ORCAized RRFPs Now Free For the First One

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As part of the fare restructure that brought King County Metro’s $2.75 regular flat fare, effective this week, King County Metro has gotten all four counties in the ORCA pod to make the first Regional Reduced Fare Permit free for each recipient, also effective this week. Regional Reduced Fare Permits are for seniors 65 or […]

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Minimizing Downtown Transfer Pain in ST3

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SODO Station and the SODO busway: Future home of West Seattle – southside train transfers Photo by Joe Kunzler / flickr When ST3 is built out, it will have two major downtown transfer hubs, at already-very-busy Westlake Station and International District / Chinatown Station. In all likelihood, transfers at these stations will not be fast, […]

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Pollution Fee and $30 Car Tabs Using Same Signature Gatherers

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Correction: The original post referred to a “carbon tax” in I-1631. The initiative actually refers to a “pollution fee”, a methodology different from the carbon tax in Initiative 732. I recently ran into a couple stack petitioners seeking signatures for four initiative petitions, starting with Tim Eyman’s latest $30 car tab effort, and ending with […]

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Balducci Delays Elimination of Zone Resets

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The Sound Transit Board of Directors took action last Thursday on the staff proposals for fare changes on ST Express, but the outcome wasn’t as planned. Last spring, a Regional Fare Forum called for the end of zone resets, a feature on ORCA readers that allows riders to request a one-zone fare on a route […]

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ST Exploring New Escalator Strategies

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Sound Transit Operations & Administrative Committee meeting April 5, 2018 The escalator presentation runs from 8 minutes into the video until 1:08. Last Thursday, Sound Transit staff gave a presentation to the Board’s Operations & Administration Committee in response to the March 16 breakdown of two down escalators on the same level at UW Station, […]

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Audit Tells Metro Give Homeless a Break

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Ongoing updates: More US transit agencies that offer free monthly-or-longer passes for riders experiencing homelessness have been added to the post since publication. More will be added as they are found. On Wednesday, King County Metro General Manager Rob Gannon announced some changes to its fare enforcement practices, as a result of an audit. The […]

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Tapping ORCA Will Soon Get Less Confusing

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Video by Welwyn22 For those of you who, like me, have been caught miscounting taps before boarding Link Light Rail or Sounder, Sound Transit is going to make the system more user-friendly. Per ST spokesperson Kimberly Reason, a change to the “tap off” tone, to make it unique from the “tap on” tone, is in […]

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Intercity Transit Sales Tax Bill Gets Second Hearing Today

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This post was updated at 6:20 2.20.18 to include testimony and information from comments. In a disappointing legislative session marked by mostly defensive effort to protect the Sound Transit 3 project list from cuts, there has been one bright light: Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5288, allowing Thurston County Intercity Transit to add an additional 0.3% […]

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Action Alert: Transit-Lane Cam Bill Stuck in Rules Committee

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While the state legislature has shifted from prioritizing wealthy new car owners over carbon-footprint reducing electric mass transit to prioritizing both over education, the bill to allow automatic camera enforcement on transit-only lanes is still getting a chilly reception. Substitute House Bill 2403 got out of the House Transportation Committee back on January 17, and […]

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Senate Car Tab Bill in Committee this Afternoon

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Senate Bill 5955, Sen. Patty Kuderer’s (D – Bellevue) car tab relief bill, has been added to the list of bills scheduled for action in the Senate Transportation Committee today. Today is also the last day for bills to get out of committee, unless they are necessary to the budgets. The committee meets this afternoon […]

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Des Moines Community Shuttle (Route 635) Starts Today

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If you have been down to Angle Lake Station lately, you may have noticed signs attached to the ORCA readers announcing a new bus route: King County Metro Route 635, the Des Moines Community Shuttle. Starting today, the new route runs between Angle Lake Station and the Des Moines Marina District, picking up westbound at […]

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Escalator Direction Matters:
Capitol Hill Edition

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Back in 2016, I wrote a couple petulant whines about the failure to make optimal use of escalators at Capitol Hill Station and UW Station. My screeds have so far gone unheeded. Last Saturday morning, as thousands of march attendees took the train to Capitol Hill Station, the up escalators leading out of the station […]

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Critiquing the ST Express Fare Restructure Proposals

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Sound Transit has rolled out a survey offering 2 options for restructuring ST Express bus fares. Both options would institute flat reduced fares ($1.50 for low-income and youth riders and $1 for Regional Reduced Fare Permit holders), getting rid of the de facto county line surcharge for each of these payer categories. This is the […]

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