Frank Chiachiere came of age riding transit in New York City and Philadelphia, and has lived in Seattle for over 15 years. In 2007 he started the local transit blog Orphan Road, and began writing for STB in 2012, where he provides administrative and technical assistance along with the occasional blog post. By day, he works as a digital product designer and marketer.
Mayoral candidates Jenny Durkan and Cary Moon debate how Seattle’s next mayor would address our city’s most pressing issues: growth, affordable housing, and homelessness (via Seattle Channel). This is an open thread.
As Metro evaluates fare simplification, one thing is clear: getting more riders to use ORCA would be a win. ORCA speeds up boarding times and makes for more efficient bus service. Unlimited ORCA passes, such as PugetPass and the employer-provided Passport, make people more likely to use transit, by reducing the marginal cost of a […]
WSDOT has posted some new information about the high speed rail study funded by the legislature this session to the tune of $300,000. The final report is due on December 15, just three months from now. Five “conceptual corridors” will be studied between Vancouver and Portland. The team of consultants is led by CH2M and includes […]
Lynnwood link costs (1:43) Monorail and Orca (16:55) Simplified bus fares (21:59) Federal Way Link Extension (36:05) http://traffic.libsyn.com/seattletransitblog/STB_podcast_045.mp3
Just two months in, stationless bike share is clearly resonating with Seattle riders. Ridership is far higher than previous efforts, bikes are making their way to underserved communities, and more companies are jumping into the fray with brightly colored rides. The city is on the one hand promoting it as a key part of urban mobility […]
Amtrak Cascades, the Northwest’s intercity passenger rail service, will add two new trips between Seattle and Portland by year’s end, a spokesperson for WSDOT confirmed yesterday. WSDOT officials first unveiled the new timetable (PDF) at a rail advocacy picnic in Lacey on Saturday. The new trips are being added thanks to $800M in federal stimulus funds, […]
Buses to trailheads (1:40) More on I-947 (7:35) Bike share economic models (14:05) Election night early results (25:00) http://traffic.libsyn.com/seattletransitblog/STB_podcast_043.mp3
Eyman returns (00:35) Analyzing our endorsements (08:40) Bike share is back (40:35) Transit wins in Olympia (47:25) http://traffic.libsyn.com/seattletransitblog/STB_podcast_042.mp3
Martin and I sit down with Seattle DOT director Scott Kubly to discuss One Center City, the Move Seattle Levy, Gym Memberships, Right of Way, ST3 and more. http://traffic.libsyn.com/seattletransitblog/STB_podcast_041.mp3
Martin takes the TGV Fundraiser update (8:50) I-90 goes two-way (10:00) One Center City options (13:30) Access audit (27:40) MHA and displacement (41:10) http://traffic.libsyn.com/seattletransitblog/STB_podcast_040.mp3
Well folks, this is it: this is the last time I’ll ask you for money in 2017. I’ve already appealed to your nostalgia by reminding you of our ten years of writing and all the good times we’ve had together. I’ve attempted to stir your civic pride by making the case for independent local media. This […]
Bellevue has a new ally in the battle to reduce pedestrian fatalities to zero: big data. The city, along with Seattle and several others, are piloting new a program that uses machine learning to proactively improve bike and pedestrian safety. The hope is that the machines, trained by a crowdsourced group of humans to recognize […]
Mike Lindblom, The Seattle Times [$]: Sound Transit and its allies in Congress say they’ll fight a 2018 budget proposal by President Donald Trump that yanks $1.1 billion to build the Lynnwood-Northgate light-rail extension — half of that project’s entire funding. The White House policy change would also remove an anticipated $500 million grant for […]
Thoughts on Dan Savage’s transit post (also read this) (0:40) Light rail signage (turns out station icons are constellations) (25:15) Flights coming to Paine Field (39:15) Grouping buses (49:20) Car tabs and legislative reading comprehension (55:15) http://traffic.libsyn.com/seattletransitblog/STB_podcast_039.mp3
In the months since the November election, we’ve seen a huge nationwide uptick in digital newspaper subscriptions, with the NY Times and the Washington Post leading the way. But while national newspaper brands are thriving, local news is different. Consider the story of our own KOMO news, forced to create content to appease its new […]
In case you missed it, Mike Lindblom had a great piece in the Seattle times this past weekend about the final engineering plans for East link on I-90: Engineers have to ensure the bridge will remain buoyant when a pair of 300-ton trains pass each other, and that the high-voltage current that powers the trains won’t stray into […]
Ten Years of STB (0:30) More on the mayor’s race (9:00) Martin’s commute gets better (25:30) Improvements at the airport (30:40) Stationless bike share (33:10) http://traffic.libsyn.com/seattletransitblog/STB_podcast_038.mp3
