The Link 2 Line opened yesterday with eight new stations on the Eastside from South Bellevue to Redmond Technology. Mike Lindblom and David Kroman in the Seattle Times have extensive coverage of the ceremony, ride experiences, and community reaction. Lindblom’s pre-launch list of the goods and bads of each station area is still useful as a guide.

Several STB staff attended the opening — or tried to attend but couldn’t get there on time. We found an ambiguity in the plan, as some thought it most important to be on the first train from South Bellevue, while I thought it was most important to see Bellevue Downtown open. (I was also hoping my friend in Lynnwood would make it on one of the hourly 535’s, but she couldn’t.)

Nathan Dickey rode the first departing train (car 215B!) from South Bellevue Station. “There was much cheering when the doors finally opened ~30 minutes later than scheduled (due to the ceremony speeches going long) and more cheering when the train reached Redmond after ~20mins.” Nathan continues, “There were excellent festivities at every station, including free tacos at Redmond Technology and free t-shirts from Overlake. ST was also giving out hats with the “2” for the 2 Line at Bellevue Downtown station but I didn’t find out about those until I was halfway to Seattle and saw a few riders with ‘2’ hats on the returning 550.”

Sherwin Lee saw Goran Sparrman, ST interim CEO, get on the train at Wilburton Station and managed to talk with him briefly. Martin Pagel also got a chance to talk with Sparrman briefly at an event, so maybe we’ll be able to interview him eventually.

I took the 9:08 am 550 from downtown Seattle. Normally on Saturday I see ten people on the eastbound bus, but this time there were ten people at the first stop alone. Then ten more at the second stop, then thirty at the third stop, thirty at the fourth, and more at the fifth — until we finally left downtown with the aisles packed like I haven’t seen since 2019 rush hour or a ballgame. So it was clear it would be a large crowd, and I gave up on finding any other STBers in it.

At the ceremony were around four hundred people, and the expected line at the station entrance when it opened. The 550 back to South Bellevue was also packed. So were several train runs back and forth, even though trains were running every 3-4 minutes for the first few hours.

I rode from South Bellevue to Redmond Tech. I turned around to Overlake Village and tried the 221 transfer to my usual destination at 164th & Main. Then we went back to Overlake Village for late lunch at a Thai restaurant, and got back to the station at 5pm. By the the booths were packing up, the crowds were gone, and service was back to its usual 10 minutes. I rode to Spring District, explored the station are, then rode to South Bellevue and transferred to the 550 back home.

The onboard route map has a new symbol: “(bus) <-> (1)”: ” Transfer to 1 Line by bus”. It doesn’t say which bus route, but it’s at South Bellevue (550), Bellevue Downtown (550), and Redmond Technology (542/545).

The next-arrival displays are the new 2-line compact units like at CID, but only some of the stations had next arrivals. The other stations just showed the station name and time. Hopefully they’ll all show arrivals soon. And Bellevue Downtown has a 4-line display of arrivals outside the entrance. Hopefully they’ll all have arrivals soon.

Transfer Walks

South Bellevue has the best transfer: 1 minute from the bottom of the elevators, or 3 minutes from the train door including an elevator wait. It’s probably even shorter from the two-way escalators, which I only saw after I got to the surface.

Bellevue Downtown is a 4:37 minute walk from the train door to the 550 bus stop. The entrance is not right across the street: that’s the bicycle locker. The entrance is a half-block further. There’s only up escalators, so you have to take the stairs or elevator down. Spring District has only up escalators too.

At Overlake Village the 221 stop is a block away and up a little hill, near the NE 31st Street roundabout, and then you’re standing with no bench or shelter listening to the 520 noise.

Still, the 221 transfer is better than a 21-minute walk to the 226, or spending 35 minutes slogging across all of Bellevue on the 226, and both of those having a longer walk at the end. If I have to wait for a transfer, the 152nd Avenue restaurants are right there (although none look suitable for a quick 10 minute pop in-and-out), and Goodwill. The 221 took 12 minutes from the station to my destination. It got caught in large traffic jams on NE 24th Street and 148th Ave NE near the 520 entrance both ways, so that’s apparently an all-day congestion bottleneck.

Spring District

Directly south of Spring District Station is a pedestrian-friendly street (121st Ave NE) going two blocks south, passing first an inviting open space with shrubs and benches, and then a park plaza. The park has a lawn, concrete amphitheater, and a small dog park. On the side of the park is the Bellevue Brewing Company pub. However, I didn’t see any other retail besides the brewery and a golf shop. I hope the Spring District can become a 24-hour neighborhood and not an office ghetto.

I’m working on two more 2 Line articles in the next several days. In the meantime, comment away!

81 Replies to “Thoughts on the Starter Line”

  1. Vistas:

    I enjoyed the new vistas now available at some places along the line. The Mercer Slough views south of SE 8th was the most magical for me! The aerial segment across 405 turning to Wilburton Station with a view of the Downtown Bellevue skyline was awesome!

    Other places. The big window above Downtown Bellevue Station was a great spot as well as weather protected. The view at South Bellevue was also nice (except that light gray low wall on the west edge with the art work on the other side) as was the garden-like view at East Main Station. I was however disappointed in the two stations next to 520 as they both felt rather “hard” and cavernous with solid gray walls to the north.

    1. The low gray wall at the South Bellevue west platform would be an easy fix. ST could simply paint it a darker brown or green so that it better blended with the trees in the distance. Right now, it looks like the back of a theater stage prop — especially with the conduit tubes next to the tracks.

    2. Why not simply choose to look at something that is more pleasant for you to look at? The surrounding nature. The artwork that is there. The walls and structures that are painted. Or, even your cell. Also, keep in mind, it is a train station and parking garage. There are going to be parts of it that are purely utilitarian.

    3. I think it’s been commented on a bunch but when that line is complete, it’s likely to be a bit of a tourist attraction given all of the views along the way.

    4. Recreational attractions on full 2 Line:

      * Redmond Downtown: Several trails. Historic rail line exhibit.Historic pocket parks.
      * Marymoor Village: Marymoor park concerts, sports tournaments, skateboarding, huge dog park, the farmhouse.
      * Spring District: the pedestrian-friendly street and park plaza,(vaguely like a Barcelona superblock).
      Wilburton: Eastrail trail.
      Bellevue Downtown: (indirect access to) downtown park.
      East Main: (indirect access to) Old Bellevue. Potential for Main Street shuttle to Bellevue Botanical Garden.
      South Bellevue: Mercer Slough wetland, blueberry farm, boardwalk to Bellefields park with a wooded creek and small waterfall (next to 116th).
      Mercer Island: Luther Burbank Park. A few sculptures along I-90.

  2. I did a combination of ferry, C line, and 550 to SB station. I was impressed that my three-seat ride went so smoothly and thinking better in general of bus transit. ELSL is so clean! Wish I could say the same about Capitol Hill or Roosevelt. After Spring District I was impressed by how slow the trains were. I don’t know if that is because of station spacing or if the trains were being slowed because of crush loading and higher frequency runs because it was opening day. I was also a bit disappointed by the street crossings and street-running by Bel Red and Overlake. The route seemed to get more MAX like the closer you got to RTS than what I’m used to on the 1 line north of downtown Seattle. Felt more like light rail than light metro. The MS bike/ped bridge kinda blew me away. On the 550 it was strange passing all that unused 2-Line track!

    1. At one point East Link and all of ST2 was fully grade-separated. But the City of Bellevue wanted a tunnel in front of City Hall, and asked ST to economize elsewhere in East King to pay for half of it, with Bellevue contributing the other half. That’s what cause the track in Bel-Red to be lowered to the surface.

      1. Mike, that explanation of the Bel-Red surface ROW does not match my memory. I think the surface ROW was already established to save on capital before the tunnel debate.

  3. Other than the speeches going overtime, I thought the whole celebration was very well done. Some folks would be happy to know that in addition to an abundance of ST customer service staff at each station, there was a highly visible police/security presence as well.

    One interesting decision on ST’s behalf was not making it free to ride for the first day. I was able to snag one of the pre-loaded commemorative ORCA cards Amazon was giving out, but I noticed many folks loading up ORCA cards at terminals at Bellevue Downtown and a few other stations. I later saw some chatter online about how fare ambassadors were not attempting to check fare yesterday due to the crowds, but otherwise every indication that was fares were required to ride, and so it seems to me that getting new riders familiar with the ORCA card system was pretty smart.

    1. There were five fare ambassadors on the 550 after the ceremony when I went to South Bellevue. They looked like they were starting their shift.

      I didn’t see any more during the day, but two customer service staff (not fare ambassadors) on the platform asked us if we had ORCA cards. I’m not sure if they were reminding us to pay or handing out cards, because Amazon had bought a bunch of cards and was giving them to lower-income people.

    2. Was kind of odd to be checking fares on opening day. I’ve been to a number of openings, this was the first I’d seen that but I guess a lot of the system is operating as normal on Saturday. I have an ORCA unlimited passport but didn’t tap in/out until about my 3rd ride because of the overwhelming crowds, I was on the 1st train south out of Downtown Bellevue Station so was crazy packed trying to get on, then rode it back north.

      1. My guess is the extra security and fare checking was in response to the big downturn in fare compliance during the pandemic. At one point they weren’t even checking. Then when they started checking again a lot of people were cheating. The press (as well as ST) exaggerated the numbers as well, lumping together people who don’t have to pay (because they are under 18) with those that cheat. This created a cycle where lots of people thought everyone was cheating, so they cheated too.

        Then there are people concerned about security. Again, this became a problem during the pandemic (as crime of all sorts went up across the country). But many had this silly notion that people who cheat on fares are the only ones who would cause trouble on the trains (as if fare gates would solve the problem). Adding security and fare ambassadors was intended to make it clear that you have to pay and things are safe. If folks feel the trains are safe and everyone is paying, they are more likely to ride (and pay).

      2. I’m sure they were just educating people the first day, probably on the platforms. When trains are crush-loaded they can’t even reach most people onboard, much less have discussion where they have to move aside every couple minutes to let others squeeze to the exits. A lot of people have never ridden Link before and may not understand the system, or may think the “Fare Paid Zone” signs are just a suggestion, if they even noticed they were there. Fare confusion has been an ongoing issue, so the more education, the better.

  4. Seeing that four of the eight stations had pedestrian at-grade crossings had me wondering about whether it was good or bad.

    Good: Fully level access between the platforms and nearby bus stops and streets did make the station feel more connected and easier to reach. Plus, the treatment meant that a rider doesn’t have to deal with escalators, elevators nor stairs. The station areas felt like destinations and connected to the station. It’s one of the big pluses about choosing light rail technology.

    Bad: I can see the safety concerns about track crossings. Plus, the big-scale crossing warnings did make me feel a little Lilliputian. I’m sure the neighbors hate the clanging when each train approaches. Finally, it would pose a challenge to automation.

    It’s a stark contrast to the many multi-level glass palaces now being proposed as stations for the new ST3 extensions.

    Is it a good thing or bad thing? Should some of the newer ST3 extension station concepts get scaled back to be cheaper, easier to use and more connected to the street?

    Specifically, I point to SODO Station. The Line 1/3 transfers could be enabled by simply allowing a track crossing since a rider would only need to cross two tracks between the landing points. The treatment could work in West Seattle, Ballard, Interbay, SLU, Tacoma and other places.

    1. The Overlake Village crossing works well. It was a short walk to the far platform or to exit from it. There’s a swinging gate you press open on both sides to cross the track, similar to an intersection near SODO but the gates are larger and black.

    2. At-grade light rail has its advantages! No need for escalators or elevators if you can just walk across the tracks safely. I have seen doors open and close like platform screen doors for these crossings. That seems to work equally well. We should retrofit Rainier Valley with similar safety technology, too.
      For a busy station like SODO I would not recommend that though due to the frequency of trains (if WSLE is built) and expected number of transfers. A center platform would be much safer and allow for faster transfers.
      PS: At least nobody can claim now that Sound Transit built cheaply at-grade in the black/brown South Seattle and nowhere else!

      1. Yes, it’s ironic that the highest-income area now has surface like the lowest-income area.

      2. Downtown Tacoma has long had a semi-exclusive, at-grade railway for Link trains that everyone forgets about. It is the prototype for the in-street sections built by Sound Transit several years (and now decades) later.

      3. Probably because the T-Link is considered to be a streetcar, whereas the 1 and 2 Lines are branded as light rail. Sure, the at-grade right-of-way is similarly built (except for the ~3/4 mile of single track between Tacoma Dome and Union Station), but the rolling stock and overall operations are pretty different.

      4. Tacoma Link’s evolution in branding from light rail to streetcar took place over time, particularly as the starter line was built to eventually become part of Central Link. The line now has its (slight ) differences, but it hosts similar vehicles on similar headways on similar guideways that travel through urban intersections at-grade.

      5. I will say that the conservative bloc on the 2009-2013 Bellevue city council fought hard to grade-separate East Link in segments B and C (between South Bellevue and Downtown). It isn’t a coincidence that the most vocal neighborhood opposing Link (Surrey Downs) also got an entire chunk of 112th rebuilt as an overpass for Link, and that the downtown segment is virtually all tunnel. Back then, BelRed was much more “expendable” – no one lived there (I mean, no one really lives there still) – with no political capital to sacrifice.

      6. There is a difference between being in the median of or crossing at a busy roadway versus being in the median or crossing at a more minor street.

        Busy roadways are quite wide. They are often scarier (with more pedestrian collisions) and take more time to cross. The higher traffic volumes and wider intersections combine to make a pedestrian less safe. Minor streets are a much easier to allow.

        Pedestrian crossings in stations are able to be safer because trains are either already coming to a stop or can wait until the crossing is clear at the stop. The safety risk seems minimal. The big hassle is that a train may let off a large number of riders that are all then walking to the crossing and may then keep the train from leaving on time.

        A long-range disadvantage of station pedestrian crossings is that platform screen doors are almost impossible to install in the future.

        I do find it surprising that I rarely see ST build a pedestrian under-crossing. It’s usually over 50 steps to get over light rail tracks, while going under tracks can be as little as 20 or 25. However, under-crossings are a place where I could see a greater risk for crime or loitering.

    3. I’m failing to remember exactly when, but at some point (2018? 2019?), ST seemed to decide that it would never plan/design another at-grade station. This, along with abandoning a preferred alignment including a bascule train bridge over the Ship Canal to Ballard, was hailed as a big win for better rail transit in the region. Unfortunately, now we’re wondering if the tradeoffs of assumed grade separation are worth it. For example, Ballard Link was originally proposed to run at-grade along Elliott Way, until the preference for grade separation put it on stilts alongside the roadway. Unless someone can convince the Board to direct ST to return to studying at-grade stations, East Link’s crossings are likely to be the last at-grade crossings to be built in this region.

      I think it’s far too late to get ST to consider at-grade stations in Ballard, and it’s definitely too late to consider at-grade stations for West Seattle. It may not be too late to advocate for at-grade stations for TDLE or Everett, but adding them to the current alternatives analysis would likely be cause for delay in planning, if not also delays in construction.

      1. This is an example of bad value-engineering. Surface transit and a bascule bridge are both good choices for the Ballard line. Elliot/15th doesn’t have many cross streets (unlike MLK). It is a fair distance and running on the surface could really keep the price down. It isn’t a great area for additional stops but you could probably squeeze a few in if the cost was low (and it would be if the train ran on the surface). Meanwhile, a bascule bridge is again a great choice for there. The bridges don’t open during rush hour. The bridge would be significantly higher than the other bridges, so that it would rarely open. Given the timing outside of rush-hour (10 minutes, presumably) it wouldn’t be that hard for the bridge operator to open the bridge without delaying the trains in almost all cases.

        In contrast, to save money they are moving and getting rid of stations. This will have a much bigger impact.

      2. Obviously, design considerations are multiple, but apparently one of the reasons they went with vertical lift in so many places in the Portland area is they are fairly quick to raise and lower. Swung are apparently the slowest,

      3. If only we knew how bad the cost estimates were back when the alternatives were being screened. We’re almost 8 years since ST3 was passed and we’re still dithering about station locations due to construction impacts.

        The fact it took nearly 16 years to open the Starter Line is simply shameful. We should be getting faster at this.

  5. Basically everything that was supposed to happen in 2020 or soon after is happening now or in the next two years. When U-Link opened in 2016 there was going to be a 4-year gap when people would have to use a bus in the gap between the station and the U-District and its transfers, but that stretched to 6 long years. And now we’re getting the Starter Line three years late, but there’s still the gap between it and Seattle for another year. And ST managed to throw away a promising Ballard Link concept. And in the meantime the frequent-bus network we achieved in the 2010s went to hell with funding and the driver shortage and unreliability, and we’re still recovering from that. So people are frustrated after their high hopes, but the openings this year and in the next couple years will help to turn that pessimistic mood around.

  6. Guess it’s my turn to add my experience of the Link 2 Line opening.

    My wife and I woke up super early. We usually sleep in on Saturdays. We took the C Line from West Seattle and walked to 5th and Union, the first stop on the 550. 8:53am departure. We both were wearing hats and hoping to see Mike Orr and pretty much follow what he and other STBers were doing. As we now know, Mike was on the bus right after us – the 9:08 so we didn’t connect with him.

    I am glad we got on at the first stop because the bus got crowded fast. Like Mike described, as we went through downtown it just kept getting fuller and fuller until it was absolutely packed, standing room only!

    Getting off the 550 at the Bellevue Transit Center, there was definitely an excited energy in the air. It felt like we were all heading to a concert. I overheard someone say they couldn’t believe how many people were there, that none of the other Link openings have been like this.

    At one of the booths Sound Transit was giving away a free map. There was a game where you get the map stamped at all 8 stations. You then bring it back to them and get entered to win a raffle. I declined to take the map because I didn’t think we would hit all 8 of the stations. In hindsight I wish I would have taken it, because that goal was super attainable.

    The opening ceremony didn’t start at 10am as scheduled. It was delayed. Our plan was to see at least some of the speeches and also be on the first train leaving South Bellevue at 11:02am. Eventually things got underway but we had to leave right when Balducci started speaking.

    We did a quick stroll over to the Bellevue Transit Center to catch the 10:35am 550 to South Bellevue. It was packed as many other folks had the same plan.
    At South Bellevue Station the platform was crowded. The train was there but doors were not opening at 11:02am. Nathan and Al S. were somewhere in that crowd as well. The Sound Transit staff were proactive keeping us informed what was going on, that things were delayed due to the ceremonies running long.

    At 11:32am the doors opened and everyone cheered. The train was so smooth. Because of the delay we both had to use the bathroom. So we only rode 2 stops and got off at Downtown Bellevue. We could barely exit the train it was so crowded! There were people packed like sardines on the platforms on both sides all the way up the stairs to the West entrance area where the ceremony took place. It was insane!

    After we used the bathrooms at Bellevue City Hall and got food at the Dick’s food truck, it was time to get back to business. It was noon and I had to get my wife to the Redmond Technology Center Station by 1pm to meet a friend, who she would hang out with and do non-transit stuff. That gracious friend would give her a ride back to West Seattle later.

    I had to come up with a plan. The crowd showed no signs of subsiding. Link wasn’t an option at this point. Hmm… I know, The good old B Line!! We walked over to the BTC (again) and caught the B. The old workhorse Rapid Ride was actually making good time so we got off near the Overlake Village Station and wandered around the booths. We got a free canvas bag from Move Redmond with a Link Train on it. Score!

    My friends, if you weren’t there it’s hard to understand how crowded it was, and what the energy was like, even at stations like Overlake Village. The Best Side Cycling YouTube video Sam posted on the other thread touches on that. Each of the stations had either entertainment, booths or food trucks. Some had all 3!

    It was time to catch the train one stop to Redmond Technology Center. I noticed trains were running much more often than every 10 minutes, it was almost Skytrain like frequency.

    We quickly arrived at Redmond Technology Station. This was a terminus with a multi-level parking garage so it was crazy busy! We watched the entertainment, some Indian girls dancing to Hindi music. My wife’s friend came to the passenger drop off area and picked her up. I was now free to do whatever I wanted.

    As you folks know RTC had free food at the taco truck but the line was super long. There was also free coffee at Dote Coffee bar. I chose the coffee over taco truck since I was getting tired and needed a second wind.

    After drinking the coffee, I took the elevator to the top floor of the parking garage to see the view. All the parking spots were full. Cars were circling like vultures waiting for someone to leave. It was crazy. I headed over to the Microsoft pedestrian bridge. It was amazing! It felt so cozy and welcoming. It’s hard to believe you’re over a freeway! I definitely want to explore the bridge more later.

    I went to the platform to catch the next train, I started running but just missed it as the doors were closing and it pulled away. It was okay though, since another train pulled up a minute later. The plan at this point was to finally ride the entire length.

    During this beautiful ride, the rain had stopped and the Northwest beauty was there to behold. Looking at the joy of my fellow passengers and hearing the excited sounds from children riding for their first time, I thought of that DT guy from Mercer Island who used to post here, how he said no one on the Eastside cared about East Link, that it wasn’t important to them. I also thought about the nasty comments on basically any recent news story about light rail, how people didn’t want it on the Eastside because it would bring crime, how it was a waste of money, etc, etc. I started to think that maybe was the prevailing mentality over here and that DT was right. But the merry crowds of people, and all the smiles told a very different story. It brought tears to my eyes.

    It should also be noted that the Eastside is very diverse. Anyone who was part of this special day heard many different languages and experienced several nationalities. This was apparent from the families riding the train, to the food vendors, to the entertainment at the stations. I think for folks from other countries there is simply not the stigma about riding public transportation. I applaud the Eastside for building such an inclusive multicultural community.

    I rode the entire length to South Bellevue. I left the train station to check out the entertainment. To my surprise Balducci was in the crowd enjoying the music. She had the biggest smile on her face. This was her day!

    One more ride! I took the train back to Bel Red Station briefly and then hopped back on to check out the Spring District. I had never been to the SD and didn’t know much about it. I had pretty much the same impression as Mike Orr. There is much potential there. It reminded me of South Lake Union. At this point it was 4pm and things were winding down, tents were closing up. It was time to head home.

    I hopped on East Link one last time to Downtown Bellevue to catch the 550 back to the city. Like Al S. said, the view of the Downtown Bellevue skyline from Wilburton Station is awesome!

    On the 550 it was once again super crowded, standing room only once it hit Bellevue Way. Young urbanists wearing “2” hats talking about TOD. Very encouraging! This was a very magical day I will remember for a long time. I’m so glad I got to be a part of it!

    2. I really appreciate your recollection of the disdain some vocal eastsiders have expressed for light rail and transit in general, in stark contrast to the tangible excitement on the opening day of the 2 Line. It was a truly beautiful day for transit in the region.

      And I agree with Sam; your writing is fun to read! If you enjoyed writing up your 2 Line experience and would be interested in writing about another transit-oriented topic or trip, don’t hesitate to reach out to the blog.

    3. I’d intended to take the 8:53 but wasn’t ready in time. You can reach me through the contact address if you want take a bus/train trip to a park or such; we sometimes have authors’ walks. When I got on the bus I asked the people sitting together if they were going to the 2 Line and they said yes. I thought I might talk with them, but when ninety other people got on I knew it would be impossible and I probably wouldn’t find anybody at the event, so I just talked with the person behind me. He was from east Kent and had taken the 150. He said he was a transit fan, so I asked what he thought about RapidRide I and other Kent-area transit developments.

      I think the initial segment got the largest crowd. I got on a train without that much wait and rode to TIB and back, but when I got back the mezzanine was packed around the stairs and it was a 45-minute wait, so I was glad I went early. Fares were free the first weekend.

      U-Link had a twenty-minute wait, with one set of people on the platform and the next set lined up out the entrance. They counted people at the escalator to ensure no more than a trainful were on the platform. The crowd was substantial, but not enough to make full use of the line-fences ST had set up.

      Northgate wasn’t as crowded. Maybe people weren’t as excited to see just another extension, or lingering reluctance of post-covid crowds, or they were dispersed along the ped bridge and listening to speeches at the college.

      The 2 Line got maybe the second-largest crowd, and there was more hype in the media and among politicians in the week before it. I think it’s because it’s a line instead of few more stations, and it’s important to several cities’ politicians, and it’s the first time Eastsiders had experienced anything like that in their own area.

      When DT said nobody on the Eastside cared about light rail, he didn’t mean literally zero, he meant only 1% or so — people like us — and that nobody who’s anybody would ride it regularly, meaning tech workers at the median income or executives. It remains to be seen how much of the crowd was Eastsiders and how many of them will ride it more than occasionally. The first-day ride was also an attraction for children. That brings up two anecdotes:

      1. As we rode north from South Bellevue and went down into the ditch, a boy shouted “Tunnel!” excitedly. I would have said it’s not a real tunnel. Then we went into the real tunnel north of East Main, and he said “Tunnel!” even more excitedly.

      2. In the 2010s I used to ride the 168 sometimes to monitor the ridership and housing/commercial destinations. I’d ride out to Maple Valley and back to Kent. On my way back westbound on a Saturday morning, a man and a boy got in in Timberlane. From what they were saying, it was clear the boy was getting to ride a bus and have a big day in the city, like his dad commuted every day.

      I’d never seen the Spring District before because it wasn’t there when I lived there, and there hasn’t been any transit directly into it until now.

      1. I think one reason that bigger crowds turned out for East Link was the timing. If I remember correctly, the first train at Northgate was early in the morning. The 11-ish opening time gave people plenty of time to get there — and bring children.

        Then the game to encourage each rider to get off at each of 8 stations (the most stations opening at once since the initial opening) resulted in people riding the line at least once and often twice for some segments.

        The South Bellevue garage was only half full at 11 am. It was about 80-90 percent full at 3 pm.

      3. Thanks everyone for the kind words. I’ll reach out in the near future to meet up, definitely before Lynnwood Link opening. It would be nice to recognize faces as I’m sure we’ve crossed paths many times out there in transit land!

      4. Northgate Link opened during the pandemic. It was a much smaller event as a result.

      5. > nobody who’s anybody would ride it regularly, meaning tech workers at the median income or executives

        This tech worker finds that idea really funny. When I left Microsoft, I was so thoroughly sick of the commute that I swore I would never cross the 520 bridge again. I have almost entirely kept that promise, making an exception only when my intransigence would inconvenience a good friend or family member – every single day of the two years I worked for a startup in downtown Bellevue, I got there the long way ’round, via I-90. Of course that grind was just as miserable as the 520 slog had been, so I swore another oath: I would never again consider any job on the Eastside, not until the light rail was done, because my labor is not worth what someone would have to pay me to put up with that hell of a commute again. The train is the only civilized way.

      6. Although I don’t read STB every day what I remember Daniel stating was:

        A. He felt the starter line without a bus restructure was a poor use of funds. Eastside buses will continue to parallel the starter line. At the time Lazarus and Ross agreed with him. According to Lindblom’s recent article in The Seattle Times eastsiders make over 2 million trips per day and 4000 are projected to be on the starter line. That is less than 1% of all Eastside trips. For whatever reason. Who cares why.

        2. The original estimates by ST that East and Redmond Link would have 50,000 boardings per day by 2026 were inflated to help sell the levies and cover estimated operations costs. Post pandemic he estimated ridership on the full East Link would be below 25,000 due to work from home and fewer Eastside residents traveling into Seattle by car or transit based on the 550, 554, and other cross lake routes that have been cancelled or have reduced ridership because Eastside residents are doing more shopping and dining on the Eastside. One Eastside transportation expert echoed Daniel’s predictions in Lindblom’s article and noted the 1500 stall park and ride at S. Bellevue has fewer than 50 cars/day. So it isn’t only Daniel on the Eastside who believes these things.

        3. Daniel did state safety would be an issue suppressing ridership on Link when it went to Seattle. Bellevue has decided to create a police Link patrol even before East Link crosses the lake which seems a bit premature unless eastsiders think transit is unsafe just on the Eastside.

        I know there were personality differences between Daniel and some on this blog which is very Seattle represented but I prefer to rely on data and facts. If the average ridership on the ELSL is around 4000/day out of 2+ million Eastside trips per day then I would agree with Daniel, and Lazarus and Ross initially, that the ELSL was a poor use of funds and mostly political.

        If the full 2 Line ends up carrying 20,000 — 25,000 riders/day as estimated in Lindblom’s article and by Daniel it doesn’t mean East Link shouldn’t have opened since the Eastside subarea paid around $5.5 billion for East and Redmond Link but that transit wise it is a disappointment and won’t be “transformational”.

        The actual ridership numbers will tell us who was correct.

        I plan to ride the ELSL in a week or so and will be interested to see the number of cars in the S. Bellevue P&R and riders on the train. I likely will ride from S. Bellevue to RTC and back without getting off since I don’t work or shop along the route and already know the station areas well.

      7. He felt the starter line without a bus restructure was a poor use of funds. Eastside buses will continue to parallel the starter line. At the time Lazarus and Ross agreed with him.

        That last sentence is not true. From the very beginning I felt like a starter line was worth exploring. I never felt like it warranted or needed a bus restructure. When we talked about restructures we really couldn’t come up with much that made sense (other than truncating the 566 which is really small potatoes and probably not even worth it). As for Lazarus he was skeptical, but initially felt like it was worth exploring. Then he was worried it would delay Lynnwood Link and was emphatic that we avoid doing that. He he was never actually against it — he just wanted to make sure we didn’t delay Lynnwood Link. (We didn’t.) [Note: I assume that Lazarus is a he, but if not, my apologies. Also you can look at the old comments and confirm what I wrote.]

        Neither one of us thought it would get a lot of riders. I don’t think anyone thinks it will. But that isn’t the point. It is simply a nice addition that doesn’t require much spending to justify its existence. We aren’t talking about building the line, we are talking about running it.

        There are a number of metrics you could use (although my guess is ST won’t calculate them). There is ridership per dollar (of service). It costs more to run a train than a bus, but not that much more. East Link is bound to be pretty cheap per hour of service, which means the ridership per service dollar should be good compared to a typical East Side bus. Another is time saved per dollar spend. Again, it should do fairly well as the alternative (for these trips) is more time consuming. If it only gets a couple hundred riders then it is a mistake; but a few thousand and it was worth it. Or at the very least in the ballpark of what could be considered a worthy project (with more data needed to make a conclusion).

        2. People have argued over the numbers for a while. The pandemic has definitely changed the estimates. But that doesn’t mean the project is not warranted. As for Daniel, he would make a good point then muddy it up with nonsense and a huge heaping of BS. I’m not sure why you want to discuss Daniel’s comment. The comment policy is pretty well stated. He wasn’t kicked off the blog because people disagreed with him; he was kicked off for repeatedly violating the comment policy.

      8. @Factcheck,

        DT was pushing an agenda, and he wasn’t letting facts or reality get in the way. Almost all of what he said was just plain wrong.

        The ELSL is predicted to get low ridership, but the Eastside politicians pushed for it anyhow. If it turns out to be a boondoggle, then Eastsiders should hold their politicians accountable and show them the door.

        But there are costs associated with leaving a system like this sit fallow, and there are costs associated with running the system. So the cost trade isn’t clear, and the main point is to not let this little experimental line delay the much more important Lynnwood Link Extension. And it appears that ST found a way to do that, at least without major delay, so that is a good thing. Score one for ST.

        But the system should be judged on the facts, not on an agenda detached from reality.

        As per your statement that:

        “ eastsiders make over 2 million trips per day and 4000 are projected to be on the starter line. That is less than 1% of all Eastside trips.”

        Who cares? 1). The system wasn’t designed to operate in this configuration and that isn’t why it was built. It was built to connect Bellevue to Lynnwood. That is how it should be judged. And 2), it is nonsensical math.

        I once saw the exact same math applied to the Evergreen Point floating bridge. The math clearly showed that the bridge was only handling about 1% of total regional trips. That is a pretty small percentage, so should we conclude that the bridge is a failure?

        No, we should conclude that our elementary school math is correct. If you can invent a big enough denominator, then any number can be made to look small. It’s just math!

    4. How much disdain has their been? I took the fears about “those people coming to the Eastside” as more of a myth than a widespread fear. Anybody who has taken even the most cursory look knows that the 550 has been traveling almost Link’s exact route for twenty-five years. Kemper Freeman surely knows; the bus stops are across the street from his property.

      1. There’s been enough disdain for it to be memorable to me – but as you point out, it’s not a logical fear.

      2. @Mike Orr,

        Kemper Freeman is not pro-bus. Don’t be fooled.

        What Kemper Freeman is is vehemently anti-rail. And if the 550, or any other bus, can be used as a foil against LR, well then it is a useful foil.

        What Kemper Freeman is for is for more cars. And not in an informed sort of way, but in a full-throated 1950’s sort of way. He has actually at various times been anti-HOV lane, anti-tolls (all tolls), anti-HOT lane, anti-direct access ramp, and anti-BRT. Basically more GP lanes and lots of them. For the benefit of America.

        Sometimes he gets a bit conspiratorial.

        But thank him for the location of the DT Bellevue LR Station. And with the delay in getting at least some LR open on the Eastside.

      3. Kemper Freeman is not pro-bus.

        Agreed. Freeman is anti-transit and has opposed transit in various forms for decades.

    5. I also noticed how smooth the ride was! The tracks seem to have been laid well. I hope it doesn’t get out of whack over time.

      1. I noticed the trains going super slow through the inner northbound curve into Bellevue Downtown. I won’t be surprised if they end up needing to replace those tracks in 10-15 years.

      2. Entering Redmond Technology Station is a bit choppy but that’s the only part I noticed.

      4. > What mall owner is pro transit?

        (American) Mall owners seem fine with transit, or at least I don’t know of a consistent pattern of them being against it.

        DC silver line had it extend to the tysons corner.

        For rapidride F “King County Executive Dow Constantine, County Councilmember Dave Upthegrove, Tukwila Mayor Jim Haggerton and representatives of Westfield Southcenter celebrated $7.5 million in transit improvements today at the Tukwila Urban Transit Center, home to RapidRide F Line and other routes serving Westfield Southcenter.”

        there’s also the northgate station and redmond town center one; but I guess one could argue those are/were declining malls.

      6. Don’t forget, the 2 Line Starter does go to a mall. It goes to the Bravern outdoor Mall. It just doesn’t go to a different mall in downtown Bellevue. Also, don’t forget the comment section has a long history of not wanting Link to go near malls. The comment section wanted Link to go to Microsoft instead of Crossroads Mall. They wanted Link to go to the SeaTac airport instead of Southcenter Mall. They wanted Link to go to South Bellevue P&R instead of Factoria Mall. And they also currently want Link to go to downtown Tacoma instead of Tacoma Mall.

        I know this is where someone will come in and pick apart my list, item by item, but I’m not allowing replies to this comment.

      7. “The comment section wanted Link to go to Microsoft instead of Crossroads Mall. They wanted Link to go to the SeaTac airport instead of Southcenter Mall. They wanted Link to go to South Bellevue P&R instead of Factoria Mall. And they also currently want Link to go to downtown Tacoma instead of Tacoma Mall.”

        False, false, false, and true. Many transit fans wanted Crossroads AND Microsoft, Southcenter AND Sea-Tac airport. It was politicians who wanted South Bellevue P&R. Nobody suggested routing Link to Factoria until after the fact, and it would have been backtracking anyway. Forward Thrust had an I-90 line east to Issaquah and that could have served Factoria on the way (although Factoria was much smaller then).

        Routing to downtown Tacoma is to serve a DOWNTOWN. In Tacoma’s case, downtown and the mall are several miles apart. In Bellevue’s case, they’re in the same place.

        Crossroads isn’t a mall like the others. Bellevue Square and Southcenter have large upscale department stores that are a regional draw. That’s what a mall usually means, and it’s the kind that more justifies a station because a lot of people go to it. Crossroads was a simple shopping center, a little more than a supermarket plaza, that tacked on the name “mall” and built a covered space to try to become stylish, but it never added mall-like stores. And in any case, transit fans’ reason for wanting to serve Crossroads wasn’t because of the small shopping center, it was because of the large concentration of apartments and lower-income people around it.

  7. Had a very fun time testing out the starter line.

    I was quite impressed at the amount of new apartments being built near spring district and the progress made near bel red as well as the existing ones near overlake village station.

    Also very enjoyed the moveredmond maps made.

    Eastside transit map https://moveredmond.org/transit-map/ (same changes on https://seattletransitmap.com/eastside/)

    The new map they passed out was the station access maps https://moveredmond.org/station-access-map/, also made by Oran, which outlined the bike paths as well as the 10 minute walk radius from the stations.

    The online version allows for 3 modes as well, overview, detailed, and transit.

    Honestly kind of wished this map was linked on the official sound transit / king county metro websites for the eastside. It’s much more useful.

  8. Fun people watching. Felt like 70% normie Eastsiders (mostly immigrant families with lots of kids), 10% transpo staff from around the region, 20% people from Capitol Hill with pink hair and nose rings.

    Cautiously optimistic for the land use around most of these stations. Only South Bellevue seems totally unfixable. The ped crossings of 520 seem like the best case for dealing with a preexisting freeway.

    1. The South Bellevue walkshed is very challenging, but the “bike-shed” is pretty good, with very good access to Factoria, and the “bus-shed” is important as S Bellevue station may be the primary bus transfer for all the housing south of Main street along Bellevue Way (550/554) and 108th (241). Rather than try to drive growth in the direction of Beaux Arts Village, probably better to encourage multi-family on the full length of Bellevue Way between Main street and the station.

    2. Bellevue would like to say some of those Capitol Hill luminaries with pink hair and nose rings are Bellevue residents.

  9. I did have another general observation. A lot of the metal awnings in the stations stopped a few inches before the train doors. Plus some of the water rolled off of them since they are angled downward for a few inches. It isn’t pleasant to walk through a waterfall in front of the train doors when it rains.

    I’m not sure if there were clearance restrictions or what. Still, the result is unpleasant —albeit for just a few seconds or inches.

  10. Unfortunately I missed the opening day because I had other things planned. I had to go to Downtown Bellevue today, so I took the opportunity to ride it for the first time. My first trip was from BelRed to Downtown Bellevue, and my second trip was from Downtown Bellevue to Redmond Tech.

    Spring Boulevard a couple blocks east of BelRed Station has a two-block stretch with no sidewalks. There is construction blocking access to two of the four corners on the east end of the station – which in the long run is a good thing, since we need more stuff near these stations. I think it is very funny that they call the area an “arts district”. How are artists supposed to afford to live there? I guess it’s just a marketing gimmick to attract tech workers who’d like to live near artists.

    The pedestrian bridge near the Redmond Tech Station is too far south. If you want to go from the station to the southeast section of the Microsoft campus, then it’s fine. But for any other direction, the walk is about twice as long as it should be. In particular, if you want to get a bus to Seattle from the station (a trip I have made many, many times), it looks to be much faster to just walk along 40th Street. But maybe this bridge was just not designed for people like me who don’t work at Microsoft.

    Another problem at Redmond Tech Station (which has been an issue since before train service started), is that the south end of the bus bays is missing a good way to get to the southbound B stop. There is a crosswalk and sidewalk to go the south side of the entrance, but none on the north side, where the stop is. So to get between the southbound B stop and the other bus bays, you have to go the long way around (including waiting for a light), or just jaywalk. While I was waiting for my bus home, I saw three people jaywalk it. I suppose this could be solved by just putting the B stop on the south side of the station entrance. The B will probably disappear before that happens, though.

    Link is a much, much faster way to get downtown than the B, so that’s good. It is a pity that the city of Bellevue doesn’t believe in bus prioritization, because the speed difference doesn’t have to be so large. But anyway, as designed, building the line is just the first step. The next step is to build more things near the stations. I hope the legislature is working on forcing some more upzoning…

    1. Agree about the RTS ped bridge. Not that it’s too far south, but that it will be most useful to MS workers. I don’t have a problem with where it is, or who it’s most useful for, since MS paid for it.

      1. Agree. I commented at an open house several years ago that it was too far south, and they said exactly this – Microsoft was paying for it, primarily as a means to get between Main Campus and West Campus.

        So yeah, no problem. Especially since there’s also a nice new staircase from the north end of the station to 40th St.

    2. An Arts District is where one buys art, not where art is made. It’s more like a farmers market, not a farm.

    3. An arts district, as used in Seattle and Tacoma and other cities, is a place where performing arts occur, and maybe movies and art galleries and music and museums. Only art galleries sell art products you would buy, but they’re only a small part of an arts district.

      A place where artists live or work is usually called something else. It would be an artists’ place, not an art place.

      Bellevue calling 130th an arts district seems arbitrary and aspirational, although I may have heard in the East Link open houses that there was a pre-existing group of artists there. It would have been a lower-cost place for them to live before the 2000s real-estate skyrocketing and the Spring District.

    4. Did you know Seattle has an arts district at 12th & Pike? It appeared a few years ago. Justifications include that ARTS buildings whatever it is, the Northwest Film Forum, the Broadway Performance Hall, Ericson Theater, the Egyptian, etc.

      1. I’ve referred to Capitol Hill as our “Theater District”. “Arts District” seems a bit better. Capitol Hill isn’t really downtown in the sense of having large office buildings. But it is right next to it, and has lots of arts and entertainment places. I’ve heard Sherman Alexie speak at the Hugo House for example (he was outstanding).

  11. With today being the first weekday that the East Link starter line is in service, curious if anybody rode it and what the experience was like (e.g. how full were the trains, where were people getting on and off). For people living in apartments along the line and working at either Microsoft or downtown Bellevue, I can definitely see this being an attractive alternative to sitting in traffic and driving up and down levels of a big parking garage, even if the parking in the garage is nominally free.

    1. I typically park at South Bellevue and take the 550 to Seattle. After work today, I decided to use the 2 line to run an errand in Bel-Red. Departing around 5P from the park and ride, there were 5 or 6 people in the car. I’d say that 1 or 2 people got on and off the car each stop, not counting transit security. The return trip was similar. Overall, I saw more customer service and transit security people than customers.

      There wasn’t any noticeable increase in cars in the South Bellevue P&R.

      1. That’s interesting. That means a little after 5 PM, the height of peak, just 1 or 2 people got on at Bellevue Downtown, the highest ridership 2 Line station. However, I’m sure ridership will increase with time. It’s just the first weekday.

      2. 1 or 2 people in my car. There may have been additional in the other car.

        Regardless, it was pretty light.

      3. A lot of people with office jobs work from home on Mondays and commute in Tuesday-Thursday. So, tomorrow might be busier.

      4. @AndyL,

        Well it sounds like ELSL was working just fine, and remember it was predicted to get low ridership. But it’s only the first day.

        But if ridership doesn’t develop, then this is a major black eye for Balducci. She pushed this concept relentlessly. If it turns out to be a boondoggle, then it is all on her.

        Do you think she should just resign? After one day? And a Monday at that?

        But hey, do the math. 2 people boarding per car, 2 cars per train, 6 trains per hour per station, 8 stations, and 16 hours of operation. That puts the numbers near the low end of ST’s estimates. After only one day! And a Monday at that! Success!

        But it would be wise to wait more than one day before drawing any conclusions.

      5. I was just stating facts on what I saw/experienced. I didn’t make any commentary beyond that. Of course it is much too early to offer any opinion on the success/failure of the starter line.

      6. I was just stating facts on what I saw/experienced. I didn’t make any commentary beyond that. Of course it is much too early to offer any opinion on the success/failure of the starter line.

        Well put. It usually takes a few months before we get a good idea of what the typical ridership is. You have a bit of bump from people “checking it out”. Then this wanes. At the same time you have people who essentially discover it. They realize (by word of mouth or some other means) that it works for them for some sort of trip. This might be something they do every day, or the sort of thing that Andy mentioned. Thus there are two different (contrarian) trends that take a while to settle. Eventually most people who ride are familiar with it. We are likely months away from that point.

      7. At 5 pm, there will be few boarding at South Bellevue. It’s the off-peak direction! It’s a time of day when people head to their cars and not away from them.

        I would be more curious what the boardings are at Downtown Bellevue ( heading north and south) at 5 pm, along with Redmond Technology (heading south). Those are the stations with lots of workers leaving around 5 pm. There are workers at some of the other stations too (of course) but these numbers are much smaller.

      8. At 5 pm, there will be few boarding at South Bellevue. It’s the off-peak direction! It’s a time of day when people head to their cars and not away from them.

        Sure, but South Bellevue is more than just a parking lot. It is the main transfer point between the 550 and East Link (for now). Thus riders who work downtown but live close to East Main, Wilburton, Spring District or BelRed are likely to take a two-seat ride involving a transfer there. Wilburton is pretty well served (with the B) but those other stops are not. East Link is thus a huge improvement for some riders who commute to Seattle (even though it doesn’t go there yet).

      9. I think was Al missed was that Andy said at 5 PM, from South Bellevue to BelRed, only around 1 to 2 people got on or off at each station. And he said it was similar numbers on the way back.

        Not much can be read into this observation, as it was just the first weekday of operation, but Andy wasn’t just talking about South Bellevue.

      10. True enough guys.

        It’s just two cars too. AndyL would have seen about half of the number boarding.

        I said several weeks ago that I thought that the ELSL ridership would not be near the 6K predicted by ST. The description suggests a lower ridership too.

        I also said that I thought it would vary widely based on parking costs in Downtown Bellevue. It will take several weeks or months to get people used to driving all the way to work to switch to Link, particularly if they pay for monthly parking spots (we are still in April).

        A final note is that the 1 Line is seeing average daily weekend demand about that of weekdays. With such low volumes at 5 pm, the 2 Line may have a similar pattern (less pronounced peaking). The beautiful thing about high day-long frequency is that transit can be more than a commuter bus.

  13. The fact that they delayed the first trains (by 30 minutes!!!) reflects *very* poorly on local transit leadership. I and thousands of others were depending on this new line to convey us to other stations to meet with friends, visit events, get food, etc. Delaying service for *speeches* communicates very clearly that they do not see this as serious transportation infrastructure, and that transit riders’ time does not matter to them.

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