The Feb 14th Sound Transit news release “Sound
Transit, King County Metro seek public feedback on reserved solo-driver permit
parking at transit facilities” exemplifies their inept approach to public
transit. The proposal was the result of a 2012 Sound Transit Board of
Directors request asking “staff to
update the agency’s parking policy and develop a pilot project to test new
parking management strategies”. Apparently it took the staff six years to come up with the
following:
To
better manage demand at the region’s park-and-rides and transit centers, Sound
Transit and King County Metro are seeking feedback on a parking permit program
that would allow solo drivers to pay for a reserved space at select transit
facilities.
While reserved parking may better “manage demand”
for existing bus service, it will do nothing to reduce roadway congestion. The
area’s P&R lots with access to transit have been full for years. Those currently
using the P&R who are “displaced” by the “new parking management strategy” will
presumably add to those commuting into Seattle. Not only will they be forced to
endure the cost and hassle of commuting into Seattle, they'll likely be
forced to pay a hefty parking fee there. Commuters wishing to avoid the hassle and cost will
be faced with a choice between either arriving at the P&R “very early” or
paying for reserved parking. The
reserved parking stalls will “likely” be very popular. Who decides who gets to buy one?
Sound Transit’s justifies the “new parking
management strategy” with the following:
At the most popular
transit facilities, people are arriving earlier and earlier to secure a space –
which can increase crowding on early buses and trains while seats remain empty
on later transit trips.
Anyone with a modicum of competence would recognize
that transit systems can’t “manage transit demand”. The solution to the “increasing crowding on early buses” should
be to add more bus routes. That,
“the seats remain empty on later transit trips” because all the P&Rs with
access to the buses are full before many commuters can use them. Yet Sound Transit refuses to add
either bus routes or additional parking.
The Sound Transit Board needs to recognize that,
rather than attempting to “manage demand” for public transit, they need to “increase
supply”. Doing so requires adding
parking with access to increased capacity with more bus routes. Yet Sound Transit waits until 2024
to begin adding a measly 8560 parking spaces by 2041. The billions they’re planning to spend on the STE “Prop 1
and beyond” light rail spine will do absolutely nothing to increase transit
capacity into Seattle.
The way to increase public transit “supply” is to
create new P&R lots where commuters pay to reserve a stall with assured
access to a free ride on their preferred bus route into either Seattle or
Bellevue. The 12/03/17 post
detailed how the parking fees from three 1000-stall Pay-to-Park lots near
Lynnwood ($10) and two near Everett ($15) would allow 20,000 more commuters to
use public transit into and out of Seattle each day.
Another way
to increase “transit supply” is to route buses directly to a stop within
walking distance of the many new large apartment and condominium complexes
throughout the area.
Commuters there could pre-pay a “ride assurance” fee to reserve a seat
on their preferred bus route.
The bottom
line is a competent Sound Transit Board would've never proposed Prop 1, extending light rail routed through the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel. That four years later they still hadn't recognized that
reducing congestion required increasing public transit “supply” rather
than “managing demand” for
existing public transit. That, spending billions on light rail
extensions does nothing to increase transit capacity (supply) into
Seattle. That a fraction of that
money could have been spent adding parking and bus service that would have minimized
the areas “4th worst-in-country congestion”.
Their latest
news release suggests they still don’t recognize that reality.
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