May 2024 – Seattle Transit Blog

Better Transit in Pierce County: Pierce Transit

May 31, 2024June 3, 2024 by Troy Serad

This post is the fourth in a series, adapted from an article I wrote for my blog, Transportation Matters, a Pacific Northwest-flavored blog that discusses railway planning, urban planning, and related politics.

The previous post described three proposed improvements to bus transit in Tacoma. This article proposes four improvements for Pierce Transit:

Secure a Sales Tax Increase for Pierce Transit
Increase More Busline Frequencies to 15 minutes or Better
Invest in a Pierce County Bus Transit Grid
Expand the Pierce Transit Service Area into Greater Pierce County

Secure a Sales Tax Increase for Pierce Transit

For significantly improved local transit service, Pierce Transit should seek a modest sales tax increase. This would secure several million dollars of additional annual revenue for transit operations, facility improvements and maintenance. A plan for how the money would be collected and spent should be given to voters sooner rather than later. Those plans should prioritize better frequency of the most productive buslines, superior connections on the service grid, and incremental reliability improvements over so-called BRT upgrades and expansions of coverage.

Today, Pierce Transit is supported by a 0.6 percent sales tax. Its voter-approved limit is 0.9 percent, which allows the agency to seek a sales tax increase of 0.3 percent, or an additional $0.03 per $10 purchase. For a large urban area with a dominant city of metropolitan importance, the current rate of support is low compared to our peers. As subarea transit expert Chris Karnes notes, Pierce Transit “is funded at half the rate [of King County Metro] in a county with a smaller tax base, with no supplemental funding from the City of Tacoma”. Community Transit, an agency serving a distributed suburban population like that found in Pierce County, also benefits from a 1.2 percent sales tax rate. This discrepancy should be reduced or eliminated. Pierce Transit needs to grow and there is excess financial capacity to do so.

News Roundup – Open Thread 51

May 30, 2024June 3, 2024 by Mike Orr

Countdowns: Lynnwood Link (August 30).

Transit Updates:

This weekend (June 1-2) has several Link reductions. Columbia City station will be single-tracked. Every other train will terminate at Stadium and not go further south, giving 10-minute frequency north of Stadium and 20-minute frequency south. Link will be closed between SeaTac and Angle Lake stations; passengers can use RapidRide A as an alternative. Additional work at SeaTac is ongoing through June 25. This all is to connect the East Link and Federal Way Link segments to the mainline, and to repair tiles at Columbia City station. The James Street Pioneer Square station entrance is closed through June 7 to install a display sign, although the elevator is open.

Discovery Park bus shuttle. A free shuttle bus runs within the park on Saturdays through September 7th. It connects the North, East, and Beach parking lots. Buses run every 30 minutes between 11am and 5:30pm, with the last run from the beach at 5:15pm. Metro route 33 terminates near the east lot. Route 24 terminates at the south entrance, which is not on the shuttle.

Better Transit in Pierce County: Tacoma Buses

May 30, 2024June 3, 2024 by Troy Serad

This post is the third in a series, adapted from an article I wrote for my blog, Transportation Matters, a Pacific Northwest-flavored blog that discusses railway planning, urban planning, and related politics.

The previous post described five proposed improvements to the T line. This article proposes three improvements to the bus system in Tacoma:

Dramatically Improve the Transfer at Pacific/24th
Send Regional Buses to Pacific Avenue and/or Downtown Tacoma
Replace the MCI Vehicles of the ST Express

Dramatically Improve the Transfer at Pacific/24th

A major connection point of the Pierce County subarea transit network needs to be recognized, honored with improvements, and be served by all regional express bus lines: Pacific Avenue at 24th Street. Please note that 24th Street becomes Puyallup Avenue and that they are one-in-the-same.

As Pierce Transit’s Existing and Future Conditions Report for Pacific Avenue BRT showed, many local transit riders connect to regional services. However, what appears lost in the report and in current planning is that the main point-of-connection is not Tacoma Dome Station. In the real world, it is Pacific/24th. This is concerning as the claimed abundance of connections at Tacoma Dome is being used as rationale to divert and truncate buses there.

Better Transit in Pierce County: The T Line

May 28, 2024June 3, 2024 by Troy Serad

This post is the second in a series, adapted from an article I wrote for my blog, Transportation Matters, a Pacific Northwest-flavored blog that discusses railway planning, urban planning, and related politics.

Pierce County is a place of long-standing corridors and urban centers that need straightforward transit investments and services. Those investments and services should be rooted in the same best practices that help develop quality transit everywhere in the world. Following on the introduction, this article proposes five investments in Tacoma’s T Line:

Commit to Downtown Tacoma and Integrate the Light Railways
Upgrade the Track Capacity of the T Line
Use 6th Avenue for the T Line Extension to TCC
Cancel East Tacoma Station; Extend the T Line to Puyallup Tribe District
Plan for a T Line Extension to the Mall via Lincoln District

Commit to Downtown Tacoma and Integrate the Light Railways

The failure to integrate Tacoma Link and Central Link has become the Original Sin of modern Pierce County transit planning. It is in this vacuum of lost institutional knowledge, profound uncertainty, and administrative mismanagement that buslines are being deviated to Tacoma Dome, that Downtown Tacoma is being deprived of transit, that the peculiar Hilltop T Line extension was constructed, and why Pierce County’s transit system will actually worsen when regional light rail service starts in 2035 (or later). Tacoma’s city center is and shall remain the biggest and most important center of Pierce County. It is also one of the region’s largest transit oriented development opportunities. That light rail plans are jumbling the very structure of the subarea transit network is then a serious problem whether you reside in Tacoma or not.

Better Transit in Pierce County: Introduction

May 27, 2024June 3, 2024 by Troy Serad

This post is the first in a series, adapted from an article I wrote for my blog, Transportation Matters, a Pacific Northwest-flavored blog that discusses railway planning, urban planning, and related politics.

Introduction

In this environment of service cuts and stalled transportation projects, it can be difficult to envision a future when Pierce County has a comprehensive transit system that just works. Such feelings are coarsened when it is accepted that the future we work toward is incongruent with the needs of the area, as Transportation Matters has observed for nearly 10 years. However, citizens of the subarea—to use Sound Transit parlance describing the urbanized portions of our County—should take solace in the fact that Pierce County is not some vexing transportation problem. Rather, it is a place of long-standing corridors and urban centers that need straightforward transit investments and services. Those investments and services should be rooted in the same best practices that help develop quality transit everywhere in the world. There is no reason why Pierce County cannot have excellent mobility alternatives to the car.

*A map of Sound Transit’s five subareas, to include the Pierce County subarea. The term “subarea*” *will* *be used as shorthand to cover Tacoma and urbanized Pierce County.*

Sunday Movie: Jarrett Walker Q&A

May 26, 2024June 3, 2024 by Mike Orr

Jarrett Walker is a world-renowned transit-network consultant, and the author of the Human Transit book and Human Transit blog. At a UCLA forum he discusses his philosophy and answers extensive questions. Topics include transit as “freedom of opportunity”, good vs bad route and land use designs, why the locations of buildings is the make or break of transit, the dangers of elite projection (e.g., “the tech commuter”), and much more.

This is an open thread.

The False Promise of Microtransit

May 24, 2024May 24, 2024 by Nathan Dickey

Earlier this month, the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) has published a paper titled “The False Promise of Microtransit,” (pdf) a critique of flexible transit services like King County Metro’s “Via to Transit” and Pierce Transit’s “Runner“.

From the ATU’s press release:

“The reality of microtransit, like other technology fads, is that it’s less impressive and more expensive than proponents suggest,” said ATU International President John Costa. “It doesn’t reliably deliver cost savings, real environmental benefits, or equitable service. What microtransit does do is threaten good transit jobs – real, long-term careers – by shifting service to gig workers and setting off a race to the bottom. Nobody wants to talk about that.”

Midweek Roundup – Open Thread 50

May 23, 2024June 3, 2024 by Mike Orr

Countdowns: Lynnwood Link (August 30).

Transit Updates:

Sound Transit has posted ridership data for April, showing stable ridership from March to April. No, the 2 Line isn’t listed, yet.

The Urbanist writes on Metro’s continued labor capacity issues.

The Federal Way Link overhead power system is being connected to Angle Lake Station. This will give the ability to store more trains south of Angle Lake Station when Lynnwood Link opens. Various service reductions are in effect south of SeaTac Station through June 22nd.

ST is asking for input on TOD design at Federal Way Station through June 3.

ST has a survey on Stride station names through May 31. Nathan listed the alternatives in an earlier open thread. There’s also a survey on TOD design at Federal Way Station through June 3.

Seattle Subway has a petition asking the Sound Transit board not to pursue the new South Lake Union alternatives for Ballard Link. ST staff are against it too.

Local News & Miscellaneous

The Seattle Times ($) reviews the recently-released 2023 population estimates showing a slowdown in Seattle.

Berlin and Nuremberg in Germany are considering TSB maglev train lines. We wrote about TSB technology in December.

Ron Davis writes about how increasing density doesn’t lower the cost of housing per se, but increasing supply does.

In New York City, curbside parking might be an endangered species (NYT, free).

This is an open thread.

Exploring a Hydrogen-Fueled Future

May 22, 2024June 3, 2024 by Nathan Dickey

Community Transit’s hydrogen-powered bus, the first of its kind in the Puget Sound region. Photo from Community Transit.

Community Transit announced Monday afternoon that it has taken delivery of a “fuel cell electric bus” (FCEB), stating it’s the first of its kind in the Puget Sound region. The hydrogen-powered bus was made by New Flyer and is part of a pilot program to assess potential vehicles as Community Transit works towards replacing 30% of its 260-bus fleet (78 buses) to zero-emissions vehicles by 2030. Community Transit’s Zero Emission Bus Transition Plan (pdf) details how they aim to achieve a transition to 100% zero-emission vehicles by 2044.

In addition to the fuel cell bus, Community Transit also recently took delivery of its first Battery Electric Bus (BEB), which was built by Gillig. Everett Transit started testing battery buses in 2020, and as of 2023, 15 of its 45 buses are BEBs (pdf).

County Council Receives Update on Waterfront Shuttle

May 21, 2024June 3, 2024 by Nathan Dickey

In April, the King County Council committee on Transportation, Economy, and Environment received a report from Metro providing an update to its 2018 waterfront transit study (pdf). The study was requested by the Council to assess short- and long-term strategies for supporting public transportation on the waterfront as its major makeover nears completion. As the update notes, the COVID-19 pandemic and changing status of several projects in the area put the return of waterfront service on pause on recently.

Waterfront Streetcar at Washington St. Stop, Route 99, 2005 by King County, WA