Sound Transit provided a media ride on Link to SeaTac/Airport Station this morning, just after they officially took occupancy (meaning the station’s “done”). It so happens that photographer Cian Hayes, who has taken photos for STB in the past, is returning to Ireland for the holidays today, so we sent him to get station photos on his way to the airport. We checked with Sound Transit, and he is indeed the first passenger using Link to the airport to take a flight.
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The House yesterday narrowly passed a $154 billion jobs bill that included tens of billions in transportation funding. Largely breaking along the same lines as the stimulus bill earlier this year, the funding works out like so:
Unlike the Obama administration proposal to allocate $50 billion in competitive transportation grants, this bill mostly allocates along the same lines as the stimulus — mostly through distribution formulas and with most of the money going to state transportation departments that tend to favor highway projects often far from urban areas. Most transit money will be allocated through metropolitan areas also along formula guidelines. Earlier this year, the PSRC distributed over $130 million in stimulus funds.
The Senate will be drafting a bill next year that could move back toward the administration’s goal of a more competitive infrastructure grant process that would likely see better projects receiving funds on merit rather than state politics. That could mean better results for transit. But Senators have more loyalty to their states than to the federal government, so the House bill could simply reflect the political reality.
Either way, more unexpected capital investment for public transit is always good. Based on the earlier stimulus requests, Sound Transit could accelerate construction of a South 200th St stop or North Link to Northgate with some more dollars. Metro could potentially purchase more buses and improve facilities. Local agencies and cities may have new capital projects that weren’t available at the time of the stimulus.
Up to 10% of the transit dollars could be spent on operations costs, according to Streetsblog DC.
28 commentsThis post originally appeared on Orphan Road.
Learn the lessons of the Seattle Monorail.
(via)
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As I’ve said consistently through both ups and downs, monthly ridership numbers suffer from significant sample size issues, seasonal variations, shifts in supporting bus service, and so on, and shouldn’t be taken too seriously.
Nonetheless, weekday ridership dropped about 10% from 16,192 to 14,399, bringing it to about the same plateau as August and September and October. Weekend ridership dropped even more (9,838 for Saturday and 7,836 for Sundays and Thanksgiving), possibly hurt by a lack of special events. These numbers put Link slightly above Metro’s highest ridership route, the 48. I’m told by various sources that October is typically a peak ridership month for buses and Sounder, so the month-to-month drop isn’t surprising.
However, given widespread vacation time in December, it would be surprising if Link were to come near its year-end target 0f 21,000 weekday riders. The end-of-2010 target is 26,000, at which point data would reflect a full year of the completed line running to Seatac with all planned Metro changes in place (except for RapidRide A) for almost 11 months. The last word on Central Link’s success or failure will not come for decades, but that will be the first really informative data point.
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Seattle Central Community College last night hosted SDOT’s initial First Hill Streetcar open house event to solicit feedback from the community on the proposed alignments.
Since comments were written down privately, it’s hard to gauge an overall reaction from the community but the takeaway is that Capitol Hill is very interested in its streetcar.
The City had staff on hand to (attempt to) answer questions. Almost all of what was shown we saw earlier this week, but the material was new to most in attendance.
More after the jump…
Continue reading “SCCC Hosts Streetcar Open House”
| 51 commentsGotta love these WSDOT videos. When does SR520 have this traffic volume? 2AM?
Of the officially considered SR 520 bridge options, A+ is superior to A, K, L, and M for use as a starting point to develop a truly transit-friendly interchange design.
Since gas taxes must be used for roads, a project that mainly improves seismic robustness and extends the HOV lane across the bridge is a particularly attractive use. However, gas taxes will cover only about half the cost of a new SR520 bridge. The rest will come out of a different revenue source, one that could potentially be used for light rail expansion or other worthy transit projects. More after the jump.
Continue reading “Editorial: 520 Options K, L, M Aren’t Worth It”
| 32 commentsDon’t forget the First Hill streetcar community open house tonight starting at 6pm in Seattle Central Community College. It doesn’t say a specific room but the meetings are usually at the southern end of the building and are well marked.
Details:
The Seattle Streetcar website has more details.
Our coverage includes Offical Drawings, 11th Ave Rumor and Details, 12th Ave Couple is a Bad Idea, First Hill Funding Agreement, …and much much more.
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Imagine getting off Sounder or a bus at Auburn station and a few short minutes later, another sleek, quiet train pulls into the station. This could happen in a few short years for Maple Valley, Covington, and Black Diamond residences.
The cities of Maple Valley, Covington, and Black Diamond have joined together for a feasibility study to implement commuter rail service, running from the Auburn Sounder Station to the Black Diamond/Ravensdale communities, in hopes to relieve congestion off Highway 18, Hwy 169, and create transit communities around the stations or TOD, much like Kent Station. More after the jump…
Continue reading “SE King County Commuter Rail coming soon?”
| 51 commentsLast week we relayed a P-I report and press release that Sen. Patty Murray had secured $600,000 for a commuter rail study. Larry Ehl of WSDOT’s Federal Transportation Issues blog confirms that the $600,000 figure is a typo in Murray’s press release. The correct figure is $360,000. We regret the error.
Ehl’s blog post on the subject has a list of all the transportation earmarks for Washington, with dollar values. It’s an interesting read.
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Several notable things happened at the December 10th Sound Transit Board of Directors meeting, Greg Nickels’s 378th(!) and last. You can watch the video or check out the motions online.