About Link Cost Per Boarding

at By

Last month, alert readers noticed that ST’s quarterly ridership report showed a steep jump in cost per boarding. With boardings up a bit and the number of trips essentially flat, this implied an alarming increase in ST’s unit costs. The good news is that a big chunk of this is a mere accounting illusion. The […]

[Continue reading...]

Ballard is Big, but Link Might Miss it Entirely

at By

From Boston, STB’s frenemy emeritus, d.p., shares this twitter observation: @danjryan @kptrease @MikeLindblom @fchi Now that the midterms are over and it feels safe to focus on (still important) minutiae again, I wanted to send you all this astounding comparison I noticed. Both of these maps show 3400-foot walks. pic.twitter.com/FtS0oSpuBj — porcyk (@porcyk) November 19, […]

[Continue reading...]

News Roundup: Mostly cows

at By

Single-family zoning is indefensible. Massive city report ($) goes into extraordinary detail about why. Council Candidate Shaun Scott reacts properly. SDOT delivered 4% (!) of its 2018 bike lane plan. Taking LimePods on a test drive. Mayor thinks scooters are too dangerous, auto carnage is just dandy. Private transit center near Expedia. Driver Nathan Vass […]

[Continue reading...]

News Roundup: Sounds Promising

at By

Metro testing electric buses with 140-mile range. Between 80 and 91 low-cost housing units ($) coming to Lower Queen Anne. Seattle Transportation Budget: done. Rich Smith continues his quest for Light Rail signage that is comprehensible to humans. Apply for an opening on ST’s Citizen Oversight Panel. Trailhead Direct, now done for the year, served […]

[Continue reading...]

News Roundup: To Commemorate

at By

FTA awards $1.2 billion to Lynnwood Link. More on this next week. Metro operations will briefly pause Friday to commemorate the 1998 Aurora Bridge crash. Seattle tries grassroots pedestrian improvements where sidewalks will never come. Hilltop Tacoma Link extension breaks ground. Seattle budget maneuvers take some money from Safe Routes to School. Mudslide science ($). […]

[Continue reading...]

ST3 Level 3 Alternatives

at By

Sound Transit’s latest batch of options for Ballard and West Seattle kills off many variants, but controversies remain. The options are grouped into three concepts, although ST is free to choose bits from each alternative. All we have is maps, but that won’t stop us from having a detailed look. The “representative alignment,” which voters […]

[Continue reading...]

News Roundup: Fancy Apps

at By

1.5 mile I-5 shoulder lane ($) opened Monday between Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace. Bainbridge Island voters reject safer streets. Thurston County voters approve Proposition 1 for Intercity Transit. 23rd Avenue work moving along, though there’s no timeline for RapidRide. Kitsap Transit creates $4m rainy day fund, $5 day pass. Lime to enter the short-term car […]

[Continue reading...]

Chinatown Station Locations

at By

[UPDATE:  To be clear, ST is not dismissing Sounder ridership. The author is.] One unexpected contention point in the ST3 plan is the precise location of Chinatown Station. The reference alignment places the station under 5th Avenue, steps from the existing station. However, Chinatown business that have already suffered through streetcar construction have no interest in […]

[Continue reading...]

News Roundup: Trick or Treat

at By

TCC is hiring an outreach and engagement director. A sophisticated, even-keeled tweetstorm (!) about the politics of street space. Bike share expansion is stalled because of a complaint by Elizabeth Campbell. Meanwhile, Pierce County considers road improvements to enable more sprawl. Metro pedestrian fatality lawsuit ($) settled. Portland Chamber supports kicking cars out of the […]

[Continue reading...]

Metro Mulls a Kirkland Redo

at By

Metro and Sound Transit have a new proposal to restructure bus service on the “North Eastside” in order to take advantage of new opportunities arising from University Link and improvements in the SR 520 corridor. Metro abandoned a previous effort to make similar changes right after U-Link opened due to a perceived absence of public […]

[Continue reading...]

News Roundup: You Can Comment

at By

90s neighborhood plans are not sacred. The Senator from Maltby is showing the idle Seattle delegation how to build a city. As someone grappling with a parent’s retirement arrangements, I’m especially conscious of the human suffering that restrictions on ADUs cause. Blame the people filing nuisance lawsuits to prevent competition for their free parking on […]

[Continue reading...]

Seattle Times: Intellectually Dishonest Yet Again

at By

I can’t wait till @SeaTimesOpinion rejects the 2018 climate initiative for not being the 2016 climate initiative they opposed at the time. It will be the latest in a long line of bad-faith arguments from the most intellectually dishonest group in Seattle. — Martin Duke (@MartinDuke2) July 11, 2018 It was predictable that the Seattle […]

[Continue reading...]

News Roundup: Addicted to Transit

at By

U District activists trying to shape neighborhood ($), appear to be constructive. ST needs someone from South King or Pierce County for its Citizen Oversight Panel. Yet another Times reporter “addicted” to transit ($). Maybe they will someday bubble up to the ed board. Pierce Transit avoids disruption after natural gas supplies falter. A deep dive on […]

[Continue reading...]

Trailhead Direct Wrapping Up, Has Survey

at By

This season’s Trailhead Direct service is wrapping up on October 28th, as the weather worsens and parking demand at trailheads drops. This year’s innovation was to directly serve particularly carless neighborhoods like Capitol Hill, rather than forcing a transfer (or drive) to Issaquah. Feel free to comment on your experiences with Trailhead Direct below, but […]

[Continue reading...]

News Roundup: STAB

at By

The wonderfully named STAB (Seattle Transit Advisory Board) needs new members. More apartments = stabilized rents ($). People “rebutting” this by pointing out the lack of units at the low end of the market should ask themselves if stabilizing market-rate rents matters or not. Though market-rate construction doesn’t solve all problems, it is a necessary […]

[Continue reading...]

Register to Vote Today

at By

Today is the deadline to register online to vote in the November election. If you’ve moved here, changed address, or otherwise haven’t registered to vote, the time is now. Please go to MyVote.wa.gov, which is a portal for whatever registration transactions you need. Only Thurston County is offering a strictly transit-related measure on the ballot. […]

[Continue reading...]

Waterfront Shuttle Restructures, Grows, Lives On

at By

Two months ago I wrote about the Downtown Seattle Association’s experiment with a free waterfront shuttle. The pilot’s original term ended on October 1st, and the numbers are in. September 14th was the highest ridership day, at 1,674. The average weekday attracted 953 boardings, or 95 per hour. Weekends actually saw more usage, at 1,044 […]

[Continue reading...]

News Roundup: Rising Steeply

at By

Paine Field commercial flights begin next year ($). Seattle government ditching some cars. As we reported previously, CT fares went up a quarter this week. Link tracks cracked ($); maintenance work this weekend. Everett Transit fares rising steeply through 2020. Buses on I-5 shoulder coming soon. Once a bikeshare leader, SDOT now squashing scooters ($) […]

[Continue reading...]