About this blog

My name is Bill Hirt and I'm a candidate to be a Representative from the 48th district in the Washington State legislature. My candidacy stems from concern the legislature is not properly overseeing the WSDOT and Sound Transit East Link light rail program. I believe East Link will be a disaster for the entire eastside. ST will spend 5-6 billion on a transportation project that will increase, not decrease cross-lake congestion, violates federal environmental laws, devastates a beautiful part of residential Bellevue, creates havoc in Bellevue's central business district, and does absolutely nothing to alleviate congestion on 1-90 and 405. The only winners with East Link are the Associated Builders and Contractors of Western Washington and their labor unions.

This blog is an attempt to get more public awareness of these concerns. Many of the articles are from 3 years of failed efforts to persuade the Bellevue City Council, King County Council, east side legislators, media, and other organizations to stop this debacle. I have no illusions about being elected. My hope is voters from throughout the east side will read of my candidacy and visit this Web site. If they don't find them persuasive I know at least I tried.

Thursday, March 1, 2018

Sound Transit Should Increase “Transit Supply” Not “Manage Demand”.

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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