Photo by Oran A few weeks back, I decided to exercise my freedom in going into the office more than I needed to and commuted downtown on a Friday. The first thing I noticed was how much emptier my usual bus was. Of course, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Friday ridership is down relative to the other days of the week, although none of the local transit agencies publicly report this kind of breakdown. Many employers now operate a hybrid working mode, with workers in-office some days of the week, and at home the others. The problem is that “hybrid” is a spectrum: some companies don’t requir ..read more

Seattle’s bus network used to be focused on bringing people to work downtown. As our city grew, it spread its wings across First Hill, Capitol Hill, Fremont, and the Eastside. Though Amazon was earlier in the middle of downtown, it now occupies South Lake Union (SLU) and Bellevue. While a one-seat bus ride to downtown used to be the norm, once you have more destinations to cover, it becomes more important to develop a network of interconnecting lines. Besides the frequency on the lines, the connecting points between the lines determine how easy or time-consuming the transfer is. We built trans ..read more

Yesterday, I had the chance to join members of the press in a media tour of South Bellevue Station, which will open for Link operations in just a matter of weeks when the East Link Starter Line begins service. As things currently stand, the ELSL will open to the public on April 27th, while the full extension across I-90 is still tentatively set for 2025. At South Bellevue, the accompanying park-and-ride garage has been open for more than two years and the station itself has been finished for quite for time. However, only recently was tile replacement completed on the platform, which was necess ..read more

It’s been a couple weeks, so the roundup is longer than usual. Today, a total solar eclipse will pass over much of the central and eastern United States. Countdown Clocks: April 27, 11:02am: First East Link Starter Line Train from South Bellevue Station. Discover the 2 Line. August 30, 10am(?): Lynnwood Link Extension (1 Line). No schedule for first train yet. Some neat aerial photos from ST’s drone photographer Ken Lambert on X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/SeaTimesFotoKen/status/1776001156394762448 Local News: Sound Transit hired Terri Mestas, most recently head of LAX’s nearly-complete ..read more

As part of the work surrounding 130th Station in north Seattle, SDOT has started making plans in the area. While this initial work has focused on the area east of the station, this is a proposal for changes to the west. The goal is to improve pedestrian, biking and transit connections to the station. Station Background 130th Station is designed primarily to connect riders from the east and west (Lake City and Bitter Lake). There will be some who walk and ride to the station, but I expect the vast majority to arrive by bus. The crossing bus route will also connect riders in the north end (for o ..read more

King County Metro, Sound Transit, and Community Transit start their semi-annual service changes today, Saturday March 30. Pierce Transit’s changes start tomorrow, Sunday March 31. Stephen Fesler at The Urbanist has a detailed list of the changes. The agencies have their own lists, linked at the beginning of each section. I won’t repeat all the details but instead focus on higher-level trends. King County Metro Metro changes start Saturday, March 30. Seattle is reallocating its Seattle Transit Measure (STM) levy investment to different routes to better match the city’s goals. The winners are Ra ..read more

Community Transit ridership increased 23% in 2023. A third of total riders were on the Swift Blue and Green lines. Apply to the one of Seattle’s transportation advisory boards by April 15 if interested. What’s happening with the 520 reconstruction project in Portage Bay. Efforts to lid I-5 in more of downtown Seattle continue. Activists have been working on this since 2010. One concept would lid from Madison Street to Thomas Street, aka the library to Seattle Center. How WSDOT designs maps to show event and road-closure congestion bottlenecks throughout the state on busy summer weekends. Natio ..read more

Three buses currently serve the east side of Green Lake: The 20, 45 and 62. As soon as Link gets to Lynnwood, the 20 will go away. There are aspects of the 20 that should be adopted by the other routes. However, this will require the help of the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT). Here are the things that SDOT and Metro can do to significantly improve transit in the area: 62 The 62 was created with the U-Link restructure. It replaced part of what was then the 16. I don’t have a link for the route but you can see it on Oran’s old map (it went from Northgate to downtown via Aurora and G ..read more

This week (March 17-23) is Transit Appreciation Week! Be sure to thank your bus driver or other transit operator for the hard work they do. Sound Transit Announcements: New initiatives to reduce crowing when Lynnwood link opens; reviewed by The Urbanist. Link 1 Line single-tracking for late-night station maintenance for the next month: Trains will run every 15 minutes after 11pm March 17 to 25, and every 20 minutes after 11pm April 2-17. News Roundup: Port Townsend turns parking mandates into “recommendations” (Urbanist). “Year of Housing 2.0” mostly died in the Senate (Urbanist). Bi-annual st ..read more

Seattle’s much-delayed Comprehensive Plan update was released last week by the Office of Planning & Community Development (OPCD). Coverage of the broad points of the plan was quickly provided by The Seattle Times ($), The Urbanist, The Stranger, and Crosscut. The primary takeaway image is the “Future Land Use Map” (FLUM), here: Coverage of subsequent disappointment from housing density advocates was then provided by The Urbanist and The Seattle Times ($). The plan itself is full of florid prose describing how it supposedly expands housing opportunities across the city, meets equity g ..read more