Five new Tim Eyman initiatives were filed with the state this month, including one (PDF) which would drastically limit the uses of toll revenue and the way tolls are imposed.

Section 40 (commonly referred to as the 18th Amendment) of the Washington State Constitution has limited the use of fuel excise taxes to highway construction, operation and maintenance since 1944. Eyman’s initiative would limit toll revenue to the same purposes – in fact, even more stringently, to only construction and capital improvements of the highway, bridge, or street on which the toll is collected.

It would also remove the state’s ability to impose variable tolls, and require that tolling end once construction of a structure is paid off – today’s law allows tolling to continue for operations and maintenance, as well as performance management. This would eliminate congestion pricing, HOT lanes, and even simply higher rush-hour tolls.

A final section specifically changes language regarding tolling on Interstate 90. Current law directs WSDOT to work with the federal highway administration toward authorization of tolling on the I-90 bridge – revenue expected to help fund 520 bridge replacement, and to prevent I-90 from becoming even more of a parking lot when 520 is tolled this year. The initiative would specifically (and perhaps redundantly) restrict I-90 toll revenue to capital improvements on I-90.

It’s worth mentioning that this final section could amount to nothing but a shell game – I speculate that toll revenue on I-90 could, with legislative action, replace gas tax revenue used for projects elsewhere in the corridor, and an equivalent in gas taxes could be moved to 520.

With a transportation package on the table in Olympia this session or next, the rest of the initiative could have major implications. Tolling has been increasingly under consideration as an option for congestion reduction, and as a potential revenue source for transit improvements. Without it, the options for transit in the legislature would look even more slim than they already do.

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Once per legislative session Transportation Choices Coalition organizes a day where ordinary citizens go down to Olympia to push for better state transportation policies. This year, it’s Thursday, February 10th.

With the pending budget crisis it will not be an easy year in Olympia, that is why your voice is more important than EVER! This session we will focus on a wide range issues from preventing more draconian cuts to transit service to making our streets safer for cyclists and pedestrians.

Please join us for Transportation Advocacy Day on February 10th in Olympia to ensure that your voice is heard. You can sign up for Transportation Advocacy Day by CLICKING HERE:

WHEN: February 10, 2011, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
WHERE: United Churches, 110 11th Avenue SE, Olympia

Similar to years past we will meet as a large group in the morning and spend the afternoon meeting with legislators.  This year we are going to dedicate more time to breakout sessions in small groups so you can get all the detailed information you need to successfully lobby on our 2011 priorities.  Additionally, we will be offering a Lobbying 101 role-play opportunity at our breakout sessions to prepare you for your afternoon meetings with legislators.

There is TOO MUCH at stake this year and that’s why we need YOUR HELP to fight for Transportation Choices on February 10th in Olympia.

Read up on TCC’s one-page 2011 legislative agenda, which I wholeheartedly endorse.

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Last Sunday, KING 5 TV’s Up Front with Robert Mak discussed the East Link debate in Bellevue, covering things like conflict of interest accusations, B7-Revised, the I-90 lawsuit, and Build a Better Bellevue’s “expert-written” report alleging that Sound Transit jacked up the costs of B7.  For the most part, the program does a fair job of bringing more exposure to the issue.  Nonetheless, you can still detect a pretty shallow understanding that doesn’t reflect the deeper dynamics of the debate, like how a significant portion of South Bellevue residents actually oppose B7.

If you missed the show, I’ve attached the video of the full program above.  Some thoughts below the jump.

Continue reading “King 5’s Up Front covers light rail in Bellevue”

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[There is a newer edition of this map.]

[UPDATE 10:11 am: Oran has applied some fixes to the pdf for download.]

It has been two years since I first released my Metro Frequent Service Network map. The map highlights all corridors that have transit service at least every 15 minutes during most of the day. It was inspired by the maps produced by the transit agencies in Portland and Minneapolis. Today, I give you a brand new version of the map for your enjoyment and benefit. You may download it as a PDF for high quality printing (8.5 x 14 inch Legal size). The map reflects Metro’s February 2011 service change (tentatively) and Sound Transit’s June 2011 service reductions.

This map takes a very different approach from my previous maps. It covers only the city of Seattle, where most of the frequent service is. Gone is the “one-color-for-one-line-for-one-route” French style map. Instead, colors are assigned to the modes: bus, rapid rail, and streetcar. It is a diagram, not a geographic map, but the major water bodies remain to provide some clues and the lines follow the street grid to an extent. Other features include a table showing the time and days when frequent service is provided, a street index for downtown routes, a list of through routes, neighborhood labels in the background, and icons showing connections to Sounder and the ferries. If so desired, thinner lines can be used to depict routes with less frequent service (every 20-30 minutes).

It has been said before by many but I’ll say it again. I think Metro should promote the frequent service network. It is as significant an asset as RapidRide is and it is service that is already out there. At the very least, show it on the timetable covers and on the system map with a simple yellow highlight. In the long term, the network itself should be restructured to provide more frequent service in more places and be more comprehensible to the average user.

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P-I Columnist Joel Connelly whines about new transportation spending, and in the meantime displays a pretty shocking lack of due diligence:

“What did you do with the money we gave you?” A few years back, Seattle voted for Bridging the Gap, a transportation levy topping $350 million that was the largest in the city’s history…

…Still, the city needs an accounting of how Bridging the Gap bucks have been spent. Voters need to see what higher taxes delivered — or didn’t deliver.”

I’m not sure why it takes a not-even-part-time transportation blogger to invest the two minutes to go on the internet and find the Bridging the Gap website, which has last April’s Annual Report on BTG progress. It’s written to be really accessible to the layman.

With a few clicks, I can find that the report covers the first three years of a nine-year plan. 70% has been spent on maintenance, 22% on pedestrian/bike safety, and 8% on transit. The reports gives lots of details about crosswalks painted and so on.

I realize that’s it’s not in the style of newspapers to break down semi-wonky documents, particularly if they put a pretty happy spin on what’s happening. Nevertheless, if Seattle voters don’t know what the progress of BTG is, there’s only one group to blame and it isn’t the government.

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Alert reader Carl Stork attended an SR520 town meeting and makes a great observation:

While they are considering three different designs for the half-interchange at 84th Ave NE, NONE of the designs will permit a bus route that uses the interchange from serving the Evergreen Point freeway stop. The on and off-ramps are all located on the outside of the freeway and the merge point is relatively close to where the freeway station begins. The freeway station is in the center. From the drawings it will not be possible for a bus entering or exiting at 84th to serve the center freeway stop.

This matters because 84th is where the 271 gets on 520. The 271 is the only route that provides all-day service from the Eastside to UW. When the Montlake Flyer Stop is eliminated, the only possible place to switch from downtown-bound bus (255, 545) to the 271 is at Evergreen Point, which as Carl points out will be impossible in this configuration.

In the peak, there are enough routes from everywhere to everywhere that this won’t be a huge imposition. In the off-peak, there are two ways to fix this without any changes to the roadway:

1. Have downtown buses get off at the Montlake exit, drop people off on the lid, and then get back on the freeway to downtown using the GP on-ramp.
2. Dramatically improve UW service on the 540 and 542; if necessary, cut service on the 255 and 545 to pay for it, and expect people to transfer to Link at Husky Stadium or take East Link all the way in.

Both of these involve time penalties.

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At long last, the City of Bellevue has decided to host an open house on its new B7-revised alignment.  You know, the one they’re spending around around $600K studying.  This represents the first publicized effort on behalf of the City to reach out directly to the neighborhoods that would be affected, which, unfortunately, did not come before the council decided to authorize spending for the study.

Considering that the new B7 Revised displaces 12 very large single-family residences in Enatai, it will be interesting to see how some of the homeowners who’ve opposed B2M for running near them will respond to this monstrosity.  For people sick of poorly-done freeway-oriented transit only designed to stray far away from homes and businesses, this will be a good meeting for you to make yourself heard.

The open houses will take place on Tuesday, January 25th from 5 to 7pm at Bellevue City Hall in Room 1E-108.

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It’s a semi-holiday in transitland:

Info for Metro, Sound Transit, PT, and CT.

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The lack of real-time info at stops and stations is pretty irritating, but perhaps local businesses and onebusaway can fill the gap:

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On Sunday, KING 5 TV’s Up Front program, hosted by Robert Mak, will be covering the East Link debate in Bellevue and will be centered on recent claims made by the pro-B7 Build a Better Bellevue group which allege that Sound Transit deliberately made B7 look worse.  In response to the claims, ST staff have prepared answers/rebuttals which will be released in the Final EIS next spring.

You can watch Up Front this Sunday on KING 5 at 9:30am or 11:30pm (if the Seahawks are more important), on KONG 6/16 at 11am, or NWCN at 8pm.

[Update 5:14pm:] Commenter Joshua Kelley says that another broadcast is on KONG 6/16 at 10:35pm so looks like you’ll have chances to watch it day round.

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