October 2020 – Page 2 – Seattle Transit Blog

Less-accessible voting sites and other easier ways to vote

October 20, 2020October 20, 2020 by Brent White

Dempsey Indoor Center, one of two accessible voting sites in Seattle, starting Halloween

For most of us, voting could not be easier. Every registered voter with their address of record up-to-date gets a ballot in the mail. Return postage is pre-paid. There are also plenty of ballot drop boxes open. Ones close to light rail stations include the Beacon Hill Library, Uwajimaya, the King County Administration Building, and the northeast corner of the Edison Building at Seattle Central College,

The King County Elections Department recommends that you mail your ballot by Friday, October 30, in order to make sure it gets postmarked by election day, the following Tuesday. After that, it is recommended that you use one of the many drop boxes that are available 24/7 now through 8 pm on November 3.

You can also vote online.

You can register to vote online, or by snail mail, up until October 26.

UPDATE: In-person voting registration is available through Election Day at the accessible voting sites, but the County urges everyone to use the voting centers only if they have to. Wearing a face covering over the nose and mouth will be required.

Sound Transit shares latest NE 130th St Station designs

October 19, 2020October 15, 2020 by Alex Kvenvolden

Rendering of the station viewed from NE 130th Street over I-5 *(courtesy of Sound Transit)*

Sound Transit recently started its virtual open house for the NE 130th St infill station, where you can see the latest designs. As part of this open house, there is a survey where you can provide feedback on the proposed designs. In addition to the blue and green station-wide color scheme options, you can weigh in on the available plaza-level seating and bollard options. In addition to the station design, Sound Transit has provided an update the status of the project.

Sunday open thread: Million Dollar Loan

October 18, 2020October 17, 2020 by Martin H. Duke

Shuttles replace Link north of SODO Station this weekend

October 17, 2020October 17, 2020 by Brent White

construction banner in International District / Chinatown Station – photo by Busologist

Link Light Rail service will be partially disrupted this weekend, per an annoucement from Sound Transit:

Link light rail service will temporarily stop running between the UW and SODO stations Saturday, October 17, and Sunday, October 18 to allow for system upgrades.
During the service interruption, free bus service will be available between UW station and SODO station. Light rail riders will need to switch between trains and buses at SODO station stations [sic] to complete their journeys. Sound Transit will provide shuttle buses every ten minutes between the affected stations, and Sound Transit personnel will be available to help passengers with transfers. Trains will run every 15 minutes on the weekend. Light rail trains will return to their regular schedule Monday morning.

Other alternatives to get to or between the northern station areas include:

Route 7 between Mt Baker Station and downtown.
Route 36 between Beacon Hill Station and downtown.
Route 48 between Mt Baker Station and UW.
Route 10, 11, or 49 between Westlake and Capitol Hill.
Route 49 between Capitol Hill and the U-District.
Route 60 between Beacon Hill Station and Capitol Hill.
Route 70 between downtown and the U-District.
Route 101, 150, or ST Express 594 between SODO Station, Stadium Station, and downtown.

Any work Sound Transit has to do on Link is certainly best to do on weekends during the pandemic, while there are the fewest riders to be impacted.

Metro prepares for end of cash fares

October 16, 2020December 9, 2020 by Dan Ryan

Riders line up to pay (image: Lizz Giordano)

King County Metro is embarking on a process to phase out on-board cash payments.

Details are so far limited, pending discusssions with stakeholders. A briefing to the King County Council Budget and Fiscal Management Committee noted the discontinuation of on-board cash fares would happen in concert with the launch of the subsidized annual pass program and the planned launch of Next Generation ORCA by early 2023. Metro will engage with community stakeholders later this year and early next year to develop a plan.

The subsidized annual pass program offers free fares on all Metro services but Vanpool, and is available to recipients of several means-tested programs. The full launch of that program was announced yesterday. (Sound Transit is running a similar program on a pilot basis). It’s favorable to reducing cash use because lower income riders have historically preferred not to prepay for ORCA media.

I-976 struck down

October 15, 2020October 15, 2020 by Martin H. Duke

No details as of yet, but who needs the details:

WA Supreme Court strikes down Tim Eyman’s I-976 to cut car tabs. Story soon at https://t.co/DnQLxkhcnI.
— Heidi Groover (@heidigroover) October 15, 2020

The immediate practical importance is that various transit and transportation agencies will not have to refund the money they have been collecting since I-976 passed, easing pressure on budgets statewide.

All justices but Barbara Madsen, who found only one reason to reject it instead of two, signed the ruling. Story here ($).

Vote Yes on Prop. 1

October 15, 2020October 14, 2020 by Martin H. Duke

Seattle loves its bus service. As pandemic measures temporarily reduce demand, new challenges like the West Seattle Bridge closure arise. It would be irresponsible to reject a measure that doesn’t even fully replace the tax that it succeeds.

In 2014, Seattle approved a $60 vehicle license fee and 0.1% sales tax to fund increases in bus service that greatly increased the number of Seattle residents within walking distance of bus routes that run every 10 minutes all day. That tax expires on December 31st, and Metro has already cut some service in anticipation of losing that revenue.

Booming tax revenues, and a lack of bus capacity at Metro, led Seattle to find other worthy transit-related goals. Notably, Mayor Durkan introduced the “ORCA Opportunity” program, providing free passes to Seattle Public School students and therefore nearly eliminating youth fares in the City of Seattle.

News roundup: pivoting

October 14, 2020October 13, 2020 by Martin H. Duke

King County Metro NFI XDE35 at Vashon ferry terminal

Now the 1st Avenue South Bridge, the most obvious alternative to the West Seattle Bridge, is facing sporadic partial closures for maintenance.
Uber/Lyft minimum wage is now law.
There’s a town hall tonight on Metro restructuring.
Is Lime pivoting to be a platform company?
Apply to the Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board.
Bellevue fills out a bit of street grid.
Even the Seattle Times ($) wants you to vote yes on Prop 1.
Possible Port Townsend ferry cuts get pushback.
The Lander bridge should be last of its kind.
TriMet having labor problems.
White House blocked CDC guidelines ($) for masks on transit.

This is an open thread.

Last-mile alternatives to legacy First Hill express service

October 13, 2020October 14, 2020 by Brent White

First Hill Streetcar at Capitol Hill Station / photo by SounderBruce

Correction: In Metro’s Phase 3 proposal, route 64 goes to South Lake Union. (New route 361 from Bothell will also go to South Lake Union via Northgate Station.) Also, route 309 is renumbered as 322 to reflect the detour to Roosevelt Station.

One of the most notable features of King County Metro’s North King County bus route restructure proposed for September 2021, when Northgate Link is scheduled to open for service, is the continued use of north-end and Shoreline express bus service for First Hill. The rest of the express bus service from the north end and Shoreline to the Central Business District will go away.

Metro plans to have four First Hill express routes in operation after Northgate Link opens, three of them competing with Link Light Rail:

Route 193 serves Federal Way Park & Ride (S 320th St), Federal Way Transit Center, Star Lake Freeway Station, Kent – Des Moines Freeway Station, and Tukwila Park & Ride before expressing to First Hill.
New route 302 would replace some 301 and 304 service, but going to First Hill, with a stop at Northgate Station.
Route 303 serves Shoreline Park & Ride, Aurora Village, Northgate Transit Center, and then expresses to First Hill. Routes 302 and 303 are planned to provide alternating service between Northgate Station and First Hill.
New Route 322 would essentially be a renumbering of route 309 (Bothell to First Hill), but with a detour to Roosevelt Station before jumping on I-5 to get to First Hill.

The First Hill expresses only operate during peak hours, and only in the peak direction. Given the 24/7 nature of all the medical buildings, this specialty service is mostly irrelevant to a large chunk of First Hill employees, unless they are the lucky ones working the latte shift.

Sound Transit’s boardings struggle to recover

October 12, 2020October 12, 2020 by Dan Ryan

Monthly boardings on Sound Transit (data: Sound Transit)

Second quarter ridership data from Sound Transit shows, as expected, a collapse in ridership after COVID. There was a meaningful recovery in June as the lockdown eased, but ridership more recently seems to have stabilized at just under one-fourth of normal levels.

Pre-pandemic system ridership was about 4 million riders per month. At the bottom, in April, Link and ST Express ridership were at 18% of normal. There was some slight recovery in May, and more in June.

Ridership on ST Express and on Link has hovered around 22% of normal since June. (‘Normal’ here being the 2019 average). The commuter-heavy Sounder trains are carrying just 10% of their regular passenger loads. Tacoma Link is a relative bright spot, with 35% of normal ridership in August because it’s ridership is less commute-oriented. Overall system ridership remains just short of 900,000 monthly.