Guest Contributor

Denny Way Mode Share

November 10, 2025November 10, 2025 by Guest Contributor

By JASON LI

King County Metro’s Route 8 is the slowest and least reliable bus route in the entire city. That was proven this summer when hundreds of transit advocates outwalked and outdanced the bus doing the slowest things we know during our Race the L8 event. The reason for this is painfully obvious: buses are constantly stuck in the traffic towards the I-5 entrances that brings Denny Way to a standstill. Despite all of its issues, Route 8 still manages to attract 7,000 daily riders. This makes it Metro’s eighth most popular route and is a testament to how vital it is as the only east-west bus route between downtown and the ship canal.

That’s why the Fix the L8 campaign has been advocating for bus lanes on Denny Way for years, including writing a three part series for the Seattle Transit Blog earlier this summer. We were honored to have been able to stand and speak with City Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck when she echoed our call for full-length two-way bus lanes on Denny via Better Bus Lanes campaign. She even secured majority support in City Counci for this with councilmembers Hollingsworth, Saka, Juarez, and Solomon as co-sponsors. This issue has even prompted responses from representatives in every level of local government, including County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda and State Representative Julia Reed.

Unfortunately, SDOT seems content on allowing Route 8 buses to continue festering in traffic. It recently announced it has decided to forgo bus lanes where they are most needed along Denny Way. This decision was predicated on a fundamentally flawed traffic study, which assumed that zero drivers would switch to taking transit or switch to alternate streets after bus lanes are installed or seek alternate routes. Despite the glaring error, the study did still include some incredibly insightful data, revealing that the Route 8 riders match drivers headed to Capitol Hill on Denny Way and even outnumber drivers headed to I-5 S when combined with pedestrians as shown below.

Speeding Up Routes 3 and 4

September 9, 2025September 8, 2025 by Guest Contributor

By KIAN NAEEMI

The Harborview Medical Center area is a bottleneck afflicted with crushing traffic. Multiple roads funnel traffic east into James Street, where traffic then struggles onto I-5. At the same time, bus routes 3 and 4 are trying to serve the same kind of trip on those roads, getting people to the Link Light rail and the Third Avenue busway, two major transit arteries which provide an alternative to I-5. These buses should be alleviating traffic (and to some extent they do) but they are unable to fix the traffic while in it. Better bus routing and transit priority improvements can make buses in the area much more effective at maneuvering through the James Street logjam.

The Seattle DOT should work with King County Metro to reroute routes 3/4 off the chronically clogged James St. onto Cherry St. (with a reverse bus lane), put bus lanes (for ambulance use as well) on 9th at Harbourview, and make Jefferson from 9th to Broadway a local only road. Heading eastbound, the reroute would result in: buses taking Cherry from Third Ave and taking a right on 9th to join the current routing for the rest of the route. This preserves the vital 9th and Jefferson stop serving Harborview. Here’s a map.

Fix the L8: Long W8s

June 26, 2025June 26, 2025 by Guest Contributor

By JASON LI

This is part 3 of a 3-part series on route 8. Part 1. Part 2.

Even if Denny Way is solved, frequency for the route is subpar, especially at night, where it drops to 20-30 minutes.

Headways	7-9am	9am-4pm	4-6pm	6-8pm	8-10pm	10pm-1am
Weekday	12 min	15 min	12 min	15 min	20 min	30 min
Saturday	15 min	15 min	15 min	15 min	30 min	30 min
Sunday	15 min	15 min	15 min	20 min	30 min	30 min

A table of Route 8’s headways

At peak, theoretical 12-minute headways are rarely met as Route 8’s schedule only allocates 60 minutes to go from Queen Anne to Mount Baker, but oftentimes this trip takes more than 90 minutes. This means buses don’t arrive at their base on time, resulting in cascading delays as buses start their next trip late. Riders are often left waiting 20 or even 30 minutes for their next bus, especially during periods of bad bus bunching.

However, once bus lanes are added, the opposite would happen as buses speed through the route but spend the time savings sitting idle at their base until their next scheduled departure. Metro must be ready to adjust schedules accordingly and increase frequency to more efficiently utilize their existing resources to meet the exploding demand that would accompany bus lanes. Luckily, it seems like they are working closely with SDOT and will be well-poised to respond immediately to maximize benefits from any infrastructure improvements.

At night, current frequencies make relying on Route 8 to get you home at night untenable, especially if making a transfer, and also leaves it wholly unable to serve evening events in Capitol Hill and Seattle Center. Additional service hours during these periods is not only relatively cheap given low traffic conditions, but also extremely effective in improving frequency. Only one additional round trip bus per hour is required to bring headways from 20 minutes to 15 minutes, and only two buses an hour are required to to bring headways from 30 minutes to 15 minutes.

Fix the L8: Redesigning Denny Way

June 24, 2025June 24, 2025 by Guest Contributor

By JASON LI

This is part 2 of a 3-part series on route 8. Part 1.

As the only arterial connecting Seattle’s second and third densest neighborhoods, Denny Way is one of the most important streets in the city. But as all locals know, it doesn’t work well for anybody right now, including drivers. It’s clear that something needs to change. That’s why the Fix the L8 campaign has been pushing for bus lanes in both directions along it since 2023 to ensure that this vital east-west connector can move as many people as possible. And it would help more than just Route 8 – Routes 1, 3, 13, 17, 24, 33, and RapidRide D also share Route 8’s headaches at Denny and 2nd.

Any bus lane in Seattle – especially on Denny Way – should include red paint and should be 24/7 to reduce confusion, boost compliance, and maximize effectiveness. Furthermore, while the bus lane would need to allow right turns for general traffic at most intersections, there are many redundant eastbound right turns at signalized intersections with high pedestrian volumes which should be restricted to minimize the impact of turning traffic. Specifically, 2nd Ave, Warren Pl, Broad St, Taylor Ave, Vine St, Bell St, Westlake Ave, Lenora St, and Fairview Ave can all be served by a turn immediately before those intersections. Denny and Westlake is especially problematic as extremely high pedestrian volumes mean each right turning car can delay the bus multiple light cycles.

Fix the L8: Route 8 Bus Lanes

June 23, 2025June 22, 2025 by Guest Contributor

By JASON LI

This is part 1 of a 3-part series on route 8 and Denny Way. Part 2 will be Tuesday, part 3 Thursday.

Seattle needs more bus lanes. Everywhere.

We are in the middle of a worsening climate crisis, and Seattle’s contribution to it is largely driven by personal vehicles. According to Seattle’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory, transportation accounts for nearly 60% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the city. Unfortunately, that metric is only increasing. Commute Seattle’s 2024 survey results have city center commuters who drive alone outnumbering transit riders and growing rapidly.

Seattle’s transit mode share is only about half of what is was in 2019

It’s clear that Seattle needs to take drastic actions as soon as possible to reverse this trend to bring these numbers closer to pre-pandemic level, when transit riders outnumbered drivers 2:1. The most effective way to turn would-be drivers into transit riders is just to make taking transit faster than driving. Red paint is an extremely cheap, fast, and effective way to do so, especially when combined with signal changes to ensure buses can take full advantage of transit lanes.

Adding bus lanes is also particularly important as King County Metro faces a looming fiscal cliff. Faster and more reliable buses means that each of Metro’s service hours can go further and require less slack and redundancy. Additionally, we urge the county to prioritize service over fleet electrification, which is exacerbating funding issues. If electrification goals take precedence, then we risk a death spiral of worse service leading to fewer riders, leading to even more service cuts. If we continue down this path, we risk pushing even the most ardent of transit advocates to resort to owning and driving a personal vehicle.

King County Metro’s upcoming fiscal cliff threatens to result in a death spiral of service cuts

The Five Bridges of Overlake

August 5, 2024 by Guest Contributor

By WILLIAM CONDON

This week focuses on the Overlake/Crossroads area in eastern Bellevue/southern Redmond. Today William Condon discusses the bridges over 520. Tuesday we’ll review current conditions. Thursday and Friday will look at the proposal to split RapidRide B into two longer lines.

The Overlake neighborhood at the border of Bellevue and Redmond is divided down the middle by the 520 freeway.

Redmond has grand plans for the neighborhood, including at least 10,000 new jobs and 8,000 housing units. Currently most of what’s happening there is southeast of the freeway. The northwest side has tech offices (mostly Microsoft); and apartments and condos on the far west side of 148th across the city limits in Bellevue. The Redmond city council is planning to merge the Redmond part into one upzoned district.

To make the problems of the freeway worse, there are now pedestrian destinations right next to the freeway — East Link light rail with two stations in the Overlake neighborhood. There have long been plans to deal with this by building new pedestrian bridges – and now both of them are open. This makes a total of five bridges over the freeway in the Overlake neighborhood.

Let’s take a look at each of those five bridges. All of them have some good and points and some bad points, but there are lessons we can take from each of them.

OneBusAway Needs Help

October 17, 2023October 17, 2023 by Guest Contributor

by DR. KARI WATKINS

Hello Seattle Transit Community –

For more than a decade you have loved and supported OneBusAway. As many of you know, Brian Ferris and I created OBA as two PhD students thinking that we could make transit information better in the Seattle area. Since then, the app and backend have expanded to hundreds of thousands of users in multiple cities as well as providing real-time info in Seattle for a very long time. A few years ago, our longtime mentor Alan Borning helped the OneBusAway community create a non-profit called Open Software Transit Foundation to govern the project. However, we are a meagerly funded non-profit that exists primarily based on the blood, sweat and tears of a few dedicated volunteers on our board.

Recently, we reached a crossroads. We still powerfully believe that having a transit-agency-controlled, open-source-coded way to get your transit information remains a good thing, even in a world with Googles and Transit Apps and contractors helping agencies spend millions to create their own dedicated app. Yet it is getting harder and harder to exist as a volunteer-only organization and we feel the need to finally hire a dedicated developer who would work for us on the project to keep the apps up-to-date while trying to increase our reach.

To do this, we need an influx of cash. We have long had an account set up for you to make donations, but have only used it when people asked us. We are now working on revising the apps to make a plea for donations more prominent. We’re looking at a wikimedia version of taking donations. Every once in a while, we make a plea that if you rely on us to get your info, show us the love.

We know that Seattle Transit Blog was with us from the very beginning (earliest I can find is 2009), encouraging Brian and I back in the day, so we thought we would start here to make our first plea. Think of this as a way for us to gauge if this is going to work. And if you have funding ideas for us, feel free to reach out at info@onebusaway.org.

Thanks for your support all these years,

Kari

Kari Watkins is an Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Davis.

Improving Metro 40 and D

February 15, 2022February 15, 2022 by Guest Contributor

by ROSS BLEAKNEY

The Seattle Department of Transportation has begun work on making Metro’s route 40 faster and more reliable. With these changes, Metro can substantially improve the transit network in the north end if it alters two very popular routes.

Improvements for the 40

The 40 is often delayed around the Fremont Bridge. It isn’t the bridge opening itself that causes the big delay, but the traffic that backs up behind it. The 40 also experiences congestion close to downtown as well as around Market Street in Ballard. Fortunately, plans by the city address all of these delays and more. Buses will be able to travel in their own lane, avoiding the worst bottlenecks. Not only will this make the 40 substantially faster, but it will make it a lot more reliable. With this increase in speed and reliability, Metro could reroute the 40 and Rapid Ride D in the north end, like so:

Intercounty Routes for Lynnwood Link

January 18, 2022January 16, 2022 by Guest Contributor

by ROSS BLEAKNEY

The bus routes that are north of Seattle will change after Lynnwood Link. Several routes cross the county line, or should. These are operated by King County (Metro Transit) or Snohomish County (Community Transit). What follows is a proposal for changes to these routes. This is not meant to be a comprehensive list of bus routes that go across the border, but a few that would change because of Lynnwood Link.

About the Map

You can see a full size map by clicking in the corner. You can highlight a route by selecting it on the legend or the map itself. I’ve tried to be as detailed as possible on the map, although errors are inevitable (please notify me of mistakes via the comments).

Routes

Swift Blue Line

Realignment will simultaneously pursue expanded funding while focusing on challenges and opportunities to reduce costs

February 2, 2021February 1, 2021 by Guest Contributor

by PETER ROGOFF, SOUND TRANSIT CEO

8th Avenue W concept for Mariner Station (Makers/Snohomish County)

Completing critical transit investments that regional voters approved in 2016 will not only enhance our mobility, but increase our communities’ economic prosperity, environmental sustainability and social equity. Succeeding now requires us to come together to overcome lower revenue projections and higher cost estimates.

As an agency and region, we find ourselves whiplashed by a unique recession that has decimated revenue sources such as sales taxes, but without slowing our red hot property and construction markets. Other capital programs in rapidly growing regions are also experiencing this double bind that is beyond anything we’ve seen before.

Projects already under construction, including light rail extensions to Lynnwood, Bellevue, Redmond, Federal Way and Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood, are continuing unabated toward on-schedule openings. Of the eight major projects we currently have under construction, seven are either on or ahead of schedule and on or below budget. We are now just months away from opening Link to Northgate, and in the next four years, we will almost triple our light rail system from 22 to 62 miles.

Now is the time to regionalize transit funding

February 27, 2020February 27, 2020 by Guest Contributor

by Kelsey Mesher

A countywide 2020 transportation measure would help address affordability, growth and mobility needs — and maintain Seattle’s current level of service.

With one of the largest and most progressive electorates expected to turn out this year, 2020 presents an opportunity to address our region’s largest challenges, including transportation. On Wednesday, February 26, the King County Council kicked off its first public discussion of going to the ballot to ask voters to support a countywide Transportation Benefit District, which could raise as much as $160 million annually for bus service, programs and improvements through a 0.2% increase in sales tax.

We have seen the successes of transit investment through Seattle’s Transportation Benefit District. In the last two years alone, Seattle has increased TBD-funded Metro service by 36%. As a result, more than 7 in 10 residents live within a 10-minute walk of very frequent bus service. While transit ridership has declined in cities across the country, Seattle has bucked the trends – increasing transit ridership and kept drive alone commute rates at bay. The City has also used TBD funds to support access and affordability programs, providing free transit for students and some residents of low-income housing.

Metro’s long range plan, Metro Connects, outlines how we can achieve outcomes like these throughout King County, which is why Transportation Choices Coalition strongly supports taking a countywide approach to funding transit. The alternative is continuing with a “pay-to-play” system where the most well-resourced cities, like Seattle (or potentially Bellevue or Redmond, should they choose to run their own measures), receive a higher level of service, creating a two-tiered transit system.

We are all well aware of the needs:

Two easy ways to speed up I-405 buses

December 24, 2019December 27, 2019 by Guest Contributor

by ALEX KVEN

Some fixes to transit delays are expensive, or require taking on entrenched interests, but others do not. Here are two easy wins in the southern part of I-405.

On SR-167 northbound, the HOV/toll lane on the left-hand side turns into a regular lane shortly after S. 180th street. This is quite early to end this lane, as traffic is bad on weekday mornings. While the left lane needs to be available for left turns at S. Grady Way beyond I-405, solo drivers don’t need two miles of space to merge into the left lane. The HOV/Toll lane should extend at least as far as the I-405 HOV direct access ramp (anything less is completely inexcusable and reduces the value of that direct access ramp), so HOV vehicles can continue through to I-405 without hitting a patch of SOV traffic. This would improve reliability on routes 566 and 567.

On eastbound N Southport Drive at I-405 (shown above), the on-ramp to I-405 north has two lanes, a regular lane with a meter, and an HOV lane that bypasses the meter. During rush-hour, the queue behind the meter often extends beyond the length of the HOV meter bypass lane, forcing buses and HOVs to wait behind a long line of cars for a while (sometimes as much as 10 minutes or more), before they can skip the bottleneck.

Seattle Transit Advisory Board Members: No on I-976

October 18, 2019October 18, 2019 by Guest Contributor

Since 2014, the City of Seattle’s Transportation Benefit District (STBD) has consistently funded transportation improvements across the city, such as more frequent Metro buses, subsidized ORCA cards for income-qualifying residents, and pre-paid ORCA cards for Seattle Public School high schoolers. Seattle voters approved the STBD through a 0.1% sales tax increase and a $60 annual Vehicle Licensing Fee (VLF), also known as car tab, for citizens who can afford it (the city runs a VLF rebate program for income-eligible motorists). We aren’t alone– about 60 other communities across the state fund their TBDs by one or both of these sources, improving vehicle, bus, ferry, and rail access across Washington.

When the program began in 2014, only 25% of Seattle households lived within a 10-minute walk of 10-minute or better all-day service. The original goal was for over half of all households to be served at that level by 2020. Through the STBD, the city met that goal in 2016, and continues to improve: today, 71% of households in the city enjoy frequent, reliable transportation access. The STBD directly added 6,780 weekly bus trips to Seattle residents, mitigating overcrowding, expanding access, and creating opportunity for Seattleites across the city.

Investments from STBD benefit all areas of Seattle, including neighborhoods the city has designated as having low access to economic opportunity. Access to transportation has been found to be a crucial factor in upwards social mobility. Historically underserved populations, such as Southeast, Southwest, and far North Seattle, have benefited directly from faster, more frequent service (e.g., Metro bus routes 106, 120, and the E line), and multimodal street improvements. STBD also funds the ORCA Lift program and saved Metro’s 24-hour Night Owl service from being permanently cut.

Permits will make park and rides more reliable and accessible

July 11, 2019February 27, 2020 by Guest Contributor

King County Council will vote on a Park and Ride permit program next week.

by HESTER SEREBRIN, VICKY CLARKE, ALEX BRENNAN, and TIM GOULD

In Seattle, many of us are privileged with easy access to great bus service at any time of day. But the regional reality is pretty different for most folks. Until we are able to fund and build out King County Metro’s long-range plan, which will connect many more neighborhoods to frequent, high-capacity transit via a short walk or bike ride, lots of residents have to rely on driving to a Park and Ride as part of their daily trip.

With increased growth and demand in our region, many of these lots are filling up fast, creating crowding on earlier transit trips, and leaving little to no parking for workers without the flexibility in their schedules to race for one of the limited spaces early each morning. Rather than building more parking lots, parking permits can help manage available space at Park and Rides, encourage carpooling, and create reliability for those who need it.

Next Tuesday, July 16, the King County Council Mobility and Environment committee will vote on a parking permit resolution to offer reserved solo driver parking permits for King County Park and Ride facilities. Join TCC and partners on July 16 at 1:30 pm to testify and show your support for smarter parking management.

This Park and Ride resolution is similar to the policy the Sound Transit Board of Directors approved last year; applications for solo driver permits, including discounted permits for ORCA LIFT riders, are now available for Sound Transit Park and Ride facilities in Northgate, Auburn, Puyallup, Edmonds, and Mukilteo.

Why Park and Ride Permits?

Park and Ride lots are convenient transfer areas that make transit more accessible for people who do not live near a bus or light rail route. Until we have a more robust transit network, Park and Rides are one tool to relieve congestion and promote the use of public transportation. All riders and taxpayers pay hidden costs for expensive parking infrastructure, and building more parking will only occupy land that can be used to build housing near high-frequency transit. Parking permits can help manage parking demand and curb the need to build endless parking lots. Without parking fees, parking costs impact all users, including those arriving by foot, bike, or bus, while only benefiting those who drive.

King County’s Park and Ride Proposal

The Bellevue Transportation Commission is stalling on downtown bicycle lanes

May 31, 2019May 30, 2019 by Guest Contributor

Main St in Bellevue, where a bike lane is being considered (Image: Dan Ryan)

By BRAD HAVERSTEIN

Bellevue may have decided to make the 108th Ave NE bike lane it built last year permanent, but when it comes to expanding the city’s downtown cycling network the Bellevue Transportation Commission seems to be at odds with City Council. On May 23rd the Commission split 3-3 over whether to add bicycle lanes along two blocks of Main ST between Bellevue Way and 108th Ave NE, despite the fact that City Council strongly supports the project. Following the split, the Commission voted to delay further discussion, but did not choose a specific date to revisit the plan, leaving it unclear how the process will move forward.

This is the second time that the Commission has punted consideration of extending Bellevue’s downtown bicycle network. City staff first proposed the Main ST project at the Commission’s March 28th meeting, but the issue was tabled after the Commission’s 4-2 vote to retain the existing protected bicycle lanes on 108th Ave NE.

The decision to delay comes after Commission Chair Lei Wu has received specific instructions from Bellevue City Council to evaluate options for Main ST and choose an alternative. At a May 13th study session the full Council discussed the proposal with Wu and expressed unanimous support for moving forward with an east-west bicycle facility. Since City Council strongly supports piloting more bicycle lanes, why is the Transportation Commission dithering on its responsibility?

Thinking outside the car

May 29, 2019May 29, 2019 by Guest Contributor

by JOSHUA NEWMAN, Candidate for Seattle City Council District 4

Once upon a time, it was easy to get around Seattle. Hop in the car and in 15 minutes, you were downtown; and outside of downtown, parking was easy. At least, that’s how many long-time residents remember Seattle. Congestion was infrequent and parking was plentiful.

So today’s congestion feel like dramatic change; a rupture from the Seattle people fell in love with. But people all over the world want a safe, prosperous place to live, and Seattle has offered that. After 40 years of stable population size, Seattle has grown 30%, by 167,000 people, since 2000. We all need to move around the city, and because every level of government has subsidized car use, most people assume they will get around by car.

This assumption carries heavy costs. In 2000, the annual cost to own a car was $7,160 (2018 dollars). It’s now $8,175. A community designed around cars is a community that chains its residents to a large financial liability. This burden falls most heavily on working families, who are forced into long commutes. Meanwhile, our businesses struggle to move freight, transit riders wait for car-clogged intersections, and potential bike riders stay away in fear.

The more expensive burden – which bears repeating – is to our climate. The human species has never, in our entire existence, lived on Earth when the atmospheric carbon content was as high as it is now: 415 ppm. Seattle’s own carbon emissions continue growing, and we won’t stop that with our current incremental approach.

STB readers know it doesn’t have to be this way. We can simultaneously unlock congestion, improve equity, and address climate change locally by making it easy to get around Seattle without a car.

How Seattle can shape an equitable congestion pricing plan

May 28, 2019May 28, 2019 by Guest Contributor

Traffic on Stewart Street (Sounder Bruce – Flickr)

If done right, congestion pricing can reduce pollution and improve mobility.

by HESTER SEREBRIN, Policy Director, Transportation Choices Coalition

Seattle has a traffic problem. According to the 2018 Global Traffic Scorecard, Seattle is the 6th most congested city in the country, robbing people who drive 138 hours and nearly $2,000 annually.

Congestion also contributes to our climate crisis, with 66% of Seattle’s greenhouse gas emissions coming from road transportation. Commutes will only get longer and pollution worse as our city grows unless we take decisive action. Cities across the world, facing similar dilemmas, are considering congestion pricing, the only proven tool to reduce congestion. Pricing is also a tool that can be used to achieve other outcomes like mitigating local air and water pollution, and creating progressive revenue structures to support healthier and safer mobility options. While cordon pricing, charging people to drive to or within a downtown area, is the most well-known form of congestion pricing, pricing is flexible and we can find a structure that best meets our goals.

Last Thursday, the City of Seattle released a congestion pricing phase one report that provides case studies and potential pricing tools to inform Seattle’s policy development and engagement process as we explore congestion pricing. The report evaluates a variety of possible pricing scenarios based on criteria related to equity, climate and health, traffic congestion, and implementation, and outlines a process for engaging with stakeholders to ensure benefits accrue to communities who need them most. We all now have an opportunity to help shape a progressive plan that is still in the early stages of policy development.

Transportation Choices Coalition is working to bring more and better transportation choices to Washington State, improving access and mobility for all. As the report identifies, our current transportation system is inequitable, drawing from regressive revenue sources, struggling to provide affordable and reliable options to those pushed out by growth, and creating poor air quality disproportionately in communities of color. We believe that if done right, congestion pricing has the ability to cut pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and generate progressive revenue to reinvest in a robust transportation system. There are understandable concerns that a poorly planned pricing system could hurt low-income communities and communities of color, and our priority is to develop a congestion pricing policy rooted in equity.

Here’s what we want to see next from Seattle’s congestion pricing process:

A Better Ballard Option for Link

March 21, 2019March 20, 2019 by Guest Contributor

by Dale Menchhofer

tl;dr: This post proposes a new option for the Interbay – Ballard segment of the West Seattle – Ballard light rail project that is measurably and significantly better than any of the remaining official options. The major components are (1) an aerial bridge over the BNSF rail yard, (2) an optional station at Fisherman’s Terminal, (3) a shorter tunnel under Salmon Bay, and (4) a station at 20th Ave NW and NW Market St.

This option has the highest possible value—retaining the high quality of a tunnel, but with significantly higher ridership, and at a competitive cost. In fact, it has a lower capital cost per rider than any of the official options. It has opportunities to turn Port of Seattle and BNSF into 3^rd party funding sources, instead of potential adversaries. In spite of its superior characteristics, the only hope it has of becoming the preferred alignment is if enough of you support it in ‘scoping’ comments submitted to Sound Transit. Find handy links to do that at the end of the post.

Intro: why this option is optimal

The best possible ridership puts the station location in the center of the urban village, at 20th Avenue and Market Street. This location is closest to all of the current density, and closest to potential future development.

This option uses the shortest tunnel possible for crossing the ship canal of any practical location. It is about 10-12 % shorter than the 14th or 15th Avenue tunnel options. It is 28% shorter than the “BNSF West/20th Tunnel” option rejected in Level 1 scoping. The shorter the tunnel, the less costly the option. The limiting factors preventing the tunnel from being even shorter are (1) a maximum 5% grade and (2) allowance of 25 feet between the top of the tunnel and the bottom of the ship canal.

In order to reach the shortest possible tunnel, it is necessary to bridge over the BNSF rail yard. I acknowledge that would generally be unwise, but in a later section, I explain why this route is different; why it is uniquely feasible.

There is no practical route using a high fixed bridge to reach a station on 20th Avenue, because of impacts on the legally protected Ballard Landmark District. A tunnel is the only way to do it that does not sacrifice quality.

This option has two additional advantages. It has a net reduction in properties taken, thereby reducing cost further. By eliminating a curve, the Interbay station can actually be at Dravus Street, a better location.

Urban Mobility in Seattle: A recipe for success any city can make their own

August 13, 2018August 12, 2018 by Guest Contributor

By Andrew Glass Hastings

Seattle has been successful in redefining urban mobility, but our recipe for success doesn’t have to be unique. Like any good cook who starts with the fundamentals of a solid recipe, then adjusts the ingredients to fit different tastes and dietary needs, each city can adapt elements of successful mobility strategies to best meet their own needs.

Over the past few years Seattle’s recipe to redefine urban mobility has include investment in transit service, adoption of TNCs (Lyft and Uber), growing the car share market, and experimenting with bike share – all of this while Seattle experienced the highest increase in transit ridership of any major city in the US. We are growing the mobility ‘pie’ with more choices to get around than ever before.

Here are a few of the ingredients to consider:

Continue reading “Urban Mobility in Seattle: A recipe for success any city can make their own”

What Seattle’s Transpo Advisory Boards Want From a New SDOT Director

August 7, 2018August 6, 2018 by Guest Contributor

Below is a joint letter from Seattle’s Transportation Advisory Boards, which was sent to Mayor Durkan last month. As the search for a new SDOT director stretches on, we thought our readers would be interested in what the advisory boards want to see from the department going forward. – ed.

As members of the Seattle Pedestrian Advisory Board (SPAB), Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board (SBAB), Seattle Transit Advisory Board (STAB), and the Seattle Freight Advisory Board (SFAB) we would like to congratulate you on your election as mayor and anticipate many positive and challenging transitions for Seattle in the years to come.

A new director of the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) will have a significant impact on the modes of transportation that we each represent and as such we hope to weigh in on the nationwide search. We hope you will consider our positions and concerns in choosing the next SDOT director. These advisory boards decided it would be more beneficial for you to receive a collaborative letter, as we are not simply modal silos, but passionate Seattle residents who desire a safe and efficient city that accommodates and embraces all modes of transportation.

We have compiled a list of key values and experience that we would like see reflected in the new SDOT director. Many of the values listed below drive our own commitment as volunteer stewards of the city’s alternative transportation and freight transportation advisory groups. Webring a diversity of skills, backgrounds, and expertise, and reflect the diverse community of people trying to move safely and easily around Seattle.

All four boards have highlighted a desire for a new director with experience in:

Equitable and data-driven decision-making,
Coalition building, and
Thorough and efficient implementation of safe streets policies.

Thank you for your consideration and please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions.

Sincerely,

Seattle Pedestrian Advisory Board (SPAB)
Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board (SBAB)
Seattle Transit Advisory Board (STAB)
Seattle Freight Advisory Board (SFAB)

Continue reading “What Seattle’s Transpo Advisory Boards Want From a New SDOT Director”

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