In light of the most recent report on Sound Transit’s $3.9B budget shortfall, the agency is now proactively seeking public comment to address potential service changes and delays that will not only moderate revenue expenditures in line with the new budget forecast but ultimately fulfill the full delivery of the Sound Transit 2 Plan approved in 2008.  The proposed 2011 budget is available here in full (PDF).

From an e-mail release:

The prolonged economic recession is presenting significant challenges to Sound Transit.

The Sound Transit Board this fall, through the 2011 Budget process, is studying potential delays and service adjustments that will allow the agency to continue implementing the Sound Transit 2 plan approved by voters in 2008.

Come to a Sound Transit Open House or Public Hearing to review proposed responses to the national recession’s impact on agency revenues.  Learn about and comment on proposed service and project realignments proposed for 2011 and beyond.

According to the release, the Draft Service Implementation Plan affects the following routes:510, 511, 513, 535, 540, 545, 554, 560, 566, 599, and Tacoma Link.  You can view the full copy of the DSIP here (PDF).  Transit users are encouraged to attend one of a number open houses and public hearings over the course of the next two months to share insight on the service plan and budget.

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The Community Transit Board is looking at revising service in February to serve the new Mountlake Terrace freeway ramp, instead of the transit center itself:

Mountlake Terrace commuter service to and from downtown Seattle would serve the freeway station instead of going into the Mountlake Terrace Transit Center. Routes 413 and 415 would replace Routes 408 and 477 serving Mountlake Terrace riders.

Route 414 would remain on its current routing and operate two fewer trips.

A new Route 111 would provide peak hour, peak direction weekday service between Brier and the Mountlake Terrace Transit Center, replacing the local portion of Route 477.

Route 130 would serve 56th Avenue between 220th and 236th Street.

Basically, you have a route that originates at the transit center (408) eliminated in favor of buses coming down the freeway from further north (413,415), and one that starts in the vicinity and heads to Seattle (477) replaced with local service (111) to expresses on the Interstate. This kind of consolidation of routes into feeders for express service should be happening all over the region.

These seem like no-brainers, but if you have comments the meeting is, uh, yesterday.

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Despite last year’s moderation of 2008’s record transit ridership, newly released American Community Survey estimates for 2009 show a fair increase in transit commuting share for both Seattle and Bellevue, at 19.5% and 14.2% respectively.  For a comparative breakdown, Eric de Place of Sightline has the rankings between other cities in the region for transit, as well as cycling, walking, carpooling, and working at home.  PubliCola’s observations here.

Seattle 19.5% share scored a modest increase of 1.8 points over 2008, generous compared to Portland’s 11.5% considering the ease of driving there.  It’s not really clear whether or not Link had an influence on the numbers.  When considering the other modes, roughly a third of Seattleites now commute outside of SOV driving.

Bellevue’s share is by far the most surprising at 14.2%.  However, its whopping 6.8 point increase over 2008 could prove to be nothing more than an error.  Nonetheless, when extricating that possibility, there are a few explanations: the city’s growing suburban park-and-ride commuter bases, Downtown Seattle and Bellevue remaining the most likely transit destinations where peak service is good (Bellevue won an award in this department after all), and to a lesser extent more commuters using the Microsoft connector service.

When it comes to bicycling, however, Washington cities lag far behind Oregon with a state-wide share of cycling commuters at an abysmal 0.9%, compared to Oregon’s 2.3%.  The estimates for Seattle are virtually unchanged from 2008 at about 3.0%, while Portland sits easily on top at 5.8% in the big city category.  I wonder why.

Bear in mind that the ACS compiles its data from samples and extrapolation unlike the Census’ full-scale survey model, so not until next year will we get a better idea of actual commuting habits.

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Today is the second to last meeting for the Regional Transit Task Force. I haven’t really done this live blogging thing before to we’ll see how this goes.

8:45 – I’m out. The meeting is slowly wrapping up.

8:36 – Rob likes the report. There is lots of specificity about definitions of specific performance measures. Josh Cavanaugh and Jim Stanton agree. People leaving slowly. Meeting is running over time now. The results of this meeting won’t really be known until the discussion at the next meeting.

8:35 – Onto the draft now. Looks like another meeting is necessary.

8:27 – David Freiboth says what is the ask and when to make an effective ask. How much work goes into the ask and what makes an effective ask. If the state wants to move fast this will give Metro the ability know what the ask will be.

8:25 Both Rob and Josh are bring up the point, what if the state is the one pushing a re-organization of transportation funding next year. What happens then. What does Metro try to do then.

8:16 Fred Butler is saying that he thinks that Metro needs to really create a good detailed and sustainable long term funding plan. If Metro does that it will distinguish it’s self from other agencies. Jim Stanton says that he thinks this should really be put in the context of all transit agencies, not just Metro.

8:09 Lots of jokes about drinks. Cool-Aid, Tea, Mikes hard Lemonade. Long story.

8:03 David Freiborth says that he is hearing people running for cover, and not committing to new funding. Grant says that he thinks you can only go to people once you have already implemented changes and made cuts. Only after that point can you ask.

More after the jump.

Continue reading “RTTF Live Blogging”

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• New Republican governors may refuse federal passenger rail money.
• Looking at bus lanes on Aurora.
• Commemorating the 545 stop on Capitol Hill.
• Paul Bachtel, ATU president, defends Metro wages.
• Meeting October 13th about redesigning the Smokey Point Transit Center.
• ORCA on the Eastside.
• ST buys Beacon Hill house threatened by void; much more here.
• Road diets are a public health issue.
• Bike commuting up nationwide.  Seattle in third, but far behind Portland; more bike boxes come to Capitol Hill.
• Olympia Transit Center expanding.
• An informal poll on East Link between B2 and B7.
• Kemper Freeman blasts McGinn.  The Mayor responds.
• Cascade Bike Club director Chuck Ayers is out.
• New instructional videos for cyclists using Sound Transit services.
• UW Regents still questioning the design of the University Station overpass.
• A pair of dynamite PubliCola editorials.

This is an open thread.

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Like many other transit agencies and local municipalities, Bellevue is facing a budget shortfall of its own, though not as dramatic as say, Sound Transit’s.  Nonetheless, several important transportation projects have fallen under the axe through the city’s Capital Improvement Plan.  The $353 million plan, which delegates funding for capital projects through 2017, strips $29 million of funding for such projects, a few of which could actually be very useful for South Bellevue P&R users.  From the Bellevue Reporter:

More than $29 million of that came in the form of transportation projects, including $6 million that would have went toward neighborhood sidewalks, $5.2 million on 145th Place Southeast and 4.4 million on 108th Avenue SE and Bellevue Way to Interstate 90.

While the original projects weren’t massive non-motorized traffic-calming master plans with cycletracks and road diets, they were part of an Enatai neighborhood program aimed at promoting traffic safety through sidewalks, bike lanes, etc.  Any loss of pedestrian projects in the park and ride’s station buffer is not welcome news for neighborhood non-drivers. The current lack of sidewalks on both 108th and Bellevue Way poses a safety hazard and acts as a major deterrent for residents walking to the park and ride.  Not only such facilities give pedestrians a place to walk, they also help mitigate impacts from traffic.  The future success of a Link station at South Bellevue will depend on whether or not walking/biking are feasible options.

Unfortunately, the city council seems oblivious to these kinds of travesties.  But as the council majority has consistently favored throwing money at fantasy routes over the kind of mitigation South Bellevue neighborhoods need, no one can truly be surprised.  Ironically enough, the defunding of the sidewalks would only add to the already-questionable impacts of the city-pursued A-2 replacement for the park and ride.  Considering that traffic will feed directly from both sidewalk-less Bellevue Way and 108th Ave SE via 113th, I have to question if the new and revised B7 is still truly about “protecting neighborhoods.”

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Video by Oran.

PubliCola’s recap of yesterday’s Link light rail rider alerts shows that we either have a train system that is unreliable at providing service or reliable at providing riders messages. Or, more likely, somewhere in-between.

Two of yesterday’s four delays were delayed to buses in the downtown transit tunnel. The joint operations there will likely be a headache for the years to come, but of course Metro would probably like to remind you that there are more bus riders who use the tunnel than Link’s system ridership.

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The 520 workgroup released their final recommendations on Friday. Of special interest to those interested with bus operations on the Seattle side are the white papers discussing transit priority and the second bascule bridge.

The not-obvious-yet-crucial consideration is construction of the second bascule bridge, which expands Montlake Blvd. from four to six lanes. The second bridge has always been in the plan, but there was substantial neighborhood opposition to destroying two homes and increasing overall vehicle volumes.

Unless and until that bridge is built, transit/HOV lanes on Montlake Blvd will extend northbound from the 520 offramp to Hamlin St, and the existing southbound lane just below Pacific, but not on the bridge itself. The workgroup looked at going to only 1 general purpose lane on the bridge in each direction, but

After reviewing a VISSIM model showing the existing bridge with an HOV lane in each direction and exploring the challenges related to channelizing HOV lanes in the corridor with such a configuration, the subgroup determined that this option would have significant negative impacts on traffic and transit operations along Montlake Boulevard and SR 520.

There also will be a southbound HOV left turn lane onto the onramp.

WSDOT will install signal priority equipment at four intersections on Montlake Blvd. WSDOT’s analysis indicates that operations improvements will reduce congestion enough that this priority operating them should be unnecessary except during special events. However,  the use of these will ultimately be up to SDOT.

There will be performance measures that trigger construction of the second bridge that are related to the performance of all modes of transportation. If these triggers activate and WSDOT overcomes forthcoming political opposition, only then will the bridge be built. More after the jump.

Continue reading “SR 520 Workgroup Recommends Bus Enhancements”

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