All posts by Martin H. Duke

• We finally have a printed schedule for Link again.
• I-976 on its way to the Supreme Court.
• More CT drivers ($) have Covid-19. RIP Scott Ryan ($).
• Sound Transit suing longtime ally Microsoft ($) over land easements for Redmond Link.
• Metro adds back some trips it just cut, “to better promote social distancing”.
• It’ll become ever harder to forget to tap.
• Make a video to thank Metro staff, but do it today.
• Link construction still going on, but ST is still thinking about it.
• Update on RapidRide H final design.
• For the first time in a while, North Sounder canceled by mudslides.
• King County investigating complaints about inadequate bus cleaning.
• This year, Olympia’s climate agenda was a total failure.
• Some ideas on how to make Issaquah Link better.
• West Seattle Bridge transit lane enforcement not going well ($).
• Amtrak is scaling back. Kitsap Transit, too.
• Columbia County Transit now delivering groceries.
• More TriMet operators calling in sick.
• Federal stimulus includes $25 billion for transit ($).
• Jarrett Walker on transit after the pandemic. Katie Wilson looks ahead locally.

This is an open thread.

• Water Taxi delays its spring schedule.
• Victoria Clipper packing it in till May.
• Finally, some TOD near TIBS.
• Star Lake P&R is closed for construction.
• 2 ST employees test positive for Covid-19. 4 CT drivers, too.
• PSRC completes its environmental review for its “Vision 2050” process.
• APTA needs you to contact Congress to help transit right now.
• Here’s a tracker for global transit impacts.

This is an open thread.

In what would have counted as a transportation catastrophe were it not for the much bigger ongoing catastrophe, SDOT discovered “accelerated concrete cracking” in the West Seattle Bridge yesterday. They closed it indefinitely to all traffic 7pm Monday.

Mike Lindblom reports the repairs will take on the order of months ($). Metro posted a transit alert for affected routes (also Delridge routes), which basically amounts to staying on the low bridge and not missing any stops. The 21 Local does miss a stop in the area, as will the 37 when it returns from pandemic hiatus. Even the low bridge will be closed to all but transit, freight, and emergency vehicles.

The hits just keep coming for long-suffering West Seattle bus riders, but this one may struggle to be noticed. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that SDOT is avoiding the WSDOT mentality of removing transit priority when it’s most needed. Quick action while traffic volumes are low, and new transit priority, are about the best possible reaction from officials confronted with this problem.

The contractor has fixed last weekend’s failed electrical test. There will be an additional Link closure this weekend “for final testing and safety certification of the new trackwork and systems,” says ST’s David Jackson. Once again, shuttle buses will run between Sodo and Capitol Hill.

” Monday we should return to two-track service in the downtown Seattle tunnel with no transfer required,” he added, pending any more test failures. However, reduced pandemic volumes will leave Link at 14-minute headways indefinitely.

On a related note, Link construction has suffered no schedule slippage due to the pandemic, according to Jackson. “Sound Transit is actively working with the contractors and construction management teams on all our projects to assure that public health guidelines are being followed,” he said.

Sound Transit, yesterday:

Work to complete the construction joining new light rail to the Eastside into the existing system, known as Connect 2020, will require additional time to complete due to issues identified over the weekend. On Monday morning Link light rail will continue to operate every 15 minutes and on one track in the downtown tunnel stations.

While completing final systems testing for the project, insufficient electrical resistance readings were discovered over a segment of newly installed track. The site of the problem has now been identified, and Sound Transit is working with its contractor to solve it.

Once repairs are complete, there will be another yet-to-be-determined closure of downtown Seattle stations in order to re-test and certify the new tracks. 

• Paid parking in Everett ($)?
• Kent-Des Moines Station will have food trucks ($)!
• Metro suspends fare enforcement to increase social distance.
• Legislature gets rid of parking requirements for ADUs close to transit statewide — thanks to Sens. Liias and Das, and Reps. Fitzgibbon, Gregerson, and Barkis.
• Judge hints I-976 may mostly take effect as early as March 27.
• To prep for recession, make some projects shovel ready. But sidewalks require a lot more process then you’d think.
• With a more sweeping bill left for dead, a slight increase in electric car market share is headed to Gov. Inslee’s desk.
• State Transpo budget is done ($), little happens on the transit front.
• A Covid-19 victim used Access last month ($).
• The future of Spokane Transit.
• How to cut bus service if Covid-19 demands it. But should that happen in Seattle ($)?

This is an open thread.

It’s hard to believe that Route 40, now the most obvious way to move between Ballard, Fremont, and South Lake Union, didn’t exist only a few years ago. It’s younger than STB, and yet it’s hard to imagine transit travel in that corner of the city without it. It draws 13,000 riders a day while being late on 20% of trips across the entire day.

Well now, it’s the 40’s turn to get the Move Seattle treatment. The objective is to cut peak travel time by 5 to 10% with priority treatments, which would make the route take about the same amount of time all day. The project is supposed to complete in 2024.

There are no details on specific projects, except that they’re focusing on pretty obvious chokepoints: SLU, Fremont, Ballard, etc. (see below) For now, Metro is asking you to take the survey and/or drop in at one of their open houses:

• Free bus passes for the very low income formally passes the Council (for Metro).
• Student U-Pass to go up $2/quarter.
• Covid-19 tips for transit riders ($).
• Metro hiring a “Reduced Fare Programs Chief“
• The Union Street/Symphony name is now officially dead; we’re back to University Street pending further developments.
• 130th St Station now officially planned for 2025 ($). Congrats, everyone.
• Bus stop adjustments in West Seattle.
• RapidRide H (Delridge) moves to 100% design.
• HOV lane crackdown in Everett. Good for the WSP.
• Distracted driving fines ($) heading up.
• Provide feedback on Kent/Des Moines Station.
• Kent parking garage moving forward.
• Bill would forbid construction that does not provide ‘net ecological gain.’ I would like to understand how this affects projects in practice, as environmental considerations are often used to stifle things that would be good for the environment.
• SDOT is trying to meet new bike lane standards with business as usual.
• Study: Uber and Lyft are horrible for the climate. And increase traffic deaths.
• 2 MAX stations closing permanently.
• TriMet amends its stroller policy.

This is an open thread.

• As described above, IT ridership up 20% a month after abolishing fares.
• Transit commuting is often about making educated guesses about the best way to get there.
• Finding more space at an SLU bus stop.
• The principle of “why can’t we have that cool thing?”, in both parable and real-life example. Here in Seattle, discussion about who gets a tunnel often fall into this trap.
• ST discusses its fare enforcement survey. Most evasion doesn’t seem to be about ability to pay, but it also isn’t malicious.
• Why bus stops are usually after the intersection ($).
• Complaints about safety of the disabled on Metro.
• Chicago has a new way of enforcing bus lanes. This reminds us that when Seattle passes the buck to the legislature to enforce these, it’s a sign of lack of commitment to the goal.
• Yakama Nation mulls 150 miles of trails.

This is an open thread.

Last week, vandals dealt Link riders, already idling thanks to Connect2020 service reductions, a further blow by vandalizing the Beacon Hill tunnel. From Monday through Thursday Wednesday, trains had to single track between Mt. Baker and Sodo, where they could split into Northbound and Southbound platforms before going right back to single-tracking all the way to Pioneer Square. Needless to say, this piled on yet more delays.

On Monday morning, a person entered a tunnel cross-passage, opened a standpipe valve, flooded critical electrical components and disabled the emergency ventilation fan.

Sound Transit

Fire codes disallow use of the northbound tunnel under these conditions. We are fortunate that this part of the system has lots of crossover tracks to minimize the stretch where trains in both directions must share track.

The cross-passage has to remain unlocked in case of an emergency forcing evacuation of one of the tunnels. However, ST’s John Gallagher says ST is ” looking at ways to make sure that the risk of vandalism is minimized” in the future.

SPD is investigating the incident. I have an email out to them.

• TRU has a survey about transit benefits.
• Supremes uphold the valuation method that ST uses for MVET.
• Free passes for very low income people gets out of King County committee.
• Final plans for streets in “North Downtown.”
• The session is winding down, but MVET cuts and enforcement cameras ($) are still alive.
• Pierce Transit has a new long-range plan.
• Rob Johnson tries to make postgame Key Arena traffic not be a mess. More on this later.
• Tacoma Link food tour with chef Jan Parker on March 10.
• 12 new towers in the U District! But it’s probably not enough.
• Portland bike activists displeased with plan progress.
• Oregon bill may ban police from conducting fare enforcement, TriMet “very concerned.”
• CAHSR headlines still not all that good.

This is an open thread.

Back during my first round of gripes about rider-unfriendly choices for the Connect2020 construction delays, I suggested that Sound Transit might have run trains more frequently outside the downtown transit tunnel. At the time, ST said that this would likely result in significant train bunching. After further discussions, they appear to have backed off this objection in favor of other ones, which readers can judge for themselves.

But first, let’s show how the right plan would minimize train bunching. While there is (infamously) no fixed schedule, the current operational model for Central Link trains is something like this:

• A 2-hour lecture on how Link is crossing Lake Washington.
• More Kitsap fast ferry trips. ($)
• Sightline breaks down all the housing bills this session.
• Record water taxi ridership.
• Once again, PSRC handing out federal transportation dollars.
• Judge dismisses some legal arguments ($) against I-976; other arguments, appeals still pending.
• The latest carsharing entry is “Envoy” – but you have to live in the right building.
• Art headed to Redmond Station.
• Seattle’s underground tunnels.
• At the high end, condos without parking may not be popular ($).
• High-tech reconstruction of the Amtrak derailment.
• I’m always intrigued by rural transit adventures.
• Lynnwood Station construction is happening! ($) And Star Lake.
• Comparing the transportation plans of Gov. Inslee and Sen. Steve Hobbs.
• The XFL Seattle Dragons get special Sounder trains too. Blake Shelton, also.
• Grays Harbor Transit wants to extend service to Olympia; you can comment.
• Victoria Clipper may take over the Anacortes-Sidney route.
• A look at Southwest Corridor MAX.
• Argh… plazas ($).

This is an open thread.

• Alex Pedersen sits down with Seattle Bike Blog.
• Derailment Amtrak engineer now suing them ($).
• A report on RapidRide J (Eastlake) with bike lanes. Meetings underway!
• A new county mobility framework sounds like a snooze but could result in big changes down the road.
• The USS renaming kerfuffle is not very important, but also was not well run.
• TriMet breaks ground on a BRT line.
• Lots of nationwide transit openings in 2020.
• Virginia has big passenger rail plan ($).
• A CAHSR audit.

This is an open thread.

Katherine Khashimova Long reports that badly needed housing projects are taking an average of 60% longer to permit than in 2014 ($), adding as much as seven months of pure bureaucracy.

The word “emergency” is used a lot in public discourse. Different parts of the political spectrum say we have them for the global climate, the national border, and for local households trying to find a home. But if the problem doesn’t warrant any change in existing priorities and procedures, it isn’t an emergency at all. By allowing this problem to get worse, Seattle leaders have let us know what they really think of the urgency of adding housing supply.

The article blames a botched software rollout and understaffing for the problem. Certainly, an administration where housing production was the #1 priority would have reverted to the old system and done whatever necessary to staff the office up.

But more than problems in executing the process, the problem is the process itself. On average, design review adds 89 days to the permitting process. What value are we getting out of this process? Has it made our housing stock more architecturally distinguished? Or has it enforced a sameness (excuse me, “protected neighborhood character”) by incentivizing architects to stick with what’s made it through review before?

• 2019 Washington State Ferries ridership down 3%.
• SDOT claims federal investigation will have no impact on RapidRide G. But originally supposed to open last year, now it’s supposed to be 2023.
• Rep. Nicole Macri (D – Capitol Hill) files legislation that would positively transform the region.
• It’s official: Union Street Symphony Station.
• USDOT sends $790m to Federal Way Link.
• ST Board comfortable with more or less the status quo on fare enforcement.
• Metro would need 11% more service to meet “baseline service targets,” much more money to fulfill the long range plan.
• Regular transit booster Sen. Marko Liias drops a bill to reform car tab valuations, without replacing ST revenue loss.
• Three new members on the CT board.
• Republicans try to shore up I-976 with legislation.
• Ballard/Interbay transportation planning meeting on Jan. 28th.
• Northgate ped bridge construction beginning next week ($)?
• Tacoma Link construction update.
• USDOT sends $53m to Spokane for its BRT line.
• The Economist special report ($) on housing prices.
• Skytrain stations are getting package delivery boxes.
• A good philosophy for people who work in transportation.

This is an open thread.