There’s been a rush of topics the past three weeks, including in Wednesday’s roundup which has now reached 172 comments. So here’s something light to start the weekend with. And what can be lighter than Sesame Street and the Muppets?
Midweek Roundup: 45-Car Crash
Transit & Streets:
- The Urbanist: Sound Transit Board Rubberstamps West Seattle Link Route, Amid Cost Issues
- Seattle Bike Blog: SDOT set to start Aurora-Licton Springs healthy streets upgrades on N 100th St, Fremont Ave N
- West Seattle Blog: Bus service modifications (feedback wanted!) and community updates at HPAC October meeting
- Kent Reporter: ‘Drivers going too fast’ led to 45-vehicle collision in Kent on I-5; also on KOMO.
- Seilbahnen (Cable Car) International Magazine: Study shows: cable car is more sustainable than the electric bus for point-to-point transit with no intermediate stops.
- Bloomberg CityLab: Robotaxis Are No Friend of Public Transportation
- The Seattle Times ($): Lynnwood light rail is super popular — but there’s a problem; the times presents anecdotes from Lynnwood commuters who say they drive to downtown if there isn’t enough parking at the station. Sound Transit and Community Transit suggest taking the bus.
- The Urbanist: Bellevue Reveals Initial Designs for Pedestrian Bridge over I-405
- Streetsblog USA: Why America Has So Much Road Safety Research, But So Little Actual Safety
An extended interview with Terri Mestas, Sound Transit megaproject delivery chief
Back in March of this year, Sound Transit appointed Terri Mestas to be the deputy CEO of megaproject delivery, a new position that was created specifically to oversee delivery of the agency’s large capital projects. Mestas is a seasoned leader of capital program management, most recently being the chief development officer at Los Angeles World Airports and holding stints at AECOM and CalTech, where she oversaw projects in aviation, national security, and more.
I had a chance to sit down with Mestas at the end of summer to hear directly from her about her vision for the agency and how she hopes to guide system expansion in a period where some missteps have set projects back.
The entire extended interview, edited for clarity and brevity, has been included below.
Continue reading “An extended interview with Terri Mestas, Sound Transit megaproject delivery chief” | 23 commentsRidership Patterns for RapidRide D Line
King County Metro’s RapidRide D Line travels inbound from Crown Hill to downtown Seattle, primarily through Ballard, Interbay, and Uptown. Outbound trips travel north from downtown to Crown Hill. In August 2024, the D Line was the fourth busiest bus route in King County with 8,824 average weekday boardings.
Average Ridership Per Trip
The plots below show the average weekday ridership by stop in each direction, color-coded by time of day. For a more detailed breakdown of how the plots are set up, please refer to the How to Read the Plots section of the article discussing Route 70.
Sunday Movie: Silicon Valley Check-In
This is an open thread.
59 commentsSwift Blue Improvements
Community Transit will be improving Swift Blue along Evergreen Way in Lake Stickney (an unincorporated area north of Lynnwood) and Everett. The Swift corridor consists of Aurora Avenue, Pacific Highway and Evergreen Way. It currently has some BAT lanes with gaps. The new projects will fill in those gaps with new BAT lanes and potentially the missing sidewalks along the corridor.
These improvements follow up after the recent Swift Blue extension to Shoreline North Station via 200th St, Meridian Ave, and 185th St.
Continue reading “Swift Blue Improvements” | 39 commentsRoute 7 Transit-Plus Recap
Although the RapidRide R project to replace Route 7 on Rainier Avenue has been postponed to 2031, SDOT (the Seattle Department of Transportation) has continued to implement bus lanes along Rainier Avenue. We’ll go over a moderate recap of the changes made of the past decade starting from 2015, focusing on the transit improvements, as well as outline some near term future changes.
Previous STB Articles
| Description | Article Link |
| Ridership Patterns for King County Metro Route 7 | https://seattletransitblog.com/2024/10/21/ridership-patterns-for-king-county-metro-route-7/ |
| Work resumption on RapidRide R | https://seattletransitblog.com/2024/07/27/work-resumes-on-rapidride-r/ |
| Metro survey on RapidRide R | https://seattletransitblog.com/2020/02/21/metro-seeks-feedback-for-rapidride-r-to-replace-route-7/ |
| SDOT debating between protected bike lanes and bus lanes on Rainier Avenue | https://seattletransitblog.com/2017/08/24/rainier-avenue-will-decide-between-buses-and-bikes/ |
Rainier Avenue Improvements Overview
There have been multiple SDOT projects on Rainier Avenue. In 2015, the Vision Zero Rainier Improvements debated between bike and bus lanes and chose bus lanes. In 2023, the Route 7 Transit Plus Multimodal Corridor fixed the sidewalk along the northern portion of Rainier Avenue. In 2022 and 2024, the Rainier Avenue S Bus Lane added bus lanes in two phases from Edmunds Street to Grand Street.
Continue reading “Route 7 Transit-Plus Recap” | 6 commentsMidweek Roundup: Limbo
Transit & Streets:
- The Urbanist: Why Ballard Link Is Still Trapped in Planning Limbo; as of 10/22, scoping is now scheduled to begin tomorrow.
- The Seattle Times ($): Another North Seattle light rail breakdown slows passengers
- The Urbanist: Tacoma Set to Slash ‘Vision Zero’ Road Safety Budget by 90%
- SDOT Blog: Spokane St Swing Bridge (low bridge) will close October 25–27 for turn cylinder installation
- The Platform: Stepping up our game; Sound Transit blogs about how it’s improving rider experience in the face of growing pains.
- Sound Transit: Seeking public feedback on proposed ST Express fare change
- The Seattle Times ($): Can $1.55 billion make Seattle streets safer?
- Mass Transit Magazine: Community Transit collects community feedback on plans for new Swift Gold BRT Line
- King County Metro Matters: Proposed budget focuses on cleanliness, equity, reliability, safety and sustainability
- Seattle Times ($): Fare gates become more popular nationwide
STB Endorsements: 2024 General Election
Ballots are being delivered for this year’s General Election and are due on November 5. On behalf of the Blog, the Seattle Transit Blog Elections Committee recommends the following:
Ballot Measures
- No on I-2066
- No on I-2109
- No on I-2117
- Yes on Seattle Proposition 1, Transportation Levy
Candidate Elections
- Seattle City Council Position 8: Alexis Mercedes Rinck
All Other Elections
- No Endorsement
Election Review
The STB Elections Committee considered many initiatives, ballot measures, and candidate elections on the ballot for the greater Seattle area, but ultimately chose to limit endorsements to a handful of races. A summary of our review and resulting recommendation for selected elections is provided below.
Continue reading “STB Endorsements: 2024 General Election” | 14 commentsRidership Patterns for King County Metro Route 7
King County Metro’s Route 7 travels inbound from Rainier Beach to downtown Seattle, primarily through Rainier Valley and the International District. Outbound trips travel south from downtown to Rainier Beach. In August 2024, Route 7 was the second busiest bus route in King County with 10,599 average weekday boardings.
Before diving into the ridership data, it’s important to note the asymmetric routing of inbound and outbound trips. All inbound trips follow the same route (View Map). The trip starts on Henderson St east of Rainier and follows a clockwise loop back to the Rainier Ave/Henderson St intersection via Seward Park Ave and Rainier Ave. It then continues north on Rainier Ave to the rest of the route.
Outbound trips have two variations. As Route 7 approaches Henderson St from the north on Rainier Ave, about two thirds of trips turn left from Rainier Ave onto Henderson St and layover on Henderson St (View Map). The rest of the outbound trips continue on Rainier Ave to 57th Ave and loop via Prentice St (View Map). These trips then travel north back up to Henderson St to layover. Riders traveling inbound will need to transfer to one of the northbound stops on Rainier Ave between Seward Park Ave and Henderson St. All stops on the Prentice St loop are considered part of the outbound trip. In the outbound chart below, the bus is traveling south until the S Prentice St & 64th Ave S stop. It then travels north until S Henderson St & Rainier Ave S. The stop at S Henderson St & Rainier Ave S is served by all outbound trips, hence why its ridership data does not match the ridership data of the stops on the Prentice St loop.
When these data were recorded in 2023, some trips on Route 7 and Route 49 are through-run downtown. This results in the outbound stop at Pine St & 9th Ave showing more than 5 riders per trip despite minimal boardings. These riders are continuing from Route 49. The through-running service pattern was discontinued in September 2024.
Average Ridership Per Trip
The plots below shows the average weekday ridership by stop in each direction, color-coded by time of day. For a more detailed breakdown of how the plots are set up, please refer to the How to Read the Plots section of the article discussing Route 70.
