New post on Page Two: Reader Jack Valko proposes The Burke-Gilman Subway

Monthly maintenance continues on the Eastside: Buses replace Link 2 Line trains between South Bellevue and Overlake Village stations after ~10pm tonight and tomorrow.

Local News:

• ST Board Chair Somers wants to finish the Spine at all costs (The Urbanist).
• Seattle CM Rob Saka wants to “audit” vision zero to an unclear end (The Urbanist).
• The embattled KCRHA is facing calls for dissolution after a scathing forensic audit (PubliCola). Regional leaders appear to nearing consensus on “winding down” the agency.
• Broken steel closes lanes of aging Tacoma Narrows Bridge (The Seattle Times, $).
• ST is expanding its paid parking permit program (Sound Transit)
• Crucial Ballard Link Deadline Pushed Back Yet Again by Feds (The Urbanist)
• Everett Transit and Community Transit Restart Annexation Talks (The Urbanist)
• Crosslake Explained: tracking wind and wave conditions on a floating bridge (The Platform)
• Pioneer Square to be walkable pedestrian zone for 6 FIFA matches (SDOT Blog)
• A rare “rave” review of Link from a Seattle Times reader ($).

Austria has the most night trains in Europe. This one has “mini cabins” (bed capsules) as well as sleeper rooms and coach seats. (DW Planet A, Deutche Welle’s environmental channel)

The train is an ÖBB Nightjet, a set of overnight routes (in German, with map) serving Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Croatia. EuroNight extends it via partner agencies to more cities in Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.

Soft-spoken bedtime story about a conductor on a night train from Vienna to Naples. (Stephen Dalton Sleep Stories)

This is an open thread.

Seattle Transit Blog reader Chetan Sharma has prepared a proposal for shifting a handful of routes to make use of the new bus lanes coming to Denny Way this spring and summer. Check it out on our Page 2.

If you’re interested in contributing your opinion to Seattle Transit Blog, please feel free to contact us. We have guest post guidelines and are always happy to help turn ideas into a topic of conversion on the blog.

Jane’s Walk is an annual celebration where volunteers in cities throughout the world host group walks in their neighborhoods to honor Jane Jacobs’s birthday. In Seattle, Feet First will host Seattle’s Jane’s Walks between April 26 and May 6. They will all be guided tours: 6 in central Seattle, 1 in West Seattle, and 1 in Auburn. The Seattle Transit Blog will have our own walk April 25 in Mercer Slough, details below.

Jane Jacobs wrote the groundbreaking book The Death and Life of Great American Cities in 1961. It revolutionized urban planning and showed the unique contributions to society and the economy that cities and walkable urban neighborhoods bring. Jacobs lived from 1916 to 2006; she would have been 110 this year.

Both the 1 and 2 Lines have closed segments this weekend, April 25-26.

1 Line trains will be reduced Saturday and Sunday until 9pm. Trains will run every 10 minutes between Lynnwood City Center and Rainier Beach. Then shuttle buses will run every 10-15 minutes between Rainier Beach and SeaTac/Airport. Then trains will start again every 10 minutes between SeaTac and Federal Way Downtown. At 9pm, normal evening service will resume.

2 Line trains will be reduced Saturday and Sunday until noon. Trains will run every 20 minutes between Lynnwood City Center and Spring District. Then shuttle buses will run every 10-15 minutes between Spring District and Overlake Village. Then trains will start again every 13 minutes between Overlake Village and Downtown Redmond. At noon, normal 2 Line service will resume.

This is all for multiple maintenance projects: track and power systems maintenance near Tukwila International Boulevard station, and to install new crossing panels near BelRed station.

This is an open thread.

On Wednesday, Mayor Wilson announced plans for new bus lanes on Denny Way to help improve reliability for Route 8. “This is workhorse route. This is one of our highest ridership routes, and it has long struggled with reliability,” Wilson said. This announcement follows the Mayor’s first executive order for SDOT to “design and install at least one dedicated bus lane on Denny Way, with the goal of significantly improving the reliability, speed, and performance of Route 8 and other transit services operating in the corridor.” The new bus lanes will be Mayor Wilson’s first direct addition to Seattle’s growing bus lane network.

The Denny Way Bus Reliability Project will be implemented in two phases. Phase 1 will be done in May and include a new southbound business access and transit (BAT) lane in the center lane on Queen Anne Ave N between John St and Denny Way, an eastbound curbside BAT lane on Denny Way between Queen Anne Ave N and 2nd Ave, and a bus priority signal on Denny Way at 2nd Ave.

April 25-26: Link 1 Line trains between Rainier Beach and SeaTac/Airport stations will be replaced by shuttle buses.

Local News:

• Citations Virtually Nonexistent After Metro Resumed Fare Enforcement (The Urbanist).
• Builders Push for Temporary MHA Fee Break to Spur Housing Starts (The Urbanist).
• Mayor Wilson’s “Shelter Acceleration” Plan Moves Forward, With Some Questions Unanswered (PubliCola).
• Tacoma-Seattle fast ferry ‘unlikely’ to launch ahead of World Cup (KUOW).
• Seattle’s traffic deaths are climbing. One City Council member wants an audit to find out why (KUOW). Also discussed on the Seattle Bike Blog.
• Sixteen transit agencies from around the world, including King County Metro, are conducting a bus service customer satisfaction survey (Metro Matters). The survey is open until May 10.
• Soccer fans and tourists can refer to Metro’s Sea26 page for info on how to get around during the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Seattle (Metro Matters).
• Despite Mercer Island’s best efforts, anyone can disembark the 2 Line there. Sound Transit promotes some walkable destinations from Mercer Island Station (The Platform).
• Shape Aurora Ave’s future by joining new advisory group (SDOT Blog).
• Seattle was one of 329 stops of the “Spirit of 1776” Freedom Train in April 1948 (Seattle Now & Then), and was visited again by the Freedom Train in late 1975. This year, Seattle is one of eight cities which will be visited by the “Freedom Plane” celebrating the USA’s 250th birthday.

More headlines after the break.

History of high-speed rail in the US. (The B1M)

60 Minutes episode on the current status of high-speed rail in the US. (60 Minutes)

This is an open thread.