What’s the least amount of time needed to ride every mode of transit in Seattle? Dave at City Beautiful makes an attempt at a speedrun.

• East Link Operations and Maintenance Facility (OMF) now complete
• Streetside cafes may become permanent
• Upzone Roosevelt again
• Sound Transit files appeal against new Lake Forest Park rules that would make the BRT parking garage more expensive
• Checking on Trailhead Direct
• Lizz checks in on Graham St.
• City of Bellevue chooses to fund lawsuit on behalf of pro-parking group
• Parking rate adjustments coming June 1
• Skagit Transit back to full service ($) next month
• Amtrak trips coming back
• Inslee vetoes bits of a bill ($) that delay climate implementation; lawsuits to follow

This is an open thread.

Starting June 1st, the first youth ORCA a child gets is free with proof of age. Subsequent cards (to replace ones lost or stolen) still cost $5. This now matches the policy for the Regional Reduced Fare Permit.

Youth cards are available at customer service offices, or more conveniently via mail.

This continues the gradual ratchet of reducing and eliminating fares without threatening the core of revenue provided by employer passes. Through low income fares, ultra-low-income fares, free passes for Seattle Public Schools students, and periodic ORCA giveaways, there are many ways to chip away at what for most is already a modest fare bill.

Community Transit has put out a set of options for its upcoming Lynnwood Pilot, with the aim of improving mobility around popular destinations in Lynnwood. The options include two microtransit routes, and a community van program. Community Transit is seeking feedback on the options with a survey, open until June 18th.

Homelessness is a complicated problem for which STB, with its narrow transit-and-land-use focus, would not claim to propose a full solution. [1] The proposal in Seattle Charter Amendment 29 (“Compassion Seattle“), which may be on the ballot later this year, attracts the usual complaints from those who insist on zero tolerance or zero coercion. Money for housing is good, though unfunded spending mandates aren’t so good.

But, like any worthwhile op-ed, this anti-amendment argument ($) by three former Councilmembers gives us enough information to learn there is at least one piece that I feel qualified to say is very good:

· CA 29 waives the land use code to site housing projects. Zoning, height limits, setbacks, greenbelt designations, notice and “due process” will not apply. This means new housing units or multifamily projects could be added in all zones, including single family.

and indeed, right there in the fifth bullet of Section 1:

Heidi Groover takes a break from the scary ” home” price beat to point out that it isn’t all that hard to buy a condo in Seattle ($).

There is a lot of media directed at people shopping for single family homes, but the number of possible houses within a certain distance of Seattle is finite. It’s natural for a growing metropolitan area to have a center city where single family homes become rarer, and the only way out is to allow denser forms of housing. Despite shortcomings,, Groover’s reporting suggests policy is basically working to provide ownership opportunities.

More reporting like this, please. Single-family homes will be a less important part of the market, and statistics that reflect that will be critical to understanding how our policy mix is working.

• New Link trains!
• NE 43rd Street looks amazing
• PSRC selecting comment on 7 transit projects
• SDOT’s got new mobility study results
• ST still arguing about realignment
• Trailhead Direct ($) resumes June 5th
• PSRC hosts a session on equity in planning
• ST survey on a TOD opportunity in Des Moines
• Minneapolis eliminates parking requirements — get on it, Seattle
• Commuter rail should do better
• Homelessness is about housing ($) — including “luxury” housing

This is an open thread.

With the Sound Transit 3 program realignment continuing to evolve and adjust to new revenue projections, Sound Transit is evolving its realignment scenarios. Now is the time to get serious about prioritizing projects. I believe that Sound Transit’s Stride BRT lines are strong candidates for prioritization, and should be completed as soon as possible.

• Metro rehiring 200 part-time operators
• Meet Kitsap’s newest oldest ferry
• Metro gearing up ($) for near normalcy
• Will U-Pass suspension continue through the summer?
• Northgate Link service change formally approved ($) by King County Council; only Dembowski against
• Ferry Wenatchee will be broken for months
• Jetty Island ferry ($) returning July 5th
• Seattle VLF will be mostly about bridge maintenance; many activists disappointed
• Take Metro’s benchmarking survey
• Route 44 design to 60%
• Downtown office space demand is back ($)
• Reps. Marilyn Strickland and Cathy McMorris Rodgers co-sponsoring a good TOD bill
• Sen. Cantwell wants to remove more train crossings ($)

This is an open thread.

• Move Seattle has a public dashboard
• TCC is hiring
• Also a quarterly report on Reconnect West Seattle
• Judkins Park gets Jimi Hendrix themed art
• Comment on the Federal Way station design
• There’s going to be a new bus layover facility on Eastlake Avenue
• Sen. Joe Nguyen (D-West Seattle) will challenge Dow Constantine for King County Executiye, the most single most important office for local transit
• Claudia Balducci is the new president of the PSRC
• It was a historic legislative session but not a big one for transportation, unless they later pass a package and thus the carbon legislation takes effect
• RapidRide I (Renton/Auburn) to have 3 tiers of station quality
• Nobody wants to be displaced for a Link maintenance facility, but a former Auburn Mayor is thinking clearly about the problem
• Here come the curbless streets
• Who gets what from the stimulus
• Provide feedback on parking and curb space near Roosevelt
• Americans should learn more about rail from other countries

This is an open thread.