Sound Transit response to the BBB lawsuit filed on 11/30/12
typifies their arrogance and incompetence. For example their response regarding their failure to
consider bus rapid transit (BRT) for the I-90 Bridge included the following:
“Despite decades of open and public processes that narrowed the
potential modes of cross-lake transport, Plaintiffs now complain that the FEIS
should have considered alternatives to light rail.”
The reality is the number 1 “Common
Comments”, CC1a question regarding the 2008 DEIS was “Why is bus rapid transit
(BRT) or increased bus service not included as an alternative?” Their response in the FEIS was
“BRT, as an alternative for East Link, was eliminated during the
Sound Transit Long-Range Planning and ST2 process” along with their comment
“light rail provides the highest level of ridership and the shortest travel
times of all technologies evaluated in the corridor”
My 07/05/12 post (ST Response to DEIS Questions, "Questionable")
explained the problems with the study
ST used to eliminate BRT from serious consideration. “The 1990’s study they referred to had initially
included Configuration R4 which moved the non-transit HOV traffic to 4th lanes on the outer
roadways and used the center roadways for two-way, bus-only BRT lanes.
The 40 foot wide center roadway would have been ideal for BRT with
two bus lanes separated by a third lane for increased safety and
maintenance. It was dropped from serious consideration, apparently
because of Mercer Island concerns they would loose their exclusive access to
center roadway, a concern ST subsequently ignored for East Link.”
ST claims “light rail provides the
highest level of ridership and the shortest travel times of all technologies in
the corridor” was debunked in my 8/08/12 post (BRT Obvious Choice Over Light
Rail). It explains in detail why
BRT is infinitely better than light rail in terms of capacity, accessibility,
and cost. It could have been
available in less than 2 years and would have eliminated a major problem with
those who currently avoid paying light rail fares.
I’ll deal with their response
regarding violations of federal environmental law in a subsequent post.
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