Further Delays for East Link in House Transpo Budget

Posted on by Eric Butler

The House Transportation Committee just released their 2009 budget proposal (press release here). Not surprisingly, it includes more delays for R8A, the project that would reconfigure I-90 HOV lanes to make room for East Link Light Rail:

(17) The department shall not sign the final environmental impact
statement for the east link project or negotiate an airspace lease with
sound transit for the use of the Interstate 90 center roadway for
exclusive use by light rail until completion of an independent facility
asset assessment by the joint transportation committee.

You may remember that the last study requested by the state confirmed that the I-90 bridge can handle light rail. Much of our state government remains opposed to building light rail across the water despite overwhelming support from the voters. Perhaps these representatives are under the illusion that if they keep requesting new studies, one will eventually tell them what they want to hear.

Unfortunately there isn’t much time left to influence this budget. There’s a public hearing today at 3:30pm (stream), with an executive session closely following tomorrow at the same time. Full agenda here.

We’ll have more information on all this later tonight.

News Round-Up: VMT Down

Posted on by Andrew Smith
AVE
Ave train in train, photo by beco.
  • According to the DJC and confirmed by Sound Transit, the Mountlake Terrace Station project has received nine bids, all under the engineer’s estimate. That’s one good thing about a terrible economy, especially for construction: projects are cheaper. The lowest bid was from a company called “Mid-Mountain Contractors”, who bid $17.7 million, the original estimate was $21.9 million.
  • Streets blog notes that vehicle miles travelled (VMT) was down 3.6% nationwide in 2008 compared to 2007. That’s a huge decline, but even larger than that decline is the decline in congestion: about 30% nationwide and 24% in the Seattle area. You can see the actual DOT data here. I bet the majority of the fall has to do with the dramatic fall in employment, which explains why congestion has fallen faster than VMT: congestion is worst during commute trips, and commuters needs jobs to go to.
  • On that same topic, Matt Yglesias believes the large reduction in congestion caused by a small reduction in trips shows that even a little congestion pricing can go a long way toward a reducing congestion. However, he goes one step farther and makes the claim that congestion pricing shouldn’t be something that drivers care more about than transit users:

    I live in a walkable, transit-accessible neighborhood in a central city. I don’t own a car and get around on foot, on bike, on bus, or on Metro. Consequently, it doesn’t really bother me if other people have unnecessarily long commutes. Ultimately, neither drivers nor non-drivers benefit from bad policy that causes unnecessary traffic jams and inconvenience, but it’s regular car commuters who are paying the highest price.

    I’m not sure that it’s completely correct to say that car commuters are paying the highest price. Both bus commuters and drivers are paying for congestion with their time, but congestion drives up the cost of bus service, meaning fewer buses.

  • NPR’s Morning addition had a story about how Spain’s AVE high speed rail is faster than an airplane, and how Spain built the system so quickly. I wanted to write “The Trains in Spain are faster than a Plane”, but I the npr broadcaster beat me to it. (H/T to tresarboles).

This is an open thread.

PSRC Transit Projects List

Posted on by Andrew Smith

The PRSC has released the preliminary list of projects that will receive FTA grants from the stimulus bill in our area. Here’s a map of the projects, and here’s the pdf of the list. There’s a lot of money for new buses, $1 million for the monorail (!!!) and even $341,000 for preventative maintence on the SLU streetcar. There’s $4.6 million for North Link acceleration and $4.6 million for track and signals on the M street to Lakewood line that Sounder and Amtrak want to install as part of the Point Defiance Bypass.

Funding by agency and project below the fold.

Continue reading “PSRC Transit Projects List”

Streetcar Timing Update

Posted on by Martin H. Duke
Wildcat Dunny (Flickr)
Wildcat Dunny (Flickr)

After my post complaining about signal timing across Mercer for the South Lake Union Streetcar, I received a reply from Ethan Melone, SDOT Rail Transit Manager.

As reported, SDOT is going to stop the signal acceleration for Mercer, but is going to look at other techniques to make up the time:

First, we will field test signal timing and operations when the Mercer Corridor Project is completed.  This will give us more accurate results than is possible through modeling alone.  With real data in hand, we will work to optimize signal timing to balance the needs of east-west traffic through the Mercer Corridor and north-south transit in the Westlake corridor.  Our signal operations staff will field test a variety of iterations of signal timing and priority and tune the operation of the intersection to a finer level of detail than may be captured in transportation models.  We may be able to achieve the desired balance by increasing priority for the streetcar crossings of Valley Street while reducing priority for crossings of Mercer, for example.  We will also explore the potential for new approaches and technologies–such as schedule-based, fixed pre-emption windows and advanced detection technologies–to further optimize the balance between transit priority and traffic throughput.

He also mentioned the possibility of moving from 15 to 10 minute headways (using 3 streetcars) once Amazon moves into SLU, but that requires some money from Metro, so one can’t help but be skeptical.

Hooray and Halleluiah – Maybe?

Posted on by Guest Contributor

by MIKE SKEHAN

Congress, in a bold stroke of progressive thinking, has quadrupled the investment in High Speed Rail (HSR) to 8 Billion. The funds will be doled out by the FTA on a competitive basis, and with just 12 HSR corridors in the nation to date, our own Cascade Rail Corridor, using existing Talgo tilt trains is in line for a huge chunk – Maybe?

1/12th of 8 Bil. Is 666 Mil. – but I’m not naive enough to think we’ll out compete California and other large states for a full share. As I have advocated here before our state is in a very competitive position to capture the needed funding to accelerate progress towards making the dream a reality.

We have many of the pieces in place. You can learn more about the latest plan from the WSDOT here.

Many of these projects, such as the Ft Deviance Bypass and Vancouver, WA rail yard bypass are or will be shovel ready. This makes sense on so many levels: Consider a trip from Seattle to Portland via car, plane or HSR.

• Car Travel: 144 miles @ 60 mph takes 2.4 hours, costing $70 (IRS 50.5 cents/mi)
• Plane Travel: About 3.3 hours, costing $70. (LRT to/from airports, 1 hour security and boarding, and a 50 minute flight)
• HSR Travel will take under 3 hours, and cost about $30. For the business traveler who can use the time on the train as billable hours, it’s a no brainer.

Greenhouse emissions are much lower for trains than planes and all but a few cars. Fuel efficiency is a hands down winner for rail!

Using and “Incremental Approach” to funding our HSR line adds train sets, more frequent trips, and increases train speeds to 110 mph along sections of the line. On-time performance is increased from 60% to 97% Ridership will nearly double over 10 years, and the entire corridor, when fully built, could be operated at a profit.

I’m referring to our adopted state plan for Option 3, costing $537 Mil. The report concludes that thousands of jobs will be created, and benefit cities all along I-5 in the billions.

With the Feds now aiming to pressure freight railroads to reduce or eliminate slow orders and improve on-time performance to 80% or greater, now is the time to look towards the future.

Again, the support STB has given to rail transport is appreciated. I hope you can find the time to encourage our elected leaders to grab this low lying fruit. Thanks.

What will happen to suburbs?

Posted on by Andrew Smith
Tyson's Corner from cruising altitude
Tyson's Corner by glass window

I find reading and thinking about the future of suburbs endlessly fascinating, particularly when it involves suburbs turning into medium or high-density urban environments. This interview with Christopher Leinberger brings up two of my three favorite talking points on the subject: how suburbs can transform themselves and what is happening in Tyson’s Corner (the third is Downtown Bellevue, which I think most people get way wrong).
A couple of quotes below the fold, though I recommend reading the whole thing.
Continue reading “What will happen to suburbs?”

42 Driver Arrested for Selling Drugs On the Bus

Posted on by Andrew Smith
Photo by the author in the STB Flickr Pool
Photo by the Martin in the STB Flickr Pool

The PI Police Blog has the scoop that a bus driver on the 42 route has been selling drugs on the bus for the last few weeks. The good news is that the 42 bus is being abolished when Light Rail opens, and the Link cars have cameras and locking doors between the drivers and the passengers, so no drugs will pass back and forth.

H/T to Gordon Werner.

Senate Approves Stimulus Plan

Posted on by Andrew Smith
United States Capitol Building
Photo by gawnesco

The Senate has approved their version of the stimulus plan in a 61-37 vote. All Democrats and three Republicans – Senator Arlen Specter, of Pennsylvania, and Senators Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine – voted yes, with the remaining Republicans present voting no. Judd Gregg (R-NH) was not present for the vote, and a winner in Minnesota Senate race between Al Frankin and Norm Coleman has not yet been seated.

Because the Constitution requires that both Houses of Congress pass the same bill, the next step is for the Conference Committee to meet and resolve the differences between the House and Senate versions. Senator Specter has stated that he wants most of the what was in the Senate version to come back from Conference, which could mean the bill will look more like the Senate version in the end. Both Houses have to vote a final time before the bill can be sent to the President to sign into law, and without a 60-seat majority in the Senate, the Democrats will need at least two Republican votes to end debate and avoid a filibuster.

Friday the Transport Politic had a nice chart showing the differences between the House and Senate bills on Amtrak and transit, and I’ve reproduced it here.

Program Passed House Bill Proposed Senate Bill
Grants to Amtrak $800 m $850 m
Grants to States for Rail $300 m $250 m
High-Speed Rail 0 $2 b
Total Rail $1.1 b $3.1 b
Transit Formula Funds $7.5 b $8.4 b
Fixed Guideway Modernization $2 b 0
New Starts $2.5 b 0
Total Transit $12 b $8.4 b
Discretionary Grants 0 $5.5 b

I wonder how transit will fare in the “discretionary grant” programs. It’d be the first chance to see Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in action and find out if he’s just another road warrior. Personally, I’d rather see Congress fund New Starts – which give cash to local transit projects – than High Speed Rail. Which would you rather see?

Update: Here’s a comparison of the timelines and levels of spending and tax cuts between the two versions of the bill.

News Round Up: Trains, Buses and Cars

Posted on by Andrew Smith

Amtrak 452 Braid New Westminster BC 2005/03/30
Amtrak Cascades, by Stephen Rees

Here’s a killer news round-up:

  • Amtrak is working to get a second train to BC, but is getting the run-around from the Canadian Government. The Canadians want to charge $1500 a day for customs and immigration services for the train, and while that might not sound like a lot, Amtrak does not have a massive budget and doesn’t want to pay the fee. You’d think the Canadians would see the benefits of the additional tourism dollars, especially with the Olympics coming, but so far no progress has been made in getting the fee waived..
  • The P-I mentions that the state legislature is becoming a major hurdle in getting an MVET to pay for the increased bus service that King County wanted as a part of the viaduct construction. With Ron Sims in DC, who’ll fight for it?
  • The PI also takes a jab at the 20-40-40 rule in discussing a Municipal League Report that argued for Metro to take a serious look at its finances.

    Metro will also have to “squeeze every ounce of productivity and service out of limited resources.” That will require re-examining a highly political formula that has been designating most new service for far-flung, low ridership suburbs. It should also bring much more serious attention to labor costs.

    Well put. I agree its remarkable that Metro hasn’t yet cut service.

  • As Publicola notes, Maria Cantwell voted against the ill-conceived auto-purchase “stimulus” amendment, but worked to get an electric car amendment onto the bill.
  • This is sort of a sad story of a woman who was forced to move from her home to make way for the Capitol Hill light rail station. It isn’t like she didn’t get paid a fair price for her house, or have it come as a surprise, since Sound Transit notified her more than 10 years ago.
  • The argument against transportation spending.

Can a Park Be Too Big?

Posted on by Martin H. Duke
WSDOT Flickr Pool
WSDOT Flickr Pool

Although it remains murky whether or not we will finally, forever be rid of the viaduct, it’s never too early to start arguing about what should replace it.

Poplar Pt. proposal, from flickr user stirlingr
Poplar Pt. proposal, from flickr user stirlingr

One thing I’m sure we’ll see is a push to turn a large part of it into open space.  After all, open space is accessible to anyone, while housing and offices are enjoyed by a relative few.  GreaterGreaterWashington, which is basically the Washington, DC equivalent of STB and hugeasscity combined, came out against extensive open space in a very large redevelopment going on in Anacostia.  He even trots out the Jane Jacobs:

In orthodox [modernist] city planning, neighborhood open spaces are venerated in an amazingly uncritical fashion, much as savages venerate magical fetishes [sic]. Ask a houser how his planned neighborhood improves on the old city and he will cite, as a self-evident virtue, More Open Space. Ask a zoner about the improvements in progressive codes and he will cite, again as a self-evident virtue, their incentives toward leaving More Open Space. Walk with a planner through a dispirited neighborhood and though it be already scabby with deserted parks and tired landscaping festooned with an old Kleenex, he will envision a future of More Open Space.

More Open Space for what? For muggings? For bleak vacuums between buildings? Or for ordinary people to use and enjoy? But people do not use city open space just because it is there and because city planners wish they would.

There certainly is a place for mega-parks like New York’s Central Park and our very own Arboretum.  But the creation of urban “green space” should always be measured against the fact that it will displace people, ultimately causing the destruction of genuine natural habitat.

News Round Up: Recession

Posted on by Andrew Smith
Tacoma Link at 17th & Pacific
Tacoma Link, photo by Siobhán2009
  • Curb Bulbs are becoming a sticking point in the Mercer Street fix design. Without the curb bulbs, Mercer Street could be seven lanes instead of six, which a lot of truck drivers want.
  •  This Wired piece notes the budget short falls facing transit agencies across country are not being noticed by Congress. The Stimulus package includes help for state budgets and money for transit capital projects, but no money to keep transit service from being cut.
  • According to Forbes, Seattle has the 5th most improved commute. My commute definitely feels improved over the past year or so, but I wonder how much of that is related to the downturn in employment.
  • American Progress says Seattle is one of the best cities in the US to live without a car, along with San Francisco, Portland, Chicago, Boston, DC, Philly and New York. I lived the first twenty or so years of my life in Seattle without a car, and I can attest that it can be pretty easy, but it depends where you live (I grew up on Capitol Hill and in Wallingford).

News Round Up

Posted on by Andrew Smith
Patty Murray, by Ben Schiendelman
  • Gregoire says that the motor vehicle excise tax (MVET) is not needed to build the viaduct replacement tunnel. This will likely make a lot of people happy, since the MVET tends to be extremely unpopular for some reason, but it makes me very unhappy, since that money was supposed to go to transit service.
  • Patty Murray and Diane Feinstein are pushing a measure through the US Senate that will increase the amount of infrastructure funding in the Senate version of the stimulus bill. Currently, the Senate version has significant less infrastructure, and especially transit spending, than the version the house passed last week. If the amendment passes, it’s virtually gauranteed that the stimulus bill will have more than $13 billion in transit spending. The Senate version is expected to be larger than the $819 billion House version was, due to the large number of amendments.
  • As you have probably heard, Ron Sims is going to DC to be the deputy director of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. Sims has been King County Exec since 1996, and was probably read for a new job. In the mean time, the County Council will select a replacement. Sims is a good fit for this position, and will do a great job.
  • The feeling outside North King County? Toll both the 520 bridge and the I-90 bridge to pay for 520 construction.
  • This is why double decker buses need to stick to their route.

Phoenix Light Rail

Posted on by Andrew Smith
Phoenix at dusk (HDR)
Phoenix at Dawn, by flickr user robotography

I’ve been following the Phoenix Light Rail opening to try to predict what sort of reaction our own light rail system is going to have when it opens this summer. Arizona’s light rail is a bit different to Link – it’s entirely at-grade, for starters – but I think many of the lessons that Phoenix is learning we’re going to have to learn as well, for better or for worse. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to write a series of posts on Phoenix’s Metro Light Rail, and what we can expect from the first few months of Link, and the period after that. In this first post, I’m just going to talk about Phoenix and the Metro Light Rail.

Continue reading “Phoenix Light Rail”

Another Look at the Stimulus

Posted on by Andrew Smith

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking and writing about what’s wrong with the stimulus package and it’s really easy to critisize a bill that tries really hard to please everyone. But looking at the stimulus from a different perspective, in 2007, the Federal Government spent $2,730 billion (more was spent in 2008), of which $8.875 billion when to the FTA and was spent on transit. So about 1/3 of one percent of the total budget went to transit. With this stimulus package, $825 billion (or $550 billion if you think tax credits aren’t spending) will be spent in total, and $9 billion will go to transit. That’s nearly 1.1%. So compared to most government spending, this stimulus is very transit heavy. And $2.1 billion for New Starts is about 50% more than a typical year’s worth of spending.
 
Still, even conservatives agree that tax cuts are crappy stimulus and the stimulus will not keep cities from cutting service or raising fares. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) has authored an amendment to the bill to authorize more funding for transit, so it’s not too late to email your congressional delegation and tell them you want to see more transit in the final draft of the stimulus bill. Especially Patty Murray, who’s in the Senate commitee looking at the bill right now.

A couple of videos below the fold.
Continue reading “Another Look at the Stimulus”

Amtrak Cascades News

Posted on by Andrew Smith

cascades-ridership
774,421 trips were taken on Cascades in 2008,  up more than 14% last year compared to 2007, and 2007 itself was a record year . This is by far the biggest year-over-year increase for Cascades, and is all the more remarkable when considering that no new runs were added last year.
casecadesridership2
The second graph shows the quarterly data for 2008, and you can see that the third quarter was when ridership was up the most over 2007. This seems to correspond to the rise-up in gasoline prices, but the return to levels similar to 2007 in the fourth quarter may not be explanable solely by the late year slide in gas prices. In December, we had snowpacolypse, and there was another snow day in November, both storms shut down service for some period. In a way, it’s impressive that ridership was up at all in Q4, when you consider that service was out for nearly two weeks.

 Apparently in an attempt to boost ridership further, WSDOT – which funds most Cascades service – is applying for some of the Amtrak money that Congress approved last summer.  You can see the list of projects here . If you look at the projects in the list, most of the money would go toward adding third main lines in typically congested places along the route, in an attempt to ease competition between freight and Amtrak. Noticeably absent from the list is the Pt. Defiance bypass.

Here are the WSDOT reports the two graphs came from:

Week in Review

Posted on by Andrew Smith
Seattle Traffic
Seattle Traffic, from Oran via the STB flickr pool.

Last week, we welcomed a new president, but there was a fair bit of transportation news as well.

Quick Stimulus Update

Posted on by Andrew Smith

Update: Josh Feit has the scoop from Rep Rick Larsen (D-WA) on what Washington would be getting in the House Stimulus plan:

The House legislation includes the following funding for Washington state:

  • $847,078,890 in total funding to modernize Washington state infrastructure
  • $529,547,455 for highways, roads and bridges
  • $216,584,501 to construct and maintain public transit
  • $100,946,934 for wastewater treatment to provide clean water

29% of our state’s transportation cash going to transit is a bit better than the national break down, and the total number is a bit more than we had been hearing Washington would get.  I wonder how much of the transit cash will be “construct” and how much will be “maintain”.

Orignial post from here:

Streetblog (via Slog) wonders why the Obama Administration pulled the plug on transit funding in the stimulus package, and TPM’s Elana Schor got the answer from Rep. James Oberstar (via Yglesias):

The reason for the reduction in overall funding — we took money out of Amtrak and out of aviation; we took money out of the Corps of Engineers, reduced the water infrastructure program, the drinking water and the wastewater treatment facilities and sewer lines, reduced that from $14 billion to roughly $9 billion — was the tax cut initiative that had to be paid for in some way by keeping the entire package in the range of $850 billion.

Oh well. At least Obama’s closing Gitmo.