News Roundup: De-wiring

at By

KIRO did an interesting investigation into why the new (post 2015) trolley buses keep dropping off the wires Update: this is apparently an old story Mayor Durkan announces a missing middle housing task force WSDOT spending $4.4M to market the new downtown tunnel On a totally unrelated note, here are all the new single-family homes […]

[Continue reading...]

Howell St. bus lane to be improved this spring

at By

SDOT’s Jonathan Dong wrote in to tell us that the agency is planning to upgrade the eastbound bus lane on Howell St this spring. Howell St. is a four-lane, one way street with lots of traffic competing with Snohomish County express buses to enter I-5 in the afternoon peak. Today’s right-hand (or center) bus lane […]

[Continue reading...]

Free Transit: What’s it Worth?

at By

Over the holidays, policy analyst David Gordon made an argument for assessing a county-wide payroll tax to make transit free.   I don’t know enough about tax revenue to critique Mr. Gordon’s math, but the idea of replacing the regressive transit sales tax with a progressive payroll tax is certainly appealing. Free transit proposals have been bubbling […]

[Continue reading...]

Costs and Controversies

at By

Jarrett Walker has a typically insightful post on New York’s plan to speed up its buses, bucketing the city’s proposed improvements into two categories: cost and controversy: The other big step involves controversy rather than money.  More bus lanes need to be created, and the space for them will come from some other street use, usually […]

[Continue reading...]

Our Most Popular Articles in 2018

at By

It’s time to look back at the top articles of the last year. The major themes should be no surprise: ST3 and high-speed rail dominated. But our series on East Link and how it’s shaping the Eastside was popular as well. Introducing Cascadia Rail by Cascadia Rail (Feb 12, 2018). The launch of a new […]

[Continue reading...]

Podcast #71: Not Broke

at By

New SDOT director. GGW’s take. (2:00) How would ending 405 tolls affect buses? (15:30) Minimum density (25:55) The boring company’s new tunnel (38:29) http://traffic.libsyn.com/seattletransitblog/STB_podcast_71.mp3

[Continue reading...]

Podcast #70: Horizontally Integrated

at By

Fare enforcement Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 (1:10) ST3 Level 3 (STB, Seattle Subway) (17:51) JUMP Bike review (26:02) From the archives: Is bike share good business? Prospects for climate change legislation (31:33) Seattle TBD in review (35:08) Passenger rail (48:05) http://traffic.libsyn.com/seattletransitblog/STB_podcast_70.mp3

[Continue reading...]

STBD Year 3: Continued Progress, Shifting Priorities

at By

The Seattle Transportation Benefit District, a 6-year levy to fund additional bus service in the city, is approaching middle age.  According to the city’s latest annual report, the district is coming to terms with its advancing years in the way most of us do: making incremental improvements, adapting to a changing economic realities, and trying […]

[Continue reading...]

What the Latest Passenger Rail News Could Mean for Cascadia

at By

Last week was surprisingly interesting for passenger rail news.  Alon Levy writes that the Federal Railroad Administration has finally published its new rules for train procurement, allowing US transit agencies to buy lighter, cheaper, European-style train sets for operation on American freight railways. Long-time readers will know we got excited when these rules were first […]

[Continue reading...]

Podcast #69: Missing a Few Steps

at By

Councilmember Rob Johnson retires IDS/Chinatown station (7:08) Why the rent is so high (22:33) Decongestion pricing (28:06) 1631/election fallout (38:57) Kirkland restructure (47:04) http://traffic.libsyn.com/seattletransitblog/STB_podcast_69.mp3

[Continue reading...]

Uber and lyft data make the case for decongestion pricing

at By

The Times‘ David Gutman got a rare glimpse at Uber and Lyft’s trip data for Seattle. The data show that ridesharing is most popular in the neighborhoods ringing Lake Union (Capitol Hill, Queen Anne, Ballard, Fremont, Wallingford), many of which also have higher rates of car ownership. Is it surprising that the inner-ring residential neighborhoods […]

[Continue reading...]

News Roundup: All in on Density

at By

TOD planned for Bellevue’s Red Lion hotel area (East Main Station) SDOT says federal funding is a risk for Madison BRT Councilmember (and ST Board Member) Rob Johnson won’t run for re-election next year SLU Streetcar getting some dedicated ROW on Terry Funding to study an I-5 lid coming from the convention center project It’s […]

[Continue reading...]

Seattle Needs to Think Differently about Transportation

at By

A coalition of transit advocates and organizations in the city is coming together around a combined set of priorities to make the most of the city’s limited right-of-way. STB is excited to join Move all Seattle Sustainably in advocating for safer, more multimodal streets.  This includes more dedicated transit lanes, better pedestrian experiences, and safer […]

[Continue reading...]

Routes 3 and 4 Will Stay on James Street

at By

After soliciting feedback last summer about a potential move to Yesler Way, Metro has decided to keep Routes 3 and 4 on James Street between 3rd and 9th Avenues: We considered this change as a way for the routes to avoid traffic congestion near the James Street I-5 ramps, improving their speed and reliability. About […]

[Continue reading...]

14th Avenue is the Wrong Spot for a Ballard Station

at By

Where shall we put Ballard’s lone light rail station? As Peter reported, Sound Transit is now in the process of reviewing the many potential alignments for Ballard/Interbay as we approach “Level 3” analysis. Last week’s Elected Leadership Group meeting (video link) was at times a reminder that needs of the riders who will eventually use […]

[Continue reading...]