Category: Uncategorized

News and commentary from the past week.

Transit & streets:

• New Airo Trains Start Rolling on Amtrak Cascades September 30 (The Urbanist).
• Executive Zahilay joins South King County leaders to celebrate new Metro Flex service in Auburn and Federal Way (Metro Matters).
• Faulty Pantograph Blamed for Sound Transit’s Apple Cup Train Stall (The Urbanist).
• RapidRide J Line upgrades take shape in Eastlake, U District, South Lake Union (SDOT Blog).
• Vehicle resident legislation heads toward City Council vote (MyBallard).
• Bellevue Council Faces Decision Point on Parking Reform (The Urbanist).
• Person driving at freeway speeds on I-90 Trail raises serious trail security concerns (Seattle Bike Blog).

Housing:

• Environmental Complaints Against Seattle Growth Plan Thrown Out in State Ruling (The Urbanist).
• Seattle Creates ‘Do Not Solicit’ List to Curb Predatory Real Estate Outreach (South Seattle Emerald).
• Wilson slows homelessness plan including shelter goals in roll-out of 2027 budget proposal (Capitol Hill Seattle Blog).

Miscellaneous:

• In 2025, there were many fewer reported crimes in Seattle’s central business district, but increases in surrounding neighborhoods (The Seattle Times, $). Note: Seattle Times’ analysis does not consider per-capita rates.
• Seattle Youth Mentorship Program brings young people’s voices to the forefront on transportation equity issues (SDOT Blog).
• Op-Ed: Building Toward a Greener, Housing-Abundant Seattle (The Urbanist).
• Greater Seattle: Third Places (PubliCola)

This is an Open Thread.

The downtown tunnel will close early at 11 pm September 15-17 for planned maintenance. This is only in the evenings and won’t affect daytime service. The last Link trains through the tunnel each direction will be:

• 10:30 pm to Lynnwood: 2 Line westbound/northbound at Judkins Park.
• 10:38 pm to Federal Way: 1 Line southbound at Capitol Hill.
• 10:44 pm to Redmond: 2 Line westbound/northbound at Capitol Hill.

Or looking at the entire train runs:

• 2 Line westbound/northbound: Downtown Redmond at 9:04, Judkins Park at 9:40, Capitol Hill at 9:53, and on to Lynnwood.
• 1 Line northbound: Federal Way at 9:45, SODO at 10:30, Capitol Hill at 10:44, and on to Lynnwood.
• 1 Line southbound: Lynnwood at 10:10, Capitol Hill at 10:38, SODO at 10:51, and on to Federal Way.
• 2 Line southbound/eastbound: Lynnwood at 10:16, Capitol Hill at 10:44, Judkins Park at 10:57, and on to Redmond.

1 Line shuttle buses will run every 10-15 minutes between Capitol Hill and SODO stations. 2 Line shuttle buses will run every 10-15 minutes between Capitol Hill and Judkins Park stations. An earlier announcement said the shuttle buses would start earlier at 9pm, but Monday’s announcement doesn’t mention this,. so they may or may not start that early.

Check Sound Transit’s service alerts for the latest updates. A multilingual translation like is available at 800-823-9230 for passengers with limited English proficiency.

The reason for this is to extend Link’s after-hours maintenance period this month to make the system more resilient. I’m eager for Link to get more reliable someday so I’m glad for this maintenance.

J-Man Explores rides the Red and Green Vine BRT lines in Vancouver, Washington, after taking MAX and an interstate C-Tran route from Portland. He argues they aren’t BRT but they are frequent. He also takes a walking tour of the upcoming Purple line corridor, which is expected to open next year, in downtown Vancouver and new urban villages.

This is an open thread.

Yesterday, a coalition of transit advocates launched “Hop On Board!”, the official campaign urging Seattle voters to pass the renewal and expansion of the Seattle Transit Measure this November. Speakers at the event included Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck, ATU 587 President Greg Woodfill, Nondrivers Alliance founder Anna Zivarts, Transit Riders Union General Manager Lam Ho, and Transportation Choices Coalition‘s Executive Director Kirk Hovenkotter and Policy Director Katy Ricchiuto.

The Transportation Choices Coalition is leading local advocates pushing for expansion of the transit measure, which proposes to increase the current 0.15% sales tax for transit to 0.3%, the maximum allowed under recently adopted state law. If approved by voters, the measure would take effect in April 2027.

On Wednesday, SDOT announced four new speed cameras will be installed across Seattle in 2027. These four cameras are the first of 10 cameras that will be installed by March 2029, per Mayor Wilson’s Vision Zero executive order. The selected locations were chosen as they are some of the most dangerous sections of Seattle’s road network. Speed cameras cannot replace full road redesigns, but they are an effective temporary measure until a concrete redesign is implemented. The four cameras will be installed at:

• Rainier Ave S (northbound between S Holgate St and S Jackson St)
• E Marginal Way S (between S Fidalgo St and Diagonal Ave S)
• Rainier Ave S (between S Norfolk St and 51st Ave S)
• Sand Point Way NE (between NE 74th St and Matthews Ave NE)

These broad sections will be narrowed down to the exact camera locations over the next few months. Signs warning drivers of the cameras will be installed 30 days before the cameras are turned on. Once the cameras are enabled, they will only issue warnings for the first 30 days.

News and commentary from the past week or so.

• After Voters Pass Connect Tacoma Levy, Officials Eye Next Steps (The Urbanist).
• Greater Seattle: Late Press Conferences, On-Time Buses, Selfish Housing (PubliCola)
• Why an empty pit in downtown Seattle remains undeveloped after 21 years (KUOW)
• Kirkland Council Divides Over Affordable Housing Fees in Low-Density Zones (The Urbanist).
• Light rail train breaks down near Husky Stadium after Apple Cup, again (The Seattle Times, $)
• How neighbors created the Burke-Gilman, the nation’s first urban rail-to-trail (The Seattle Times, $). Also on Seattle Now & Then (no paywall).
• Metro Plans to Replace the 7 Bus Line in 2032. Riders Already Have Concerns. (South Seattle Emerald).
• Washington’s Complete Streets Mandate Stops Short in Mukilteo (The Urbanist).
• Everything You Need to Know About Pierce Transit Proposition 1 (Transportation Choices)
• Urbanism 101: What Is Transportation Resilience? (The Urbanist)

This is an Open Thread.

The transcontinental railroad, explained. (Daniel Steiner)

Why Amtrak’s long-distance trains exist. With a trip on the Empire Builder to Seattle. (The Flying Moose)

Where are American’s trains? A satirical look at the past and present of American passenger trains. (Climate Town)

Musical interlude: Trans Europa Express and Trans Europe Express, by Kraftwerk, 1977. The 1991 version for “The Mix” album has the best arrangement and sound quality. Live version with real trains and the two following instrumental parts.

This is an open thread.

The L8 is not so late anymore since an eastbound traffic lane was converted to a bus lane in August. On Tuesday, September 8th, Fix the L8 is organizing another race against Metro’s bus Route 8 along Denny Way. Unlike the previous event, the group is expecting to lose as the buses bypass traffic via newly-painted eastbound bus lanes.

“Across multiple decades and several mayors, it’s been obvious that a bus lane is needed on Denny Way, and it only took a few months of Mayor Wilson’s leadership to get one” said Fix The L8 co-leader Jason Li. “This will transform the lives of the thousands of daily Route 8 riders while attracting countless more as it goes from being slower than hopscotching to being irresistibly good.”