All posts by Bruce Nourish

• Microtransit: What I think we know.
• How I came to Seattle, a trip I’ll never forget ($).
• Boomtown Seattle: Why we move here — and how we’re all in it together ($).  If only Times editorials reflected more of the spirit of their contemporary reporting.
• American cities and the creeping criminalization of walking.
• Pittsburgh vows to complete BRT with or without threatened federal funding program.
• Sound Transit light-rail riders increasing by the millions ($).
• City releases draft design guideline changes for South Lake Union.
• The American household is evolving — and our housing should too.
• Light-rail tunnel talk @ West Seattle Transportation Coalition.
• Reducing failed deliveries, truck parking time could improve downtown Seattle congestion, new report finds.
• BNSF sent crews ($) into a treacherous Stampede Pass blizzard, union tells WA lawmakers.
• Olympia poised to partially fund high-speed rail business case study.
• Plyscraper city: Tokyo to build 350 m tower made of wood.
• Montgomery wants to build a better bus system, but anti-BRT activists oppose plans.
• Light-rail impacts, the morphed Multi-Modal Corridor plan, and more @ Delridge Neighborhoods District Council.
• Rainier Valley residents meet to discuss impacts of future Graham St light rail station.
• When and where are traffic-control officers effective on busy Seattle streets?
• For CTA’s youngest riders, a course on the fourth R — riding the ‘L’ and bus.
• City Council bill: Speed bump for protected bike lanes in Philly?
• Fourth London bus route goes fully electric with zero-emission buses.
• Why Northeast Corridor privatization is doomed to failure.
• L.A. Metro expands all-door boarding for key Metro Rapid lines.
• Spokane: Cuts to federal grant funding could jeopardize future of Central City Line.
• A subway ride to New Jersey ($)? It could happen, officials say.
• DC considers plan to replace streetcar fleet after two (!!!) years of service. Anyone else remember the LaHood-era promises of an American streetcar renaissance? Harmful obsessions with technology over transit fundamentals aren’t limited to the rideshare or self-driving car industries.
• Metro bus reroutes starting soon for Lander Street Bridge project.
• Neighbors collide over Beacon Hill intersection.
• UW master’s student is surveying bike share users.
• A plan for Boston Regional Rail.
• Spokane Cohousing seeks to build a village in the Perry District.
• Report: Dallas public transit not great.
• Remembering Seattle’s anti-freeway crusaders.
• Meeting Demand for 66 Million Passengers: Sea-Tac airport plan Update.
• Studies are increasingly clear: Uber, Lyft congest cities.
• China’s subway boom slows down.
• Spokane’s Monroe road diet to start construction this spring.
• German court rules cities can ban vehicles to tackle air pollution ($).
• Automated vehicles can’t save cities ($).

This is an open thread.

• All of Seattle’s public high school students to get unlimited ORCA passes under new Durkan plan ($).
• Limebike’s electric scooters could eventually come to Seattle, too.
• Northeast Seattle street project stirs cars-vs.-bikes debate ($).
• Thinking of ditching your car? Just do it already.
• Right-sizing parking: City Council weighs reform.
• Reclaiming street space in Capitol Hill.
• America’s stunted national debate about infrastructure.
• New wind and wave criteria changes threshold for potential closures of the westbound I-90 floating bridge.
• Better Metro bus service for Admiral/Alki? To paraphrase a now-retired Metro planner, if everyone in West Seattle complaining about bus cuts actually rode the bus, their buses wouldn’t have been cut.
• “Overcrowding” is not at the root of delays, subway chief says ($).
• Two barriers that keep pop culture from embracing public transportation.
• Treat outreach on transit projects like dating a future spouse.
• Britain’s bus coverage hits 28-year low.
• What the Spinetta Axe reveals about cost control.
• It’s Microtransit Week over on Jarrett’s blog: Is Microtransit an actual idea?; Does it matter if Microtransit is a new idea?; Is Microtransit a Sensible Transit Investment?
• Roads to nowhere: how infrastructure built on American inequality.
• SDOT plans summer “Broadway Corridor Streetcar Improvement Project.” SDOT’s Spot Improvement program now has a page; we wrote up most of this stuff already.
• Junction Neighborhood Organization pitches a part-tunnel plan.
• New renderings revealed for Portland’s 970-foot twin towers.
• Tunnel aerodynamics: how pressure changes can cause significant damage.

This is an open thread. The bridge is this one.

• Sizeism: Why small homes belong in Fremont and Seattle-wide. Doug at the Urbanist pushes back on that awful Times op-ed ($). And here’s Heidi at the Stranger.
• A 14-story hotel at the entrance to Pike Place Market? Not so fast, say opponents ($). As an architecture critic remarks, “The zoning for it has been in place for decades. Sorry, just no substance.”
• Worthy causes pushing to get their solo drivers into carpool lanes.
• The most promising thing about the US 2 Trestle project is that it might be tolled ($).
• Four groups show interest in O’Hare express train project.
• For decades Alabama has not funded public transportation; bill aims to end that.
• A bid to solve California’s housing crisis could redraw how cities grow.
• The case against (actually, for) sidewalks, and how cities can create new avenues for pedestrians.
• Fight over household wells highlights rural growing pains.
• Northgate pedestrian bridge: City bureaucracy run amok ($). This take is a little hot for me, but between the ongoing #fix65th debacle, and this bridge, SDOT hasn’t exactly covered itself in glory of late.
• The case for a Ballard to UW waterfront rapid bus line. Not a bad idea, but Frelard and lower Wallingford would have to get a lot more dense, and the existing routes a lot more frequent, before this cracked my most-wanted list.
• SDOT unveils first five-year pedestrian implementation plan. Sweet, another plan.
• Metrorail is no longer the second-busiest rapid transit system in the country.
• Self-driving cars aren’t good at detecting cyclists. The latest proposed fix is a cop-out.
• The RPA Construction Cost Report: Alon Levy, Ben Kabak.
• With skyrocketing rents, Tacoma Housing Authority is forced to adjust.
• What would a truly disabled-accessible city look like?
• Downtown Seattle poised for even bigger residential and hotel boom.
• Snohomish County Council members air their Sound Transit grievances ($). Mostly they seem to be complaining about the consequences of subarea equity.
• Jarrett at Citylab: the Problem with (algorithmically determined) Transit Gaps.
• Amtrak will suspend some service ($) if safety system not ready this year, CEO says.
• Seattle makes little progress ($) on buildings that can kill in earthquakes.
• 11 ugly urban underpasses now functioning as public parks.
• Spokane hopes tiny homes and cottages will spur infill density.
• Transit ridership continues to grow in central Seattle, while solo car commutes decline ($).
• Kitsap’s fast ferry is headed for drydock. Will there be a replacement?
• To (partially) fix the New York City Subway, fix the schedule.
• Why transit nerds are so jealous of Seattle.
• The Uptown HALA rezone bears its first fruit.
• Empowering the vision impaired with indoor navigation tech.
• Free Atlanta Streetcar rides? MARTA considers changes.
• Biking in Magnolia and Interbay got a lot easier with recent SDOT project. This new bike path is great, but the intersection of Gilman & Emerson now needs a signal more than ever.
• Limebike’s electric-assist bikes are out and rideable right now.
• Trump is a grifter, his infrastructure plan sucks, and his budget threatens Sound Transit.
• Rail car swap eases overcrowding ($) on Sounder train.
• Ursula K. Le Guin: Urbanist.

This is an open thread.

• A walking cure for Sarcellitis: can trails unite Paris’s city and suburbs?
• Utah legislators propose radical changes for transportation, transit — including a tax hike.
• Instead of a wall, why not a binational border bikeshare?
• In Colorado, a glimpse of renewable energy’s insanely cheap future.
• After 5 years, walk-bike bridge design for Northgate light-rail station still unfinished ($).
• Seattle’s former head of transportation says Denver would be lucky to get Amazon.
• New study looks at what transit agencies can learn from TNCs’ late-night popularity.
• Readers tell the Times how they would fix Fauntleroy ferry crunch ($); What does state Ferries think about ideas?
• Downtown Seattle is full of private-public spaces.
• Sierra Club now opposes one of the most important climate bills in California.
• Open gangway cars heading to NYC as MTA approves R211 contract.
• Even the Chamber of Commerce is calling out Democrats for caving on Sound Transit funding cuts.
• Hearing examiner recommends UW Campus Master Plan amid community concerns.
• TriMet’s Division transit project likely delayed due to budget shortfall.
• Get a sneak peek at the Texas Central bullet train’s Dallas Station.
• In a show of support, streetcar advocates dine out on Toronto’s King St.

This is an open thread.

• The Automotive Liberation of Paris. TL;DR: even with the best urban fabric known to the developed world, car traffic will go up until you make a multi-generational effort to reverse it.
• Seoul’s answer to a pollution crisis: Free public transit. The kicker is that it may not be very effective at dissuading people from driving, as drivers tend to be less price-sensitive.
• Every month Portland fails to liberalize its infill rules, more bungalows get replaced by mansions. Meanwhile in Seattle, we have scarcely even attempted to reform this aspect of our zoning.
• Seattle’s largest batch of single-family homes in decades ($) is pitched for ‘oasis’ site. I’m sad this will be just big-lot single family, but it’s probably impossible to get anything else past a loaded and litigious neighborhood association.
• ART is a victim of the “new bus blues.” Lots of finger pointing here, but multiple agencies have now reported cold weather problems with battery buses.
• Half-empty ferries leave Fauntleroy as cars wait in line ($). It does sound like WSF could make some slight improvements, but fundamentally, cars will never be spatially-efficient way to move humans. That idea, of course, does not appear in the discussion.
• I could do an entire roundup just on NYC transpo this week:
  • Driving a car in Manhattan could cost $11.52 ($). Ben Kakak’s take.
  • MTA appears to have massaged reports to blame Con Ed for subway problems ($); Kabak again.
  • How cuts in basic subway upkeep can make your commute miserable ($).
  • In new proposed subway elevators, local NIMBY concern trolls ($) see a terrorism risk.
  • After cyclists died, safer crosstown bike lanes ($) are planned for Midtown Manhattan.
• High speed rail could link Spokane to Cascadia megaregion, but don’t get too excited yet.
• As anyone who’s been on the Metro or ST beat knows, transit authorities sometimes resist change. Try to be understanding when they do.
• Nashville plans for a big boost in local transit, and is hoping its voters will step on board.
• Should transit agencies panic? Jarrett fighting the good fight against deleterious tech hype.
• Base train service is cheap, peak train service is expensive.
• Perry District eyesore to become cafe as Spokane encourages neighborhood development. I wish Seattle had policies to encourage reactivation of old shopfronts in single family neighborhoods.
• The convention center is getting bigger. So is its carbon footprint. Featuring Doug MacDonald: “The whole connection between reducing carbon emissions and transportation has to do with making it easier for people to get places where they don’t have to use their cars.”
• Sea-Tac wants to curb carbon emissions without limiting air travel. That’s a steep climb.
• A Roosevelt junior redesigned the streets around his high school, and his plan is better than SDOT’s. I’m really perplexed by SDOT’s flailing on #fix65th.
• NTSB report: Amtrak engineer missed speed-limit signs before train crashed south of Tacoma ($).
• Young Republicans, reformed lobbyists, and green Tea Partiers: Meet America’s eco-right.
• What do you do when a major polluter is holding Seattle together?
• Sightline: Your car of the future is no car at all. Part 1, Part 2.
• Local architect renders highrise Seattle of the near future.
• Why we need to reduce noise levels in cities.
• At Microsoft, “city” is in — even in the suburbs.
• TTC unveils strategy to grow transit ridership.
• Manchester united by Ordsall Chord.
• Practically redesigned: the British train ticket.
• Block off a street for people — not cars — this summer.
• How to fight climate change (without being insufferable about it).

This is an open thread.

• In response to growth, Chinese cities choose metros.
• Highway 99 tunnel in Seattle will open to traffic this fall ($), the state and contractors say.
• Morning Crank: Resolutely Pro-Housing.
• Here’s a PDF of PSRC’s funded 2017 Transportation Alternatives funding.
• Podcast ($): As Seattle faces an even worse traffic nightmare, do officials have a plan or are they just managing through the mess?
• Amtrak gives Oregon, Washington timetable for activating safety enhancements.
• Seattle-area rents drop significantly ($) for first time this decade as new apartments sit empty. Watch for anti-housing “concerned neighbor” groups to pivot from saying “more housing won’t make rents cheaper” to “these falling rents prove we don’t need more housing.”
• Santa Monica looks to cap Interstate 10 in new downtown plan.
• A farming tale: In Whatcom County, farmers have much to say about the urban-rural divide.
• SEPTA’s billion-dollar plan for new trolleys takes a step forward.
• In Phoenix, a light rail station designed for, and by, people with disabilities.
• Downtown San Jose transit village near planned Google mega-campus steams ahead.
• In Missoula, houses are replacing farmland. Can lessons from Vermont keep local agriculture alive?
• Democrats worry planned cuts to car-tab fees could endanger Tacoma light rail.
• Don’t leave the rear end of your car blocking the sidewalk, people.
• Tampa Bay Transit: How rapid buses left light rail in the dust. A less hyperbolic headline would be “Regional leaders favor rapid buses over light rail for cost reasons.”
• The Urbanist’s 2018: Goals, Obstacles, and Resolutions. I’m a big fan of the first two.
• Drivers should pay more to drive more, report tells TransLink.
• Curbed thinks backyard cottages may be a big answer to the urban housing crisis. My advice is to curb your enthusiasm a bit.
• 80.7% of all humans live within an hour’s travel of a city.
• House bill would require PTC by end of the year, and give the railroad industry a cool $2.6B ($) to achieve that.
• New Adidas trainers double as Berlin transit passes ($).
• Subway problems get headlines, but who’s going to solve NYC’s other transit crisis?
• California bullet train cost surges by $2.8 billion: “Worst-case scenario has happened.”
• Elements of Access: A Friendly Guide to Transport Planning.
• A herculean effort is underway to reconnect wildlife habitat east of Snoqualmie Pass.

This is an open thread.

• 2008-2018: Seattle’s transformative decade ($).
• Radical subway extension and development idea quietly tucked into Cuomo’s State of the State. Of course, the subway system has to actually work before you can sanely consider extending it.
• A closer look at Seattle’s rising transit ridership. SDOT justifiably toots its own horn.
• West Seattle light rail: Why you need to heed 2018 “sense of urgency” for 2030 service.
• Opinion: Surrey’s obsession with light rail is a misguided pursuit of European ideals.
• The Transport Politic breaks down this year’s scheduled major project openings and ongoing work.
• All about bikeshare: Curbed summarized the state of the pilot and talks about Lime-E bikes; the Bike Blog talk about ofo’s plans and challenges. I can’t help feeling that a month of free rides risks a price war followed by a shakeout, but perhaps that will eventually happen no matter what.
• We’re not on track to meet any of the carbon emission promises several Seattle Mayors have made. The biggest culprit: vehicle emissions.
• Overpopulation: Sci-Fi Truths and Anti-Growth Fictions.
• Seattle’s Aurora stretch is frozen in time, but voters are turning up the heat ($) on change. It’s incredibly refreshing to see a Seattle neighborhood actually welcome new people.
• If you think Seattle traffic is bad now, just wait until these projects start ($).
• Suspected Broadway shoplifter chooses wrong getaway vehicle: the First Hill Streetcar. “Police located the tram about a half mile away about 12 minutes later.”
• Updated Madison RapidRide G plans call for 2021 start of service.
• Whiplashed Planners Fear GOP Swerve on Infrastructure.
• ART project “a bit of a lemon,” mayor says as problems mount. This is a real shame: the people building America’s first decent BRT service appear to have cut corners in several crucial respects.
• Americans are making intra-state moves at an all time low rate.
• SR 99 tunnel might open a little early (!), but beware the final ramp connection work.
• A year into the Trump Presidency, federal transit support limps along.

This is an open thread.

• The subway built New York; now it must be repaired at any price ($). Jonathan Mahler’s survey of the history and present of the New York subway is a tour de force. If you read only one thing this week, make it this.
• Transit riders in Wenatchee ($) can now use their smartphone to buy a bus pass.
• Tim Eyman initiative ($) to toss Sound Transit car-tab tax fails to collect enough signatures.
• Philly begins phasing out use of transit system token coins.
• Nearly one-third of Toronto’s older streetcars were unable to leave yard due to frigid weather.
• DC is mulling a Houston-style revamp ($) of their bus system. Having used it as a visitor, I support this idea.
• Did Trump kill the plan for a Hudson rail tunnel? ($) Its backers hope not.
• Stick a fork in it, it’s done: Tim Eyman’s latest initiative to gut Sound Transit fails to qualify. NW Progressive gets their dunk on.
• Straightening of curve at Amtrak derailment site in Dupont ($) had not been state priority.
• Spokane responds to hot real estate market with housing infill. More of this, please.
• Seattle’s Neighborhood Parking Reform — reduced requirements, unbundling of costs, shared parking. More of this, too.
• Another Danny Westneat column spent bellyaching about a transportation problem without offering a serious alternative ($).
• Seattle Bike Blog gives a departed SDOT Director Scott Kubly a glowing send-off.
• Colman Ferry Dock reconstruction underway, ferry schedule changes ahead.
• 28 story residential tower (eventually) coming to 8th & Cherry.
• At last, you can hail a rideshare from Pasco airport.
• Daily Hive Vancouver has a wide-ranging, meaty interview with Translink (and former Metro) CEO Kevin Desmond.

This is an open thread.

• Seattle test will lead to regulations for dockless bike-share.
• What the Washington train derailment means for Cascadia high-speed rail.
• Speed control faces challenges ($), slowly gets rolling on Sounder trains.
• What Vancouver, B.C., can teach us about housing.
• When historic preservation clashes with housing affordability. Sightline’s Dan Bertolet catalogs several recent insane decisions from Seattle’s various landmark and historic district boards. Having read that piece, I’m really to nuke the entire dysfunctional process.
• 120,000 square feet in the heart of Seattle is set to disappear; with the caveats that this square footage (a) is below grade and (b) will require about $100 million to bring up to code.
• Denver vs Seattle: How our Pacific Northwest peer adds people without adding traffic. Streetblog gives a preview of the Moving People Forward conference in February, which looks very interesting.
• Amtrak crews express concerns about training on new route where train derailed ($).
• I-405 express toll lanes between Renton and Bellevue are on their way ($).
• Driving from Everett to Seattle? Plan for a 94-minute commute, new report says ($). Hmmm… if only we had some technology that could provide an efficient alternative to driving for many thousands of people per day.
• Seattle extends its run as the nation’s hottest housing market — but we may be starting to cool ($).
• Margaret Hurley forced state to take alternate route for north Spokane freeway.
• Elon Musk’s ideas about transportation are boring.
• 150 studios with no parking going up in Ballard. Excellent!
• Switzerland’s border-busting streetcar rolls Into France and Germany.
• Boston tests faster bus service simply by laying out orange cones.
• Agency OKs $126M budget for Tacoma Dome Link design ($).

This is an open thread.