Hello, this is a plan I came up with for a potential series of future rail expansions for the region. I have also included potential infill stations and changes to station and line names to simplify the system. The plan includes Link Light Rail, the Seattle streetcar, and Sounder Commuter Rail. Here is the link …
Continue reading “Puget Sound Rail Transit Future: My Proposal”
Nine years ago Martin looked at the general problem of I-5 buses terminating at Rainier Beach. However, removing buses from the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel provides an opportunity to review if there are cost savings or efficiency improvements by truncating routes formerly in the tunnel and forcing a transfer to Link. Truncating is a balancing …
Continue reading “Pros and Cons of Truncating Bus Routes at Link: Route 150”
Sound Transit has significantly refined the design for I-405 BRT which is anticipated to begin service in 2024. The final set of refinements from Phase 1 of design were shared with the System Expansion Committee at their March meeting. The design changes reduce travel times on the corridor and improve reliability. The shorter travel times …
Continue reading “Refined I-405 BRT to speed buses, attract more riders”
Trailhead Direct begins its second full year of service on Saturday, April 20, with expanded routes to two new trails with assistance from the county and state parks departments. Last year, King County Metro used additional funding from the Seattle Transportation Benefit District to run from April to October on three routes between Seattle and …
Continue reading “Trailhead Direct Expands For Its Second Season”
Express an interest in transit at just about any cocktail party in the Rainier Valley, and you’ll hear how what Sound Transit really needs to do is provide a shuttle to get people to the stations. Inevitably, people are proposing a solution to their specific problem without much awareness of scale or efficiency. Much like …
Where will riders use the ST3 Link system in 2040? Longtime readers will be familiar with project ridership estimates, but most riders on Link are not going to the ends of the line. Along any line, ridership can be much higher on some segments than others. The suburban lines have weak ridership at the tails. …
Various private transportation entities have caught on to the Big Deal that is the Period of Maximum Constraint, starting with the permanent closure of the Alaskan Way Viaduct on Friday, January 11 at 10 pm, three weeks before the SR 99 tunnel under downtown opens. Lyft and Uber both rolled out $2.75 discount deals Monday …
Sound Transit is entering yet another round of public feedback for the I-405 BRT project and has revealed the name of the service: Stride. In their online open house and an e-mail to STB, Sound Transit described their criteria for choosing the name, the first new ST brand introduced since Link and Sounder were chosen …
Continue reading “I-405 and SR 522 BRT Will Be Known as “Stride””
In 2017, WSDOT published a feasibility study of high-speed rail (HSR) in the Vancouver-Seattle-Portland corridor. It estimated a $25-42 billion capital cost for a rail line that would carry about 5,000 riders a day in 2035 and would just cover operation costs by sometime in the 2040s. This hardly appeared promising, but was enough to …
Sound Transit Operations & Administrative Committee meeting April 5, 2018 The escalator presentation runs from 8 minutes into the video until 1:08. Last Thursday, Sound Transit staff gave a presentation to the Board’s Operations & Administration Committee in response to the March 16 breakdown of two down escalators on the same level at UW Station, …
Thursday, the Sound Transit Capital Committee approved funding for project development for two bus rapid transit routes. As part of the ST3 package, the projects will add 45 miles of BRT to the region. One BRT route will run between Lynnwood and Burien along I-405 and State Route 518, with 11 stations in between. The …
We’ve devoted considerable coverage to Metro Connects, the long-range plan that Metro first published in 2016 and the King County Council adopted in January. We’ve focused mainly on the massively expanded frequent network Metro envisions, with 26 RapidRide lines and frequent service slated to serve most King County residents. But the plan’s vision goes well beyond …
Sound Transit will extend its paid permit program at park-and-ride facilities to include solo drivers. The assurance of a guaranteed spot could cost commuters as much as $90 a month if Sound Transit charges the average market rate for these spaces. Currently, carpools with two or more riders are eligible to purchase a $5 parking …
Continue reading “Sound Transit Expanding Parking Permit Program”
On August 8, a severe electrical malfunction at the Tukwila traction power substation caused extensive damage to the unit, according to Paul Denison, director of light rail operations at Sound Transit. Following the outage, drivers were given orders to slow acceleration. Briefing board members Thursday during the Operations and Administration Committee meeting, Denison said an …
Continue reading “Installation Error Cause of Link’s August Electrical Malfunction”
Distance-based fares have a lot of fans among transit nerds, for a number of reasons, from practical – raising more revenue when the train lines become really long – to the patently absurd, such as that they will incentivize people to live closer to their jobs or incentivize Sound Transit not to build really long …
Continue reading “The Practical Pitfalls of Link’s Distance-Based Fares”
Sound Transit’s ridership continues to rise, fueled mostly by light rail expansion, according third quarter ridership numbers released by the agency last week. Ridership across the system was up 6.5% over the same quarter in 2016. In an accompanying press release, Sound Transit lauded current year-to-date ridership in 2017, up 26% on Link and 12% …
By King County Councilmembers Joe McDermott and Larry Gossett King County aims to deliver public transportation that grows access to jobs and education. Transit transforms communities and economies, helps address inequity, and plays a role in mitigating displacement. As STB has covered, the County Council is currently considering multiple changes to the bus network which …
Continue reading “The Southeast Seattle Bus Restructure Responds to Community Input”
I just got back from a ski trip to the Wasatch Mountains outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. Utah is known for its world-renowned skiing, and the powder was great. But, while there, I never stayed in any of the Mountain Villages, or fancy hotels, rather than Park City or Deer Valley, I stayed in …
Rob Johnson drops his push to make Uptown upzone more aggressive due to public comment. Show up to meetings, everyone. Ben Franklin Transit (serving the Tri-Cities) launches a restructured network that’s designed to to improve frequency and directness on core routes, and extend the span of service. There is now all-day 15-minute service between four …
Nine minutes and 24 seconds of audio in the DSTT. Dark shaded areas indicate times when announcements were playing For several months, the elevator at the east end of the pedestrian overpass at SeaTac/Airport station was out of service. Riders requiring the elevator needed to ride Link to Tukwila International Boulevard station and then ride …
