Podcast #70: Horizontally Integrated

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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

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STBD Year 3: Continued Progress, Shifting Priorities

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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 […]

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What the Latest Passenger Rail News Could Mean for Cascadia

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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 […]

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Podcast #69: Missing a Few Steps

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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

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Uber and lyft data make the case for decongestion pricing

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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 […]

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News Roundup: All in on Density

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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 […]

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Seattle Needs to Think Differently about Transportation

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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 […]

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Routes 3 and 4 Will Stay on James Street

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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 […]

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14th Avenue is the Wrong Spot for a Ballard Station

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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 […]

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Seven Places to Add Bus Lanes Now

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It was disappointing to learn that 3 of the 7 RapidRide corridors planned for the Move Seattle levy have been postponed indefinitely.  Fortunately, the most effective way to improve transit is also the least expensive: red paint. The Mayor’s budget promised 100,000 new bus service hours.  It’ll be a shame if those hours are spent […]

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WSDOT Plans Transit Improvements on SR-520

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Two pieces of good news for bus commuters on SR-520: one next month and another in 2023. Next month, WSDOT will install a temporary bus-only queue jump in the Montlake off-ramp.  This comes a few months after several advocates met with the agency to discuss potential improvements.  The queue jump will take advantage of excess […]

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News Roundup: Ditch Your Car

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What YIMBYs should learn from New York’s ethnic neighborhoods Lyft, Metro, and Zipcar want you to ditch your car Lime scooters are up and running in Tacoma LOL: This Teacher Was Taking Three Buses To Work, So Her Students Surprised Her With Better Public Transit Infrastructure Denver launches its version of ORCA LIFT This Q&A […]

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RapidRide Update: Some Now, More Later

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Several of Metro’s busiest routes are scheduled to be upgraded to RapidRide before 2024, while several others will get speed and reliability improvements but without the RapidRide branding, according to the agency’s latest Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). While RapidRide is a program of King County Metro, Seattle’s 2015 Move Seattle Levy promised “seven new RapidRide+ […]

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Streetcar Survives in Mayor Durkan’s First Budget

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Yesterday Mayor Durkan announced her 2019-2020 budget proposal, to be presented to the City Council, which will have an opportunity to weigh in. In the context of an overall effort to control spending city-wide, the SDOT budget increases by $128m over 2018 levels. Here are some transit highlights: The Streetcar lives! The budget includes $9m […]

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News Roundup: Master Plans

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SeaTac international arrivals terminal soars to $1B City Council looking at using public land for affordable housing Downtown Seattle Association argues for the CCC Parking-light TOD going in near Tacoma’s Freighthouse Square Minneapolis’ ambitious housing plan is facing the inevitable headwinds A mediator will be brought in to try and appease opponents of bike safety […]

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Rainier Freeway Station Closure Begins Sept. 22

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Rainier Freeway Station, at I-90 and Rainier will close for 5 years beginning Monday, September 22, for East Link Construction. You can read Sound Transit’s explainer for more details. Most routes (111, 114, 212, 214, 216, 218, and 219) will bypass the station and head into downtown, while the 554, 217, and some 212 trips […]

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