More 2018 Reflections: PSRC Failure

The previous post detailed why the Seattle Times Traffic Lab was no “gift” to the area in 2018.  It was another year of failing to recognize Sound Transit CEO Peter Rogoff’s incompetence.  His 2019 Budget’s plans for 2017 to 2041 show his three years heading Sound Transit were only a precursor to 23 more years spending $96 billions on fatally flawed light rail extensions and ignoring the need to increase bus transit capacity.  As expected the Times neglected to include my headline “Sound Transit Board Fires CEO Rogoff” in their New Year’s Day edition “wish list”. 

That it was another year the Traffic Lab also failed to recognize WSDOT plans for 2-HOT lanes on I-405 will increase congestion on GP lanes and still fail to achieve 45 mph during 90% of peak commute.  That using one of the HOV lanes for GP could increase velocities while raising fees on the remaining lane to limit traffic to 2000 vehicles per hour would assure 45 mph throughout the commute.

However, 2018 transportation issues went beyond Sound Transit, WSDOT, and Traffic Lab to the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC). Its objective was to help communities secure federal funding for over $240 million for transportation projects each year and to develop and maintain the Regional Transportation Plan, a blueprint for providing transportation choices.

Yet their 2018 Regional Transportation Plan fails to demonstrate even a modicum of transportation competency.  It abides Sound Transit’s failure to recognize the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (DSTT) limits light rail capacity.  (Despite the fact it was the PSRC 2004 Technical Report that concluded the tunnel limited bus capacity to 88880 rides per hour in each direction. Thus any riders added by extensions will end access for current riders during peak commute.)  It abides Sound Transits decade of failing to increase bus transit capacity with added parking and bus service and fails to recognize WSDOT plans for 2 HOT lanes on I-405 will increase GP lane congestion and not achieve the 45 mph on HOV lanes during peak commute.

The premise for the entire PSRC 56-page plan can be summarized in the following excerpt:  

There should be an increased reliance on express lane tolls and user fees, such as a road usage charge, that are phased in as toll system technology and user acceptance evolves over time. Toll and fee rates should be set in a manner that strives to improve travel benefits for users of the express toll lane system and manages system demand during peak periods of the day. The use of toll revenues should also evolve over time towards increasingly broader uses.

The PRSC plan envisions $27.6B in new revenue, needed by 2040, will come from the “Road usage charges”.  They propose to use the money to make “Key Investments”, in King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties on highways, transit, and local roadway and trail projects. It’s not clear which of the "Key Investments" or what "broader uses" they intend to spend the $26.7B.  However, none of the PSRC funds will be “invested” in projects benefitting cross-lake commuters.  They proposed BRT for I-405 but nothing for SR 520 or for I-90 BRT ignoring the needs of cross-lake commuters from both sides of the lake.

They assume user acceptance will “evolve over time” allowing them to increase tolls and divert revenues towards their "broader uses”.  They “strive to improve travel benefits for users of the express toll lane” but do nothing for those unwilling or unable to pay.  Instead assuming people will choose to live within walking distance to transit stations or work.

The strategy contains numeric guidance adopted for counties, cities, and towns to use as they develop new population and employment growth targets and update local comprehensive plans. These land use assumptions serve as the basis for local and regional transportation planning.

The bottom line is nothing in their Regional Transportation Plan addresses the problem in the PSRC "Stuck in Traffic: 2015 Report" detailing how HOV commute times had increased throughout the area.  That Everett-to-Seattle commutes increased to 75 minutes in 2014, and have surely increased since then.  Any organization responsible for allocating how $240 million in federal transportation funds are spent in our area should surely address that reality.

Instead,  the PSRC, like the Seattle Times Traffic Lab, fails to acknowledge DSTT limits on light rail capacity or Sound Transit failure to increase bus transit capacity that could reduce congestion. That WSDOT plans for 2-HOT lanes on I-405 will increase GP lane congestion and fail to achieve 45mph on HOV lanes during peak commute. That their proposed solution, increasing tolls, only reduces congestion if commuters have a viable alternative, something they both neglected to suggest in 2018.