The Downtown Seattle Association is running a two-month “Waterfront Shuttle,” starting August 1st and running through October 1. It is free to ride and serves the stops shown on the map. It is clearly aimed at tourists, although this month is a little late to start serving that market. It runs from 10am to 8pm, […]

In any major city, a popular hobby is to bash the local transit agency. Think of a city you envy, and its residents despise a system that you can scarcely dream of. King County Metro is no exception. We all have our gripes. As a reality check, the American Public Transit Association named our very […]

Mayor Durkan’s grim record on transit. Electric buses also have public health benefits. Many bus riders apparently not reading STB. This Times article ($) on streetcar mishaps got a lot of attention, but it’s not clear what facts actually emerge in the article. You won’t believe what the WSDOT head said. I’m proud of him. […]

Last year Mercer Island settled its lawsuit with Sound Transit for some money to improve access issues for the future Mercer Island Station. I’m pleased to say that one of those programs will be easy to like: a 25-Ebike pilot program with Limebike, running from mid-July to mid-October. The Mercer Island Reporter says that Limebike […]

Metro permanently closing some 5 and 21 stops to speed things up. Route 120 (RapidRide H) can get more funding under new Transportation Benefit District rules Businesses may push Mayor Durkan to end foot-dragging on the streetcar ($). Link operator helps police subdue threatening passenger; policy immediately changes to prevent that in the future. E-Bikes […]

Transit and Urbanism advocates are used to a defensive crouch when hearing news from Olympia. But buried in a supplemental budget earlier this spring, the Departments of Ecology and Commerce created a great new program. The Governor’s Budget request included $7.4m for the Healthy Housing Remediation Program (HHRP) . Nonprofit organizations identify contaminated sites that […]

Underground cell service is going LIVE in Beacon Hill TODAY for uninterrupted connections from end to end on Link! pic.twitter.com/kAWmaV6YJw — Sound Transit – 🚆 🚈 🚍 (@SoundTransit) June 18, 2018 Fifteen months after the DSTT, ST announced T-Mobile had service in the Beacon Hill Tunnel, though as of Tuesday evening Bruce Englehardt was unable […]

Back in 2014, Seattle voters approved a $60 license fee and 0.1% sales tax for a Transportation Business District (TBD) that would fund bus service through 2021. Originally conceived as a way to avoid bus cuts after a countywide measure failed earlier that year, before the election this was re-framed as an opportunity to increase […]

It appears we’re not going to get a formal study of building the Midtown Station on 8th Avenue, much less further up First Hill. However, a little searching can give us an idea of costs and benefits. Call it the discount version of the study Sound Transit will refuse to give us. Costs Back in […]

I have long been skeptical that Sound Transit would build a First Hill light rail station. When the staff doesn’t want to do something, it takes a combination of grassroots pressure and an aggressive leader to make them do it. For over a year, there was no organized campaign and no elected champion for the neighborhood. […]