Month: September 2022

This is an open thread.

• West Seattle Bridge is open. Interesting numbers for when it was closed. Ryan Packer write about the legacy of the closing.
• Greg Spotts, the incoming SDOT Director, gets around (rarely by car).
• This story about getting to school is late, but so was the first day.
• We are two days into the official “Week Without Driving“. For many — even in car loving dependent Seattle — this is the way they live all the time.
• Seattle City Council is looking at Third Avenue again. I like the couplet idea, but with contraflow on both streets.
• Agencies continue to struggle with staffing; Metro may study new RapidRide lines.
• SDOT is looking for feedback on Eastlake (still). Largely bike related, but buses are faster with some of the proposals as well.
• Lynnwood to allow for more apartments and office space.

This is an open thread.

Now that it’s much more certain that the entirety of the 2-Line will not open in 2023, Sound Transit has an excellent opportunity to consider still starting Eastside-only service on time: a proposal first publicly voiced by King County Council Chair Claudia Balducci and endorsed by transit geeks across the region.

It’s easy enough to demand that Sound Transit only run trains between Mercer Island and Redmond, but putting it into practice is another thing entirely. I don’t know if ST staff have backup maintenance and operating plans for this exact scenario, but there are very crucial operational considerations that need to be made, particularly for transfers.

Continue reading “To make Eastside-only East Link work, excellent transfers are needed”

This is an open thread.

This is an open thread.

Marketplace, an NPR program, ran an exposé on our local transit recovery, featuring yours truly. Although I wouldn’t necessarily dichotomize myself into the choice rider camp (per Jarrett Walker’s analysis on the subject), the segment does a reasonably balanced job highlighting different aspects of transit ridership. I especially appreciated the renewed focus on all-day travel, in particular Link’s recovery:

Local bus systems are adjusting to shifting commuter patterns. Express commuter routes from richer suburbs have been trimmed, and transit managers are trying not to touch routes in lower-income areas.
…
Ridership on Link is nearly back to pre-pandemic levels… That’s mostly thanks to riders like Cantero hitting up sporting events or restaurants or running errands throughout the day. There are fewer commuters, but more all-day travel.

It’s what gives local transit enthusiasts hope that the region can still be a model for transportation success. There are plans to triple the mileage Link covers in the coming years.