Open payments or “Tap to Pay” started today. Several transit agencies’ bus and rail readers including Sound Transit and Metro now accept not only ORCA cards but also credit cards and digital wallets (pay by phone).

Open payments raise the risk that if you have both an ORCA card and credit cards or debit cards in your wallet, it may charge the wrong card or multiple cards or refuse the transaction.

How are your experiences with it?

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The exciting launch of the Lynnwood Link Extension added four new stations connecting Northgate up to Lynnwood City Center. The future Pinehurst (previously NE 130th St) infill station is under construction and expected to open mid-2026. This article will discuss the station itself, bus stops, the new bus Route 77, bike lanes to the station, and finally the station area. Additionally, plans exist for a provisional (unfunded) 220th St SW infill station.

Continue reading “Lynnwood Infill Stations: Pinehurst and potentially 220th St SW” | 127 comments

About Here and Sightline Institute partnered to produce a video discussing how elevators in the US and Canada cost nearly three times as much to build and maintain compared to peer cities which makes it much more difficult to build small apartments. Legislators in Washington are trying again to fix it, but it’s an uphill battle.

This is an Open Thread.

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Update (Feb 21, 3:30pm): Crosslake 2 Line simulated service has resumed.

Following a power outage between Bel-Red station and Downtown Redmond station that started on Thursday, Sound Transit has decided to suspend simulated service on the full 2 Line until further notice. As of this morning, 2 Line trains will operate between South Bellevue station and Downtown Redmond station. The 2 Line will not run between International District/Chinatown station and Lynnwood City Center station. The 1 Line will run as scheduled.

Unexpected outages and service disruptions occur on all transit systems. When issues occur, transit agencies should clearly communicate the situation with passengers and quickly coordinate alternative travel options. Based on the past two days, Sound Transit needs to revamp how it manages outages on the 2 Line.

Continue reading “Crosslake Simulated Service Suspended Indefinitely (Update: Service has resumed)” | 72 comments

This announcement is a significant milestone for the next generation ORCA system. Over the past few years, ORCA has introduced several new features enabled by a redesigned backend system. In 2022, it launched the myORCA.com website and mobile app. In 2024, ORCA and Sound Transit announced the ability to save and access ORCA cards in Google Wallet. Open payment support is widely seen as an essential feature, especially with the expected influx to visitors to the region during the FIFA World Cup games this summer. ORCA will also pilot a 3-day PugetPass during the World Cup.

Continue reading “Friday Roundtable: ORCA Tap to Pay Begins on Monday” | 58 comments

The Seattle Transit Measure (STM) is a 0.15% sales tax that raises $50 million each year to boost bus service and make transit safer, faster, and more accessible in the City of Seattle. Originally passed in 2014 as the Seattle Transportation Benefit District (STBD), it was renewed and renamed in 2020 as the STM. The STM expires next spring and Mayor Wilson’s administration is expected to put a renewal on the ballot this fall.

This three-part series investigates how the STBD came to be, how it evolved into the STM, and what lies ahead given its impending expiration and the massive opportunity we have to expand bus service in Seattle.

Continue reading “Seattle Transit Measure: History as the STBD (2014 to 2020)” | 34 comments

Headlines:

• Vehicle Barrier Plan for Pike Place Market Comes Into View (The Urbanist)
• Issaquah Pitches Case for Keeping Its Light Rail Line on Track (The Urbanist)
• Light rail carried over 200K riders on Seahawks Super Bowl parade day (The Seattle Times, $). What about buses?
• Over 8 million people now live in Washington State (The Seattle Times, $). No mention of city-level statistics, but a comparison to other states. Census tract stats show 38% of workers in King County work remotely most days, up from 7% pre-pandemic, but the density of remote workers varies across the county (The Seattle Times, $).
• Two new senior executives and one boomerang hire at Sound Transit: Jessyn Farrell as Exec. Director of Government and Community Relations; Marshall Foster as Chief Planning and Development Officer, and Brook Belman returns as Deputy CEO (Sound Transit)

Continue reading “Midweek Roundup: 200,000 riders” | 127 comments

The full build out of Sound Transit 2 coming close after the December 6 opening of Federal Way Link Extension and the upcoming March 2026 full East Link. This article will go over the a map of transit times and have a brief recap of what ST2 will accomplish.

Above is the Sound Transit Future Extensions Map (Supposed 2024) annotated with transit times using the Chinatown as the 0 minute starting point. Heading north one can reach Northgate in 21 minutes and Lynnwood City Center in 35 minutes. Traveling east one can reach Bellevue Downtown in 22 minutes and Downtown Redmond in 41 minutes. Traveling south one can reach SeaTac in 33 minutes and Federal Way Downtown station in 50 minutes.

Continue reading “Sound Transit 2 Travel Times and Recap” | 105 comments

While Mexico City’s population keeps growing (currently at 23 million), it has become the city with the worst traffic and one of the most polluted cities in the world. To address these challenges, the city has invested in a mostly carbon-free multi-modal transit system consisting of the Metro subway, MetroBus BRT, trolley and regular bus lines, regional rail and light rail, a bike share system, and one of the largest urban gondola systems (CableBus) on the world. Outside of the city boundaries it also connects to the state’s bus and gondola lines. To serve riders from all income levels, it is also very affordable (7 pesos, about 40 cents, less for students/seniors). A single payment system makes it easier to use any of the different modes. This article explains the changes during the last decade and potential learnings for Seattle.

Continue reading “Learn from Mexico City: Multi-modal network” | 45 comments

Amtrak recently held an exclusive “first look ceremony” at their new Airo trainsets coming to certain routes nationwide over the next few years. Today’s videos review the new trains, which are coming to our very own Amtrak Cascades route first. The new trains are expected to roll out later this year.

The New York Times covered it on Friday with photos of the construction process at the Siemens Mobility factory in Sacramento, California. (NYT gift link)

This is an open thread.

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