All posts by MartinP

While Mexico City’s population keeps growing (currently at 23 million), it has become the city with the worst traffic and one of the most polluted cities in the world. To address these challenges, the city has invested in a mostly carbon-free multi-modal transit system consisting of the Metro subway, MetroBus BRT, trolley and regular bus lines, regional rail and light rail, a bike share system, and one of the largest urban gondola systems (CableBus) on the world. Outside of the city boundaries it also connects to the state’s bus and gondola lines. To serve riders from all income levels, it is also very affordable (7 pesos, about 40 cents, less for students/seniors). A single payment system makes it easier to use any of the different modes. This article explains the changes during the last decade and potential learnings for Seattle.

Autonomous vehicle (AV) technology is maturing from what I reported two years ago. While Waymo, Zoox (Amazon), and Tesla compete to replace taxis in the U.S., China (Baidu, Pony.ai, WeRide) is already a bit further along. The rollout has shown that AV technology requires expensive sensors but proved itself unless there is a major disruption.

What about if you install such technology in a bus? Many transit providers in Germany and elsewhere in Europe have partnered with startups such as Holon or Navya or more traditional electric bus manufacturers such as Karsan to test on-demand and fixed-line autonomous bus services. This often happens in partnership with the AV software platform provided by Beep. WeRide is partnering with Yutong for global rollout. These vehicles are usually smaller than traditional buses to serve routes with less ridership. As the buses do not require a driver, they may allow Metro to provide fixed services in low ridership areas where King County currently operates their on-demand Flex service.

The Metro Flex service currently uses traditional minivans with drivers. They have partnered with Via to operate this service. Via already has partnerships with vendors such as Navya and May Mobility. At some point Metro may either offer fixed routes using AV buses in such areas and/or partner with one of these AV providers to operate a driverless on-demand service. Jacksonville Transportation Authority is already testing such AV based service. Holon is already building a factory in Florida to supply them to Jacksonville and the U.S. market in general.

As ST3 construction cost has skyrocketed, Sound Transit is considering truncating the Ballard line at Smith Cove for now. Ballard riders would need to continue on the bus as very few people live around that station.

When Paris faced similar topography challenges to serve the end of line 8 by bus, they built an aerial gondola line instead. Building such line is far cheaper than extending the subway underground a recent short video explains while still providing faster transit times than the bus lines. The gondola line just opened in December and was built by Doppelmayr who constructed and operates many cable-operated systems here in the U.S. as well as around the world.

When Toronto faced escalating cost on their relief line, instead of extending their existing subway network, they decided to build a separate Ontario line and use lighter and shorter automated trains rather than their prior subway trains. Lighter trains mean faster acceleration, allowing steeper climbs including from within a tunnel to shallow stations and even elevated portions and smaller tunnel diameters. Shorter trains mean smaller stations which can fit more easily into the existing urban landscape. A separate line minimized the impact on the rest of the transit system.

As Sound Transit ponders escalating construction cost, it may want to consider the same. It may not only save them money during construction and operation, it may also provide a better ridership experience.

While the rollout of battery-electric buses (BEBs) has been slowed by the cost of building the charging infrastructure and availability of capable BEBs, Metro is upgrading and expanding its trolley bus network.

The current trolleys have only a small battery. That allows them to run briefly off-wire but not on steep hills. This helps in case of obstructions due to construction, accidents or events. During the Third Ave construction some routes (1, 3, 4, 7, 14, 36) have operated off-wire. During the Montlake construction Route 43 has operated off-wire. Once the trolley wire has been reinstalled, the routes will return to on-wire trolley operations.

Recently Metro started to upgrade the buses with larger batteries which will allow longer off-wire operations. They expect to upgrade all 174 trolleys by 2027. Metro is evaluating whether the upgraded batteries would allow Route 12 to operate off-wire until the overhead wire is completed on Pine St, currently scheduled for 2029. Metro is also considering trolley buses to operate off-wire for Route 48 until the gaps on the overhead wire are closed on 23rd Ave, currently scheduled for 2032. First it would need to improve power infrastructure though to accommodate the additional buses.

With the upgraded batteries and power systems, Metro hopes to run trolley buses throughout the week rather than powering the wires down for construction on Sundays.

PS: I updated this post as Metro contacted me to explain that the streetcar avoids the trolley wires by using its battery, not the other way around. Also, the current trolley batteries work uphill, but performance is poor making it unsustainable on steep grades.

With Link running mostly north to south, what’s the best way to serve neighborhoods to the west and east of the line? The highways (I-5, SR-99…) run north/south, too, and Seattle’s hills get in the way. Gondola technology might be a good way to address this issue. Gondolas’ ultra-high frequency speeds up transfers, and grade separation provides reliability. East-west trips are usually short, so a gondola’s limited speed isn’t an issue. While South Lake Union (SLU) and Capitol Hill have been booming and growing significantly, bus route 8 has been struggling to make its way up the hill, and gets into severe traffic congestion along Denny Way causing long delays. A decade ago, Matt Gangemi and Matt Roewe, an engineer and architect respectively, proposed a gondola line connecting the Sculpture Park, Seattle Center, SLU, and Capitol Hill along John Street. Connecting the recently-renovated waterfront and Seattle Center’s cultural opportunities with the SLU tech centers and housing and Capitol Hill nightlife should be part of the mayor’s and Chamber’s plan to revitalize downtown Seattle and make it more attractive to tourism.

Recently Ross and I discussed various alignments. It would be nice to serve the center of Seattle Center directly akin it did during the Seattle World Fair in 1962. Running along Thomas or Harrison Street might be better than John Street. You could also extend the line beyond Broadway to serve Kaiser Permanente hospital and the business district at 15th Ave E.

At last week’s Sound Transit Board meeting, Sound Transit’s West Seattle project manager Brad Owen showed the extend of the guideway from the SODO station along the Spokane viaduct, across Highway 99 to the Duwamish bridge. He explained that rather than pouring its concrete deck in place, they plan to use precast segments. That will speed up the process and reduce cost.

The rendering shows the enormity of the guideway, adding a 4th level to the existing 3 levels (at grade, Spokane viaduct, Highway 99). At least the underside would be a bit nicer than the i-beam girders Sound Transit has been using lately along I-5.