King County Metro announced Friday that it has officially sold three of the five George Benson Waterfront Streetcars to the city of St. Louis for $200,000. The vintage streetcars have been idle since construction of Olympic Sculpture Park in 2005 razed their sole maintenance facility.

Metro has been looking to sell the cars for some time, and St Louis first expressed interest back in 2012. Metro is looking to expand its Sodo bus bases to accommodate a rapidly growing fleet, and they are also on the hook to repay $205,000 in FTA grants if the streetcars are not returned to service in some form.

In the agreement announced yesterday, Metro will retain ownership of the two cars but SDOT will store them elsewhere (location TBD) for an additional two years to buy time for a private venture called “Friends of the Benson Trolleys” to fundraise enough to retrofit them for a potential return to service. Though the waterfront alignment is likely permanently closed – and some of the Pioneer Square trackage has been removed and/or paved over – SDOT has indicated a willingness to mix vintage and modern cars if/when the Center City Connector is built. The high-floor, non-ADA compliant streetcars would need significant work to be able to share platforms with the South Lake Union and First Hill lines.

The private group Friends of the Benson Trolleys is led by a high-power group of current and former executives, increasing their chances of fundraising success. They include:

• Tom Gibbs, Former Metro General Manager
• Ben Franz-Knight, Executive Director of the Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority
• Don Blakeney, Vice President of Economic Development at the Downtown Seattle Association (and former Executive Director of the Chinatown-International District Business Improvement Area)
• Tomio Moriguchi, Chairman of Uwajimaya
• Frank Shrontz, Boeing CEO from 1986-1996

At press time the group did not have a fundraising page that I could find. Stay tuned.

The full release from King County Metro is below the jump… Continue reading “Metro, SDOT Keep Two Benson Streetcars for Future Use”

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Monday, January 18 is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Many transit agencies reduce their service levels that day, and some that do not run on Sundays, like King County Water Taxis, also take this day off. The South Lake Union Streetcar is usually open on most holidays, but is closed Monday due to street work, and since there is no “peak” period on a holiday.

If you are used to your bus route flying along in a peak-only bus lane, do not be surprised to find cars parked in them Monday, slowing down your commute. As Zach pointed out, the City’s bus lane policy has not kept up with its transit investments. In that way, even if no runs are being cancelled on your route, the level of service on your route is being reduced Monday if it has peak-only lane priority.

This is on top of WSDOT’s decision to make everyone suffer through gridlock on Aurora every day during construction periods instead of giving everyone an option to fly past the gridlock with a bus lane, as Martin pointed out.

Agency	Day Before (Sunday)	MLK Day (Monday)
Clallam Transit	No Service	No Service
Community Transit Commuter	No Service	Routes 402, 413, 421, 855
Community Transit Local	Sunday	Weekday
Everett Transit	Sunday	Weekday
Greys Harbor Transit	No Service	Weekday
Island Transit	No Service	Weekday
Intercity Transit	Sunday	Weekday
Jefferson Transit	No Service	Weekday
King County Metro	Sunday	Reduced Weekday/UW
King County Water Taxis	No Service	No Service
Kitsap Transit	No Service	Regular/No PSNS
Link Light Rail	Sunday	Saturday
Mason Transit	No Service	No Service
Monorail	8:30 AM – 9 PM	7:30 AM – 9 PM
Pierce Transit	Sunday	Weekday
Skagit Transit	No Service	Weekday
Sound Transit Express	Sunday	Weekday
Sounder	No Service	Weekday
South Lake Union Streetcar	No Service	No Service
Tacoma Link	Sunday	Sunday
Twin Transit	No Service	No Service
Washington State Ferries	Sunday	Weekday
Whatcom Transit	Sunday	Weekday

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A Republican bill to eliminate two of the four express toll lanes on I-405; eliminate tolls in the evening and early morning hours; and get rid of all HOT lanes on 405 in two years if they fail to maintain a speed of 45 mph 90 percent of the time, has a single, somewhat surprising Democratic sponsor: Sen. Cyrus Habib (D-48), a Bellevue resident who also happens to be running for lieutenant governor.

Habib (who prefaced his email response, “I was wondering when I would be asked about that!”) says he’s backing the bill because his “district is directly affected, and so I decided it was important for me to have a seat at the table as we take a look at what works and doesn’t work with the current express tolling dynamic there.

“I likely wouldn’t vote for the bill in its current form, but I do think we need to revisit how the program is being implemented. I hear more about this from my constituents than any other issue,” Habib says.

The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Andy Hill (R-45) in the senate and Rep. Mark Harmsworth (R-11) in the house, was introduced in response to a rash of complaints by 405 drivers about the amount solo drivers must pay to use the HOV lanes (up to $10 at peak hours), and about the perception that the lanes haven’t reduced congestion on the freeway.

“[HOT lanes are] not working; anybody who drives that corridor will tell you that,” Hill told the Senate transportation committee at a hearing for the bill yesterday. “People are very, very upset. They are experiencing increased congestion, despite what any stats might say.”

About those stats: As Josh reported yesterday on PubliCola, according to data collected by WSDOT, travel times on 405 have gone down, on average, 14 minutes for express-lane users, and 7 minutes for general-purpose lane drivers, since the lanes opened last September. Much as Hill may scoff at “stats,” and much as his house cohort Helmsworth may have testified yesterday about the “thousands and thousands” of complaints he said he has personally read about traffic on 405, it’s always helpful to remember that the plural of anecdote is not data. And the data, if it’s correct, says the lanes are doing what they’re supposed to do.

However, Habib says his constituents complain about another impact of the tolls: They’re regressive. “The absence of light rail and inadequate state of bus rapid transit has made it, combined with the 520 toll, financially difficult for the working poor and students, who have the least flexibility and resources,” he says. Habib says he’d like to explore the idea of converting one of the two existing HOT lanes to HOV-transit lanes “to give the program a chance to first develop on one lane. Express tolling without increased transit is regressive.”

Of course, WSDOT’s original proposal was to give drivers two years to get used to the new HOV lanes; if the bill Habib has signed on to were to pass in any form (its path to a hearing and vote seems far shakier in the house), it would upend that schedule and render HOT lanes on 405 an incomplete experiment.

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On Tuesday night in front of a joint meeting of the city councils of Bothell, Kenmore, Lake Forest Park, and Shoreline, Sound Transit presented ST3 options for the SR 522 corridor. The tag team of Ric Ilgenfritz and Karen Kitsis presented the lone proposed projects for the area, planning money for light rail on SR 522 (Project P-08, page 18), and BRT from Woodinville to the NE 145th St Link station (Projects N-09 and N-10).

The meeting began as so many of these meetings do, with electeds and staff trading war stories of how long it took them to drive there, with Fred Butler’s drive from Issaquah taking the provisional title for bragging rights. But even these anecdotes often serve as useful icebreakers, creating a unanimity of purpose among officials to build better transit not to solve congestion, but rather to give people a way out of it.

And unanimity there was. There was neither disagreement nor controversy, with the joint councils all expressing strong interest and support for bus rapid transit on SR 522 and a seamless connection to Link at NE 145th. Kenmore Mayor David Baker expressed the four cities’ intent to write a joint jurisdictional letter to Sound Transit, saying they should be unified on their “3 key asks”, namely BRT in the corridor, light rail planning, and structured parking (ST’s proposal includes three 400-space parking facilities). Lake Forest Park councilmember Phillippa Kassover noted her city’s historically high voter turnout of 80-90%, quipping to Sound Transit (paraphrased) “I suggest you have us on your side this November.” A Bothell councilmember described the county line that separates his city’s transit services as “our own DMZ”, expressing hope that Sound Transit’s regional mandate can fix the service gaps inherent in having Community Transit serve half the city and King County Metro serve the other.

The general feeling in the room was one of composed eagerness to get new investments in their respective cities. The 522 Transit Now coalition also had a strong turnout, with roughly half the public attendance being composed of their bright yellow shirts. Mark Abersold from the coalition spoke to the meeting, and councilmembers repeatedly praised their group for their effective and positive organizing. Consultants Fehr & Peers also praised the coalition (and Seattle Transit Blog) for informing their corridor analysis.

Councilmembers seemed particularly keen on the lower capital version of BRT, which ST models as only taking 1 minute longer than the more aggressive option, while reducing capital costs by $30-85m. In some sense, however, this is a relatively painless ask for these councils, as the BRT project would in many places widen the roads to accommodate buses without the loss of any general purpose capacity, going from two lanes to three in each direction.

Notably absent from the discussion was Lake City. With neither a station at 130th nor a BRT connection to Lake Forest Park and Woodinville, the southern half of the 522 corridor gains little from these proposals. If enacted, Lake City will depend on Metro for a good network of connections, likely including long-term investments in the Route 41 and 372 corridors for connections to Link at Northgate, UDistrict, and UW.

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• Dow Constantine nominates Rob Johnson to Mike O’Brien’s old seat on the ST board. O’Brien’s recent anti-density turn is annoying, but he’s certainly perfectly solid on transportation issues. In any case, Johnson is a wonderful pick. And good call, Zach.
• Constantine also nominates Auburn Mayor Nancy Backus, incoming president of the Sound Cities Association.
• Suburban office parks now unfashionable, but the trend is not quite so clear-cut.
• 102-story tower proposal runs afoul of the FAA.
• New Water Taxi starts running, is much bigger.
• Big mixed-use complex ($) headed for Downtown Kirkland.
• Expansion of the Urban Growth Area not on the table in King County.
• Burien will ask for Link from West Seattle to continue on to Seatac.
• Too many deaths, more rail safety programs.
• The nightmare of getting a Westlake bike lane.
• Peter Rogoff’s $300,000 salary ($) comparable with similar positions nationwide.
• Bid on California HSR segment comes in under budget.
• Tacoma Rail to no longer serve Thurston County.
• High-speed chase ends when driver plows into Metro bus. Luckily, no passengers on board.

This is an open thread.

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Four separate City Councils – Shoreline, Bothell, Kenmore, and Lake Forest Park – will gather jointly tonight at 7pm at Kenmore City Hall to discuss ST3 projects within their respective cities, including planned Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) on SR 522 connecting to NE 145th Street Link Station (Projects N-09 and N-10) and planning studies for SR 522 light rail (Project P-8, page 18). Sound Transit’s Ric Ilgenfritz, ST Boardmembers Claudia Balducci and Fred Butler, Kenmore Mayor David Baker, and the 522 Transit Now Coalition are confirmed as speakers, and their presentations will be followed by council discussion by the 4 cities.

Though there is likely little to learn from a project standpoint at this point in the process, these meetings are fascinating for the glimpses they provide into suburban cities’ thinking and priorities for ST3 on a number of issues, including station access, parking, TOD, bus/rail integration, and more. If you live in Shoreline, Bothell, Kenmore, Lake Forest Park, Jackson Park, Bitter Lake, or Lake City, it is well worth your time to show up in support of quality projects and connections.

Kenmore City Hall can be reached via the Burke Gilman-Trail, from Seattle (Routes 372 and 522), and from Bellevue/Kirkland (Route 234). Unfortunately, Route 331 from Shoreline to Kenmore stops running in time to be workable for this meeting. Apologies for the late notice.

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It’s too late to submit comments to Metro about the Southeast Seattle restructure, but this old post from 2011 remains relevant although the route numbers have changed. In particular, it takes a close look at the claim that a new bus providing a one-seat ride from Little Saigon and Downtown is necessary to adequately serve the Asian Counseling and Referral Service (ACRS), three blocks south of Mt. Baker Station.

Events in the interim have deteriorated this claim further. The Capitol Hill restructure in March will split the 8 and new 38, and the 38 will be a reliable transfer, with minimal walking from Link and zero walking from the 7. The 38 will also address the much more legitimate complaint from people and organizations around Orcas St. that they had no reliable means of accessing the train, due to essentially random southbound arrivals on the 8.

Ironically, sending the 38 downtown (as a 106) would kneecap that improvement, once again subjecting southbound buses to schedule randomness mere months after freeing it from the chaos of Denny Way.

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Now that Seattle is in the business of purchasing bus hours thanks to Prop 1, one of the many benefits is that Seattle’s dollars now ensure full service on minor holidays . In the post Prop-1 world, Metro’s “Reduced Weekday” schedules are a thing of the past for Seattle, only applying to suburban routes numbered 100 or higher. (The “No UW” reduced schedule remains, however.)

Yet transit on minor holidays still remains second-class in one important but overlooked respect: street parking remains free and unrestricted on holidays such as MLK Day, Presidents Day, and Veterans Day. Most peak-only bus lanes are not in force and are often open to parked cars. Major Center City arterials such as 2nd and 4th Avenues, Olive, Stewart, Howell, etc all lose their transit priority on these holidays, yet with many routes still asked to provide full weekday peak frequencies. Overall volumes are reduced, of course, with the cancellation of suburban routes such as 114, 304, 308, 316, etc, but Sound Transit operates a full weekday schedule alongside all of Metro’s Seattle routes.

I would love to see our City Council’s new Sustainability & Transportation Committee take this on as a simple administrative fix that catches our parking policy up with newly-enacted transit policy. Transportation Committee Vice-Chair and new Sound Transit Boardmember Rob Johnson would have a double mandate, helping maximize the City’s investment in Metro while improving Sound Transit’s operational bottom line.

But the desired policy seems clear: if we have are to have free parking and no peak-only bus lanes on Sundays and select holidays, we should only do so on days in which transit is likewise on a Sunday schedule.

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After I linked to the notification of SR99 lane closures with a fine whine about (lack of) transit priority, there was a fun twitter exchange between WSDOT, some loyal readers, and Zach on the STB Twitter account. As the animation above shows, during daytime left lane closures, WSDOT will open the bus lane to general traffic to maintain two lanes for cars. In a later phase, bus lane closures will force transit into general purpose lanes.

WSDOT said that the corridor carries about 37,000 cars and 740 buses on an average weekday. All else being equal, then, if there are 1.25 people per car then each bus would have to carry about 62 people to mean that transit was more important than cars, and by implication worthy of priority.

@SeaStrap @wsdot_traffic We had to find a way to add balance. Providing only 1 lane to drivers could lead to huge backups.

— Washington State DOT (@wsdot) January 7, 2016

The E, 5, 16, 26X, and 28x carry about 31,000 people a day, or 41 people per bus, or about a third of the total volume in the corridor. Of course, that’s one-third spread out through the entire day, and the peak share of transit riders is higher, perhaps near 50%. So even if the mode shares remain constant, the idea that half the road capacity should go to transit is hardly outrageous.

Moreover, the idea that the mode shares must remain constant is unfounded. Regardless of WSDOT’s fears, there will be “huge backups” regardless of how many lanes are available. Retaining the transit lane would provide a congestion-free alternative. Not everyone will use this option, but WSDOT would provide a rapid means of travel for those who are willing. Some people will take it and improve transit’s share. Instead, WSDOT is forcing everyone to sit in traffic regardless of choice.

Furthermore, private vehicles are able to switch to alternate routes, while transit must continue to serve people that live all along the route, further increasing the likely proportion of transit riders on the roadway.

It’s common, during construction closures, for the authorities to urge people to alter their trips or take transit. With the basic time penalties associated with transit compounded by a total lack of priority, anyone who respects that request is either a fool or has little choice. Enough people are either transit riders, or willing to change given the proper incentives, that transit deserves half the road space on Aurora.

Closures begin next Monday, January 18.

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