The Affordable Housing Consortium (HDC), whose membership “encompasses all of the major nonprofit housing developers in King County, as well as local housing authorities, financial institutions, service providers, consultants, architects, building contractors, attorneys, accountants, and government agencies,” is celebrating the 9th Annual Affordable Housing Week, May 13-17.
Founded in 1988 as the Seattle Housing Development Consortium, the HDC serves as an advocate, broker, and convener for affordable housing in King County. Today, the HDC has over 200 member organizations.
The Seattle Times ($) and Capitol Hill Seattle (CHS) blog reported that a man was stabbed multiple times on the platform at the Capitol Hill Station Saturday afternoon, and died after being transported to Harborview Medical Center. Seattle Police closed the station to investigate the crime, forcing Sound Transit to implement a bus bridge between Westlake and University of Washington Stations.
Work continues on East Link. Photo by Martin Pagel, May 11.
On May 9, Sound Transit’s System Expansion Committee received a progress update (pdf) on the yet-to-be-opened portion of East Link, currently operating as the abbreviated 2 Line between South Bellevue and Redmond Technology Station. Although the opening of the connection between South Bellevue and Seattle is currently scheduled for late November 2025, Ryan Packer at The Urbanist quotes Ron Lewis, Sound Transit’s Executive Director of Design, Engineering and Construction Management, as saying “We don’t have a day to waste, and this summer is critical.”
“East Link Integrated Schedule – Critical Path” as presented to the System Expansion Committee
As the schedule notes, Systems Integration Testing could start sooner in the year if the systems installation contractor is able to complete their work ahead of schedule. With Lynnwood Link’s systems integration testing finishing this month (pdf), and systems integration testing underway early for the Downtown Redmond Link Extension, any early starts for these critical steps would be extremely welcome.
Dial-A-Ride Transit (Courtesy of King County Metro)
On May 13, King County Metro will restore 79 weekday trips to 6 Dial-A-Ride Transit (DART) service routes. DART routes provide a combination of a fixed scheduled and reservation-based on-demand service along an optional route. There are currently 14 DART routes, which are operated by Hopelink, a non-profit partner of Metro. Services were significantly cut in response to lost ridership and reduced funding during the pandemic, and have slowly been returning. Some services, like Route 630, have been funded by the local municipality to provide supplemental service. When asked, King County Public Relations indicated that increased DART service was made possible by increased availability of drivers.
Light Rail tracks meet shopping carts at a parking lot in Federal Way. Photo by author.
Having grown up in south King County car-free through college and beyond, the Federal Way Link Extension (also known as the South Link extension) will bring a level of mobility I wish I had at the time. But easy rail access to destinations isn’t the only thing lacking here. Frequent bus service isn’t unheard-of, but it is pretty uncommon. And that was before 2020, when much of the commuter service to downtown Seattle and the UW (which was, for many people, the only way they used transit) went away. However, with light rail to Federal Way anticipated to open in 2026, there is a big opportunity to really change the way people get around in South King County.
Over the course of about six weeks (May 7 to June 25), Sound Transit will complete five projects in preparation for service expansions and to maintain state-of-good-repair along the 1 Line. These projects will have various impacts on 1 Line service (Sound Transit) more impactful work scheduled for the weekends of June 1-2 and June 21-23. Summarized:
Rail Replacement (May 7 to to June 25): After 11 p.m. on Tuesdays between May 7 and June 25, trains will arrive every 20 minutes until end of service.
Federal Way Link Connection (May 12 to June 22): Multiple reductions of service between SeaTac/Airport Station (SAS) and Angle Lake Station (ALS). On May 12, Link will not operate between SAS and ALS until noon, after which it will run every 16-20 minutes (some trains terminating at SAS; others continuing through) through May 30. There will be no Link service between SAS and ALS on June 1 or before 10am on June 2. After 10am on June 2, trains will run every 16-20 minutes between SAS and ALS through June 21. Link will not operate between SAS and ALS on June 22, but service is expected to return to normal on June 23.
Columbia City Station Tile Repair (June 1-2): Trains will operate every 10 minutes between Northgate and Stadium, with half of the trains continuing through to SeaTac/Airport. The northbound platform of Columbia City will be closed on June 1, and the southbound platform will be closed on June 2.
East Link Tie-In (June 21 to June 23): Downtown Seattle stations will be closed from 10 p.m. on June 21 through the end of service on June 23. Link bus shuttles will run between Capitol Hill–SODO about every 10-15 minutes. On June 21 and 22, trains will run about every 15 minutes between Northgate-Capitol Hill and SODO-SeaTac/Airport stations. On June 23, trains will run between Northgate-Capitol Hill and SODO-Angle Lake stations about every 15 minutes.
For the past 18 years, the Seattle Department of Transportation has relied on a supplemental property tax levy to provide funding for improvements to Seattle’s transportation system, starting with the “Bridging The Gap” 9-year levy (2007-2015), followed by the 9-year “Levy to Move Seattle” (2016-2024). In April, Mayor Harrell released the draft “Transportation Levy” as an 8-year (2025-2032), $1.35 billion package with a big focus on street maintenance and bridge monitoring/repair.
On Friday (May 3), Mayor Harrell updated the proposed 2024 Transportation Levy to $1.45 billion (Office of the Mayor), adding $100 million to the original proposal spread across several categories, with most of the additional funding allocated to transit corridor construction, pedestrian/bicycle safety, neighborhood street improvements, and people streets.
Link’s 2 Line had a blockbuster opening last weekend, drawing huge crowds and crush-loads that may not be seen again for some time. On Monday morning, I went out to observe the first weekday of regular service after the opening hype had subsided. I started my journey around 9am at South Bellevue Station (SBS), headed north, got off at Spring District, and made a return trip with a stop at Bellevue Downtown Station (BDS).
King County was awarded $6 million to build over 400 electric-vehicle charging ports throughout the county (Cascade PBS [formerly Crosscut]). Approximately 10% of King County’s vehicle fleet is electric. The charging ports will be publicly available at 55 locations, including nine King County charging sites, 13 apartment buildings, and 16 other locations like Metro bus bases and retail centers.
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.”
After decades of ideation, deliberation, and planning, the Eastside finally gets modern rapid transit tomorrow, when the East Link “2 Line” opens for service. But tomorrow’s opening is really to whet riders’ appetites for the full connection to the Central Link “spine,” which is tentatively slated for late 2025, thanks to construction mishaps on the I-90 bridge.
We’ll be at the opening ceremony at Bellevue Downtown Station at 10 am. Wear a hat, and we can be the Hatted Transit Fans. People from The Urbanist and other groups will be there too. When train service starts at 11 am or soon after, we’ll take the 550 down to South Bellevue Station, and then ride Link end-to-end from South Bellevue to Redmond Tech.
The 241 and 249 also go from Bellevue TC to South Bellevue Station, if both Link and the 550 are too crowded.
If you’re coming from Seattle, the 550 leaves 5th & Union at 8:53am (arrive 9:24), 9:08am (arrive 9:49), and 9:23am (arrive 9:54). On top of regular 550 service, Sound Transit is also providing a shuttle from South Bellevue to Bellevue Transit Center between 8:30 and 11am.
On Sunday morning (the day after) routes 550, 240, and 249 will bypass stops between NE 2nd Street and SE 16th Street due to the “All in for Autism 5K Run/Walk” on Bellevue Way. Metro’s Service Advisories page has specific details on each route.
On Wednesday (April 24) I had a chance to talk to Claudia Balducci, King County Councilmember and Chair of the Sound Transit System Expansion Committee and former Bellevue Mayor, about the opening of the 2 Line on Saturday. As the Eastside representative on the Sound Transit Board, she spearheaded the opening of the Eastlink starter line. I thought it would be good to get her perspective on the line and share some of her thoughts (not verbatim).
On Tuesday, PubliCola and the Urbanist reported on how Seattle’s Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD) original draft of the One Seattle Plan was gutted by Mayor Harrell’s office.
The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) recently requested feedback on their plans for the future of Amtrak Cascades service. They call it the Preliminary Amtrak Cascades Service Development Plan (SDP). We (STB authors) responded:
We expect that the region will continue to grow and our airports and freeways won’t be able to handle the traffic increase. We should make sure that we don’t need flights within Cascadia. While UHSR [ultra-high speed rail] service may be nice, the California HSR made it clear what cost/effort/time it takes to do that along the West Coast. Our climate is changing and we don’t have such time and we entice travelers to switch from cars to rail asap! We propose to take a more incremental approach. Germany extended their rail network with specific upgrades and a few high-speed portions which straightened some hilly routes by using tunnels and viaducts. They did not build a whole separate infrastructure as France did. We already have a rail corridor on which we can build upon. We endorse hourly (clockface) service along the corridor as proposed in Alternative E and then make incremental improvements.
Here are some considerations for further studies:
Speed: Faster travel will increase the attractiveness of the service. 90-mph is nice, but we understand the original master agreement with BNSF called for 110-mph service. What would it take to get to 110-mph? That would make a huge difference! Can we rebuild portions where the current track has tight turns and trains need to slow down to 30-mph creating a bottleneck for both passenger and freight trains? Do we need to add tunnels in some places? (May be even reach 125-mph on new track/alignments)
Can we electrify the line to allow for better acceleration (besides reducing carbon output)? That may reduce the advantage of running express trains and avoid express service violating the clockface service.
Reliability: What efforts are necessary to maintain 95% ontime performance? Are there any portions where we need to address issues which cause delays? For example Sounder-North is often canceled, can we elevate the tracks so that runoffs don’t cause delays?
Connectivity: Can we add a Thruway service or even a gondola between Tukwila and Seatac airport to allow for quick transfer between international or long distance flights and Amtrak/Sounder?
A few weeks back, I decided to exercise my freedom in going into the office more than I needed to and commuted downtown on a Friday. The first thing I noticed was how much emptier my usual bus was. Of course, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Friday ridership is down relative to the other days of the week, although none of the local transit agencies publicly report this kind of breakdown.
Many employers now operate a hybrid working mode, with workers in-office some days of the week, and at home the others. The problem is that “hybrid” is a spectrum: some companies don’t require in-person work but provide an office for those who want it, some companies mandate a few days in-person, chosen at the discretion of employees, and some companies mandate specific days in-person. This lack of predictability makes it difficult to plan for the right amount of service across the week.
Transit agencies have already shown willingness to cut trips and even entire routes for being low-performing. But it raises the question: for commuter routes, especially, does an altogether different schedule for Fridays make sense? This would create potentially four schedule categories for routes that have weekend service: Monday-Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
There are some immediate downsides that come to mind:
Schedule complexity: riders might have increased difficulty sorting through the right schedule and not mistakenly consulting the wrong schedule.
Regularity for M-F riders: those who still need to take transit all five weekdays might be unduly burdened by a different Friday schedule. This is particularly true of those in the trades or other professions that do not accommodate remote work.
On the flip side, trimming extremely unproductive trips on Fridays might provide a useful source of hours that can be reinvested in other lines or bolstering all-day service elsewhere, particularly with an uncertain future financial outlook. That said, employment patterns continue to evolve post-COVID so looking at day-of-week ridership will be an increasingly useful tool for planners to consult in the coming years.
Seattle’s bus network used to be focused on bringing people to work downtown. As our city grew, it spread its wings across First Hill, Capitol Hill, Fremont, and the Eastside. Though Amazon was earlier in the middle of downtown, it now occupies South Lake Union (SLU) and Bellevue. While a one-seat bus ride to downtown used to be the norm, once you have more destinations to cover, it becomes more important to develop a network of interconnecting lines. Besides the frequency on the lines, the connecting points between the lines determine how easy or time-consuming the transfer is. We built transit centers to help connect lines. With light rail construction, most stations also became places where multiple bus lines would intersect. Mount Baker Station is a good example where transfers could be much better if the buses would serve the Link station more directly instead of having to walk and cross a busy road.
Tom Fuculoro (author/editor Seattle Bike Blog), parent of a former attendee of Pike Market Preschool, calls for a car-free Pike Place (Seattle Bike Blog). The piece has a neat history of the various changes to vehicle/pedestrian access to Pike Place Market over the decades.
The Seattle Times ($) reviews close.city, the website that lets you build your own walkability map for any city in the USA based on open data.
Yesterday, I had the chance to join members of the press in a media tour of South Bellevue Station, which will open for Link operations in just a matter of weeks when the East Link Starter Line begins service. As things currently stand, the ELSL will open to the public on April 27th, while the full extension across I-90 is still tentatively set for 2025.
At South Bellevue, the accompanying park-and-ride garage has been open for more than two years and the station itself has been finished for quite for time. However, only recently was tile replacement completed on the platform, which was necessary after quality issues surfaced during the initial installation. According to Jon Lebo, East Link Executive Director, Sound Transit placed full-time inspectors over the replacement work to avoid repeat mistakes.
Operationally, the ELSL has been undergoing pre-revenue testing at the scheduled headways of 10 minutes. Lebo indicated that operator staffing is already at desired levels, with well over 100 operators hired specifically to drive ELSL trains. When the line opens, two-car train service is expected to serve roughly 6,000 daily boardings.
Matt Sheldon, Deputy Executive Director of Planning & Integration, also gave some additional insight into the system-wide service impacts that are anticipated. No immediate service changes are planned for the ELSL opening but once the full cross-lake 2 Line opens, the 550 will be completely replaced, with its Bellevue Way market covered by the rerouted 554. Mike has previously written about the broader suite of changes.
According to Sheldon, Sound Transit is also continuing to look at paid parking options across the system, but the Board hasn’t given direction about specific locations to target. I asked if the agency had looked at updated park-and-ride utilization forecasts, given that many park-and-rides are much barer than they were pre-COVID. Sheldon indicated that no new forecasts have been done (Metro has not updated their publicly-available reports since 2017), but was optimistic that the ELSL will create new ridership markets and that South Bellevue Station parking will gradually fill in over time.
