggest that Uber reduced commute times for public transit users while increasing congestion.”

Continue reading “Study: Uber Can Boost Transit Ridership, But It Increases Congestion”

• Metro permanently closing some 5 and 21 stops to speed things up.
• Route 120 (RapidRide H) can get more funding under new Transportation Benefit District rules
• Businesses may push Mayor Durkan to end foot-dragging on the streetcar ($).
• Link operator helps police subdue threatening passenger; policy immediately changes to prevent that in the future.
• E-Bikes could be a casualty in the trade war.
• Seattle Parks board set to vote on e-bike pilot
• Vintage buses serving several National Parks.
• Shed a tear: new U-District offices and housing are displacing defenseless parking lots.
• ST’s rent on Edmonds Station parking up 13%.
• NTSB hearing on Nisqually derailment underway in DC.
• Seattle Streetcar’s 2017 budget retroactively overruns by 8% ($); sounds like mostly accounting technicalities.
• For all SDOT’s problems, its dockless bikeshare model is a triumph ($), and is attracting imitators.
• E-Scooter craze headed to Portland; Seattle can’t be far behind.
• King County will have new RFP for Northgate TOD by July 31, earlier than anticipated
• Neat aerial views of subway systems (has anyone done Seattle yet?)
• Seattle housing market softening?
• Condos making a comeback — but regulations may limit these to expensive units.
• SDOT looking for feedback on West Seattle Greenway.  More here.
• Multifamily housing growing in Snohomish County.
• C-Tran fined $13,000 for safety violations.
• Uber investing in LimeBike
• The city of Seattle continues to sell off publicly-owned land rather than develop affordable housing
• WSDOT receives a certification necessary to receive new FTA funds, ahead of other states.
• I’m not sure what problem self-driving bikes would solve.

Route 410 in Westlake Park by SounderBruce in the Flickr pool

This is an open thread.

For the ten years this blog has existed, STB has been offering endorsements in public elections.

This year, we are planning to be a little more nuanced, and offer some ratings in various races, along with endorsements where there is a clear and obvious best choice. We look solely at the candidates’ records and positions on transportation and land-use policy, and only at candidates who have a credible chance of getting elected. While the generic Democrat is superior to the generic Republican on these issues, we’re focused on races where there is something more than party difference.

For the primary election, we are looking at races where there are at least three credible choices, such as the Congressional District 8 open race.

Are there races where you think there is a candidate who merits our endorsement? Are there races where you want us to do a run-down on the candidates and offer ratings? Let us know in the comments below.

You can peruse the list of candidates by county, or at the state level.

The deadline to register online to vote in the August 7 primary election is today.

The STB Editorial Board currently consists of Martin H. Duke, Brent White, and Dan Ryan.

• Details on Uber Bikes in Seattle
• Downtown Bellevue tunneling ahead of schedule
• Local YIMBY movement profile
• $1.2B grant request for Lynnwood Link
• French city trying out free transit on weekends
• The flat fare is now in effect
• All-door boarding is a good idea, more cities should do it
• 730,000 people live in Seattle
• Big plans for tolls in the 405/167 corridor
• Oregon begins collecting a statewide payroll tax for transit
• LA-specific, but these ideas for bus lane improvements could apply anywhere
• Profile of Andy Byford, the man who has to fix the NYC Subways
• 1 million bike share trips
• These are good ideas improving mobility around the city
• Is “microtransit” just dial-a-ride by another name?

KC Metro Bus 124 at the end of the line by AvGeekJoe in the STB Flickr Pool

This is an open thread

As part of the fare restructure that brought King County Metro’s $2.75 regular flat fare, effective this week, King County Metro has gotten all four counties in the ORCA pod to make the first Regional Reduced Fare Permit free for each recipient, also effective this week.

Regional Reduced Fare Permits are for seniors 65 or older, or riders with a qualifying disability.

The original proposal was just going to cover King County. Now Pierce, Snohomish, and Kitsap Counties are all waiving the $3 RRFP fee for first-time recipients, as well as for renewing expired RRFP ORCAs. Trading in non-ORCA RRFPs for the ORCAized version has also long been free.
Continue reading “ORCAized RRFPs Now Free For the First One”

Frank and I are going to tape another podcast mailbag. Please put your questions in the comments below this afternoon. As always, try to keep it to a single question, and make it one that can actually be answered. Thanks.

Transit and Urbanism advocates are used to a defensive crouch when hearing news from Olympia. But buried in a supplemental budget earlier this spring, the Departments of Ecology and Commerce created a great new program.

The Governor’s Budget request included $7.4m for the Healthy Housing Remediation Program (HHRP) . Nonprofit organizations identify contaminated sites that would be good candidates for affordable housing, and the Program selects some to clear up to reduce costs of that development. The first round of applications was due Saturday. Scott O’Dowd of the Department of Ecology says that two applications are submitted, and three more requested an extension to tomorrow. They span the state from Kennewick to Bremerton, and include a project in Seattle’s Chinatown.

The prototype for this approach is happening at Mt. Baker. Ecology is cleaning up the legacy of a gas station and dry cleaner on behalf of Mt. Baker Housing. In addition to planning grants for the process described above, the appropriation awarded $6.2m for this. This will enable construction of Maddux: a 144-unit, $55m affordable project to begin in 2019 and open in 2021.

The Maddux is unusual: the process for nonprofits to get State grants requires them to go through their municipal government to create a “Redevelopment Opportunity Zone”, a process that few can complete.  Historically, Ecology has cleaned up a site and then passed on the cost to a market-rate developer, resulting in less affordable units, O’Dowd said. The HHRP will dramatically streamline this process, though much depends on Ecology’s 2019 budget request this fall.

There’s no telling how many seemingly obvious development opportunities are wasting away due to these kinds of obstacles. It’s great to see the State stepping to up to address contamination issues that affect the entire community, since the actual perpetrators are long gone.