While King County decided not to run a county-wide ballot measure this year to fund King County Metro (though Seattle still running its measure, which cruised to victory), Portland (and the surrounding area) still had its own measure 26-218 on the ballot in 2020. TriMet (which operates in Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties in Oregon), as part of their plans for the SW Corridor, would have constructed light rail from Portland to Tigard and Tualatin. This 11-mile, 13 station extension would have given riders southwest of Portland a more direct ride into downtown Portland than the existing WES commuter rail (which requires a transfer in Beaverton). The measure would have also funded four different bus rapid transit (BRT) projects in the area.

Unfortunately, the measure is losing quite decisively, with (as of Wednesday evening) 56.78% of voters rejecting the measure and 43.22% of voters approving.

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• EIS for South King Link Maintenance facility will slip into 2021, Covid blamed.
• CT won’t change much this year ($), but future growth may be much less aggressive.
• ST donates land in Rainier Valley for affordable housing.
• Early data on the Lime scooters, and their effect on the bikes.
• ECB reports data on fare enforcement and fare evasion.
• Some unhappy with ST’s art plan for Federal Way.
• Activists push back on Durkan transportation cuts.
• The art of S. Bellevue Station.
• Yonah Freemark rounds up transit votes around the country.
• The monorail dream ($) is alive in Maryland.

This is an open thread.

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Seattle’s Proposition 1, which partially preserves existing transit taxes, has 82% of counted votes. There aren’t enough uncounted registered voters to mathematically change the result.

As expected, Gov. Inslee is winning easily. Joseph O’Sullivan says ($) that if current results hold, Democrats may gain a Senate Seat at the expense of Sound Transit nemesis Steve O’Ban, extending their new majority.

Everything is still in play at the Federal level, except the House is clearly still Democratic.

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Unless you’re really into the arcana of American politics, you may not have realized that today is Election Day.

We didn’t do formal endorsements this year, but I explained why Seattle voters should approve Prop. 1. Furthermore, Seattle Subway did their homework and released endorsements informed by very similar principles to what I would have used as a member of the Editorial Board.

Beyond Prop 1, virtually the entire state government is up for grabs. Olympia has vast power over land use and transit outcomes in Seattle and everywhere else in Washington. I hear there are some federal races too.

It is not a good idea to use the US Postal Service this late in the process. Instead, find your nearest drop box and insert your ballot no later than 8pm tonight.

Or, if you need more assistance, managed not to register to vote, or are just old-fashioned, don a mask and register and/or vote in person.

Finally, if like most eligible people you’ve already voted, please track your ballot today so that you have time to rectify any problem that arose.

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Light Rail from Ian Reynolds on Vimeo.

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• ST’s art plan for Federal Way.
• Everyone’s seduced by a plan to rebuild the West Seattle Bridge way faster.
• ST donating land ($) for affordable housing.
• This is why ($) bus drivers have to strap in wheelchairs.
• When things aren’t so easy, Seattle stops worrying about climate change.
• Mercer Island lawsuit going ahead.
• Comment on the 2021 CT budget.
• ST has a new Chief Safety Officer.
• Cars are back on Lake Washington Blvd. — for now.
• CARES act means basically no changes for Clallam Transit.

This is an open thread.

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