Month: July 2020

• WSTC gets an incredible slate of transportation briefings.
• Riding Amtrak in a pandemic.
• Pierce Transit trying “Runner” on-demand vans ($) on the waterfront starting next month.
• Build the West Seattle Bridge out of wood?
• Many local government workers at home for the rest of 2020 ($).
• TriMet increases capacity by decreasing distancing to 3 feet.

This is an open thread.

As expected, the Seattle Council approved a November ballot measure to renew its
Transportation Benefit District 9-0 and preserve existing Metro service. The real action was in the amendments. (The discussion begins at 1:11:00 in the video above).

The expiring measure included a 0.1% sales tax and $60 vehicle license fee. As the latter may not be legal due to I-976, there was debate about increasing the sales tax rate. Regrettably, the amendment to raise the rate to 0.2% lost 5-4. Morales, Sawant, Mosqueda, and Strauss voted for the higher rate.

However, a compromise measure for a 0.15% increase passed 8-1, with only Pedersen opposed.

An amendment to extend the measure to a 6-year package, expiring in April 2027, passed 5-4, with Morales, Sawant, Lewis, and Gonzalez opposed. Detractors focused on the imperfection of a city measure with regressive revenue tools, and sought to create a “sense of urgency” for something better. Proponents argued, correctly, that 2024 is the right time to try a county measure, and that a city measure expiring concurrently would provide no contigency for a county failure. Move Seattle also expires in 2024, creating more traffic on the ballot.

There was maneuvering around the limits on various special accounts for West Seattle buses, free and reduced price ORCA, and the like. In the end, “essential workers” (in the pandemic sense) became eligible for ORCA subsidy.

Today at 2pm, the Seattle Council is voting to send renewal of the Transportation Benefit District (TBD) to the November ballot. As eight of nine council members are already on record in support, passage of something is inevitable. The uncertain parts are what amendments will go with it.

The baseline legislation is a renewal of the 0.1% sales tax for 4 years. This is a significant cut from the status quo both because it doesn’t include the vehicle license fee from 2014, but also because sales tax revenues have fallen sharply.

• Amendment 1 would extend the term to six years.
• Amendment 2 would raise the sales tax rate to 0.2%; this roughly replaces the lost vehicle license revenue for a typical level of economic activity.
• Amendment 3 would extend the ORCA opportunity program from seniors, youth, and low income people to include “essential workers” as commonly understood during the pandemic.

Amendment 2 is clearly an effort to devote more resources to transit, which is straightforward for advocates. Amendment 1 depends on your read of the political and legal situation. Amendment 3 is a difficult tradeoff between social justice objectives and getting as much bus service as possible on the road.

There are also rumors of an amendment to split the difference at 0.15%.

You can sign up to testify, beginning at 12pm, here.

Osaka Metro shows you how to open the window for fresh air on their various train models.

A letter from King County Executive Dow Constantine and four Councilmembers (Balducci, Dembowski, Upthegrove, Kohl-Welles) expressed support for the Seattle Transportation District (TBD) effort, while pledging to pursue a countywide measure “at an appropriate time.”

The letter is delicately balanced between applauding Seattle’s effort to maintain service, while stressing the need for a regional measure “to provide the greatest mobility, equity, economic, and sustainability benefits.”

It specifically mentions the importance of “the equity and sustainability goals included in King County Metro’s Mobility Framework,” the agency’s (quite good) service allocation formula.

And then it makes its offer:

• Photo tour of Lynnwood Link.
• Amtrak Cascades pulls the Talgo trainsets.
• Yet another delay for the Missing Link.
• Metro operators to get their raises after all ($), after Council approves contract 8-1 [Dunn voting no], but layoffs likely.
• Seattle finally opening up streets to restaurants.
• Matt Baume tears up about Federal Way light rail.
• Lower speed limits save lives.
• No cars on parts of Lake Washington Blvd until Sep 8th.
• Filling of Battery Street Tunnel almost done.
• Interesting bus plans in Bremerton. The SR303 corridor could get some BRT treatments.
• Traffic is back.
• Old friend Kevin Desmond on the future of cities.

This is an open thread.

A silent movie of various activities performed by the Seattle Department of Streets and Sewers in 1926. Skip to 1:14 for some footage of trolleys and automobiles at a familiar spot.

This is an open thread.

• SDOT starting to form a plan for the West Seattle Bridge. The study will take about 18 months (!).
• The low bridge is cracked too, but it doesn’t have to close.
• After protest, Metro managers promise to “do better” on race.
• Metro GM Rob Gannon taking a promotion in Montana, longtime Metro leader Terry White to take over the interim reins.
• Mercer Island nixes commuter parking/mixed use structure, may replace it with just parking.
• The I-90 bridge is getting its own documentary. You can watch it here.
• Local population still growing.
• Children’s Hospital is hiring a Transportation Planner.
• Current best practices for circulating air on buses.
• Read the results of Bellevue’s high tech vision zero project we wrote about back in 2017

This is an open thread.

There’s a certain thread of argument in transit advocacy that is frustrating because it is totally factually accurate, and yet completely misses the point. The latest example is this report on American light rail by the right-leaning Manhattan Institute, called The Economics of Urban Light Rail: A Guide for Planners and Citizens.

America has way fewer light rail boardings per route-mile than Europe and Canada. However, Seattle does well, one of only 5 in the US to have more than 3,000. No surprise: the strongest indicators of success are frequency and density around stations, two standards Link currently meets.

On the first day of summer, I complained that the City hadn’t opened more streets to pedestrians, specifically in high-density commercial districts, to allow for more outdoor social distancing and commercial activity. I figure I should follow up to note that the day after my post went live SDOT announced it was opening up several more Stay Healthy Streets, including Bell St. in Belltown.

Then, a few days later, SDOT announced an expanded street use permit system for businesses to use for outdoor retail and restaurant activity. SDOT is streamlining the permitting process for these applications: instead of the usual 2-week public comment, businesses can open right away and inform their neighbors that they’re doing so. Businesses can set up in the sidewalk if right-of-way is sufficient or in a parking space.

These are all great ideas. I’d still love to see entire streets closed off for both public gathering and retailing in some of our commercial neighborhoods. I can name at least a dozen blocks in Seattle’s urban villages and downtown that could easily support outdoor street life if permitted.

Check out the twitter threads below from the Seattle Pedestrian Advisory Board meeting where these plans were presented last week if you want to learn more, and thanks to SDOT for getting this program up and running before the July 4 weekend.