The Seattle Times January 11th
Traffic Lab article “Maybe time to try a new ride” exemplifies their failure to
acknowledge the inability of those responsible to deal with the area’s roadway
congestion. It’s not clear whether the
recommendation to “try buses” is only until the tunnel opens or a welcome shift
from their previous proposal to use tolls to reduce roadway congestion.
In either case they acknowledge
one of the problems is the lack of parking. All of the P&R lots with access to transit have been full
for years. (The P&R lots at
Kent/James Street and Federal Way/South 320th are “likely” only 35%
filled because Sound Transit neglects to provide them with access to bus
routes.)
Yet Sound Transit waits until 2024
to begin adding a measly 8560 parking stalls over the next 17 years. (Raises question as to how new commuters
will even get access to light rail.) Rather than adding parking the Traffic Lab
abided Sound Transit plans to “manage transit access” by reserving half the
stalls at current P&Rs for “later arrivals” ending access for half of
current riders.
Even more important the Traffic
Lab apparently doesn’t recognize Sound Transit’s decade-long refusal to add bus
service. Their Service Delivery
Performance Report for Q3 2018 reported ST Express Revenue Vehicle Miles
Operated for the year through September was 8,957,069; the comparable revenue
miles for 2010 was 8,475, 541. Sound
Transit no longer archives their quarterly Service Delivery Performance Reports
making it more difficult to compare past with present. (I was fortunate to have copies
of the earlier data.)
The Seattle Times had
earlier suggested the benefits of increased bus ridership. A 4/03/16 editorial “Questions on
Transit Need Clear Answers” had urged Sound transit to consider additional bus
service with ST3:
The point is voters need their representatives
to provide clear, objective explanations of ST3’s pros and cons, not
cheerleading. Costs and benefits of rail versus buses is one of several
topics that must be clarified.
Yet Sound Transit never
considered increased bus service, ignoring Revised Code of Washington (RCW
81.104.100(2)(b)) requiring any high capacity transit system planning include
considering increased bus capacity.
Buses routed through areas where commuters live to existing P&R or
small T/Cs with access to bus routes into Seattle (or Bellevue) could reduce
congestion without the need to add expensive P&Rs.
Instead CEO Rogoff’s 2019
Budget for 2017-2041 plans to spend $96B “building the most ambitious transit
system expansion plan in the nation” with no increase in bus transit. Rogoff,
who chose to no longer archive Sound Transit’s past failure to increase bus
service, proposes a budget that fails to do so for the next 23 years.
The bottom line is any suggestion
more commuters try buses does little to reduce congestion unless Sound Transit
increases bus transit capacity. The entire area would benefit if Traffic Lab
would advocate for doing so.
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