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“So northeastern transit authorities continued building rail the way they always had in the pre-car era: just the station, ma’am.” Even in the Northeast, new rail lines included parking garages. An example is the Orange Line and Red Line extensions in Massachusetts. That was somewhat driven by FTA funding larger shares of transit rail capital projects. Washington as a fresh system had plenty of parking garages added to its new stations. I think that they happened because the Federal portion was so large in the 1970’s, and urban renewal was still a thing then. That no longer appears to be...

Northeastern cities were already old and large in 1945 when construction restarted after the Depression+WWII and the tide turned against transit and walkability. They were large enough to see the value in keeping their regional rail and subways and bus routes to some extent. West Coast cities were newer and smaller then and didn't have as much of that constituency built up. So northeastern transit authorities continued building rail the way they always had in the pre-car era: just the station, ma'am. West Coast cities ripped out their rail and streetcars and decimated their bus service, because there weren't that...

"using Link essentially as a short-distance parking shuttle" Is this necessarily bad? It increases Link's ridership and fare revenue (paid by either the person or their employer). The big money was spent on the P&R building, but that was the political compromise, and we can't get that money back regardless of whether this person parks in the garage or not. I think there was always an expectation that some people would park at South Bellevue P&R and take Link to Bellevue offices to avoid the offices' parking fee, wasn't there? I don't quite remember that part of the debate.

Google is telling me the distances are nearly identical. But, from Wilburton station is a much more pleasant walk, since most of the distance is on a trail, rather than the sidewalk of a busy street.

According to the block schedules in Pantograph there are times when the 3 pairs with the 13 or the 2 and 3 (Madrona legs) interchange terminals. It's always on the very late runs.

"Poncho seems to be saying people are driving to a P&R within waking distance of work to avoid paying for parking in the employer’s garage. That’s the opposite of how P&Rs are supposed to work: they’re intended for you to drive to the P&R nearest your home and take transit for the longest possible portion of the trip." My interpretation of Poncho's comment is that the people using the park and ride are riding transit, but, instead of using the closest P&R to their home, they are driving as close as possible to the destination as they can get, while...

@ asdf: NE 4th is actually aligned with NE 3rd at 116th. The development south of there (Target, PCC, Dave and Busters) is closer to East Main Station.

It's a little bit of a walk, but for someone trying to get to any of the retail stores on 4th St. by transit, taking Link to Wilburton Station and walking the trail to 4th is usually the best option from most of the eastside. Between REI, Trader Joes, Best Buy, Home Depot, Target, and PCC, that's a lot of shopping opportunities. And, even if you're buying too much stuff to carry back on foot and transit, taking transit to the store and taking Uber back is still cheaper than taking Uber both ways, or renting a car for the...

Must just be a scheduling thing or a desire to run more service to the 3 in CD but not on Summit later into the night than they otherwise would. I think it is both. Ideally they run more of the Summit buses. But by truncating the bus downtown they save some money. Same goes with the 13. By combining them they save even more. Ultimately I would like to see the 3 run every fifteen minutes and always to Summit. Then I would run the 4 every fifteen minutes opposite the 3. That is much simpler routing. I would...

Exactly, Mike! It honestly amazes me that cities in our region expect ST to build commuter garages for them. If a city is already being gifted tracks and stations, the receiving city should be contributing something too. Instead, cities here get to portray Link stations as creating a “nuisance” of parked cars — even as most of those cars are driven by residents of that city. It’s just one more example of how ST is often seen as a cash cow to extract favors from rather than a vital public benefit that needs to be complemented.

In the northeast the transit agency provides just the rail station. If the city wants a P&R next to it, it's up to the city to acquire the land and build and maintain it.

Underutilized parking spaces can be revenue generators for any profit or non-profit lot owner (including churches). A transit operator or city just doesn’t have any legal way to force them to make parking available for transit ridership outside of leasing those spaces outright. Leasing opens new challenges like maintenance, lighting and liability. They can maybe encourage it with signage, advertising, tax breaks and many other incentives. They just can’t force it. I’ve personally felt that cities should be charged to manage transit station parking. They define the parking space requirements for nearby properties and manage on-street parking already. That’s what...

I’m seeing quite a number of articles that transit ridership is up around the country as a result of higher gas prices. It’s particularly notable in California where commutes can be long and congested. May ridership at BART is 13.5% higher than last May, for example. It’s shown as over 202K average weekday in May. https://www.bart.gov/sites/default/files/2026-06/202605%20Monthly%20Ridership%20Snapshot.pdf Of course there are many factors why people will choose Link — but at least 10K if not 15-20K of Link’s average weekday ridership in May (164.5K) appears to be attributable to the gas price surge.

Churches have been used as P&Rs for decades. They're used more by vanpools and special work routes that people outside those companies haven't heard of. It's hard to turn any random church into a feeder-bus source, because churches are in random locations. Most are in lower-density areas and not "on the way" of a strategic frequent bus route. This is a consequence of our poor land use. But where churches are in a location that can be pressed into a productive bus-feeder source, they sometimes are.

"You can’t walk from Bel-Red to Spring District. That was part of the fantasy when they built out this infrastructure." What fantasy? The Bel-Red P&R is a temporary use until Spring District growth reaches the neighborhood and the lot is converted to a mixed-use building. I discussed this with an ST rep at an East Link open house at Bellevue City Hall. I was afraid that the presence of a P&R would create a constituency to keep it forever, but the rep said it's a temporary use and that wouldn't stand in the way of conversion. The Bel-Red P&R is...

It's probably ST being disorganized more than not caring. The first three match days went flawlessly from what I gathered. I was out before and after the crowds and transit was normal, and we got no reports of outages or unexpected problems during the surges. There was the expected crowd at CID station, but I didn't hear of extraordinary unexpected crowds or delays. ST and Metro put a lot of work into preventative maintenance and crowd planning before the season, so that should be recognized. Link started having problems in the 4th and 5th matches: power outage, mechanical issue. The...

Uhhh… that’s something that was done by Downtown Seattle employers for decades. We are in the Eastside parking garage management honeymoon period because the full 2 Line just opened a few months ago. In the next few years, the ST Board will have to do more hands-on management of the spaces. Note too that Link on the Eastside has fewer garages than they have north or south of Seattle. BART and WMATA have a long history of trying many parking management techniques at suburban stations. Those are the systems I’d point to for how to best implement things.

Another option is a parking permit system. Your vehicle has to be registered on your ORCA account to park, and they can verify if you actually took transit or if you're just parked there for a nearby office or attraction. Permits can also allow for priority parking that is more expensive (for regular riders), along with overflow first come first serve parking for irregular usage. Permits are prioritized for those with an address with inadequate/inefficient/nonexistent transit alternatives, and those who are carpooling from these areas can see discounts.

If you look at 9th and Jefferson inbound stop (Harborview) the 13 does show up on every mapping app I reference. I see 4 inbound trips on the 13 late on Sundays. Must just be a scheduling thing or a desire to run more service to the 3 in CD but not on Summit later into the night than they otherwise would.

Sounder North lots are filling up, too. @Bernie "I think the recent surge in gas price has made people more aware of the true cost of driving. If you own a car the marginal cost isn’t that great when gas goes from $4 to $5 but it sure as heck raises awareness." As a lifelong gearhead, (and yes, I still work on all my own cars, the computerized ones, too) I am just astounded at how much cognitive dissonance people have concerning their per/mile cost. The perception that it's only the cost of gas that matters is what the problem...

Bernie, if you are really curious, go to Link's online radio scanner. Go back to the day and time in question, and you'll hear the first radio calls mentioning the actual problem.

I could easily see how someone could drive to South Bellevue from an East Side location even though it is shorter to downtown Bellevue. They avoid having to pay for parking and it is a quick ride on Link. I could also see the same thing happening with trips to Microsoft (using Marymoor). It is a clever trick, much like the folks that park at Angle Lake and TIBS (to avoid costly SeaTac parking). In these cases they may drive a bit longer but avoid some of the worst traffic. (I'm just speculating here but I can easily imagine doing...

I think that many Seattle residents work in Downtown Bellevue. Yep. That is one of the destinations I mentioned. But it is difficult to tell how many of those riders then take a bus to the other side of downtown (e. g. https://maps.app.goo.gl/vxQJgCoHdT2kgtjy6) or just walk to work. In contrast it will be pretty easy to see how many people are transferring from Wilburton once we have updated stop data for the B Line.

That does seem weird. It must be an unofficial pairing. According to the schedule, a few of the 13 buses just end downtown. Likewise the 3 from Madrona sometimes just ends downtown. I could see how these could be connected for that reason. But unlike the 2 and 13 it isn't meant to be a standard practice. It could easily change depending on money, driver availability, etc.

The construction (which is now suspended) may also play a part. If it takes an extra ten minutes to drive -- or in some cases ride the bus -- then Link is bound to be more popular.