(I submitted the following to Senator Cantwell)
The April 11th Seattle Times Traffic Lab B1 page article “Light rail to Federal Way gets OK” heralds Sound Transit CEO Peter Rogoff’s ability to get federal funds for the light rail extensions. The FTA approval allows “Sound Transit to seek $790 million in federal funds, a quarter of the project’s total cost”. (It follows last fall’s agreement to provide “”$1.2 billion for Sound Transit’s extension to Lynnwood”.)
The April 11th Seattle Times Traffic Lab B1 page article “Light rail to Federal Way gets OK” heralds Sound Transit CEO Peter Rogoff’s ability to get federal funds for the light rail extensions. The FTA approval allows “Sound Transit to seek $790 million in federal funds, a quarter of the project’s total cost”. (It follows last fall’s agreement to provide “”$1.2 billion for Sound Transit’s extension to Lynnwood”.)
Sens.
Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray both called the Federal Way extension a “critical
investment”. Rogoff, who served as
administrator during the Obama administration, apparently still has credibility
with the FTA. The $790 million
funding was presumably based on Sound Transit's claims for “36,500 daily riders
by 2035”. (Sound Transit claimed
the Lynnwood extension would add 68,500 daily riders)
However,
a 2004 PSRC study funded by Sound Transit concluded light rail routed through
the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (DSTT) was limited to 8880 riders per hour
per direction (rphpd). Since the Federal Way extension is limited to half the DSTT
capacity, Rogoff’s claim for Federal Way ridership dwarfs light rail capacity. (As
does the Lynnwood ridership claim)
Sound Transit also fails to provide commuters with access to
even its limited capacity.
Commuters need to live within or have access to parking within walking
distance of light rail stations.
However all the parking with possible access to light rail stations has
been full for years with those riding buses. Yet Sound
Transit waits until 2024 to begin adding 8560 stalls over the next 17 years; a
fraction of what’s needed for ridership claims.
Rather than adding local bus routes to provide commuters access to light rail stations Sound Transit plans to use light rail capacity to
replace bus routes into Seattle; forcing many commuters to transfer to and from
light rail every morning and afternoon.
(In order to fill East Link trains they recently made an agreement with
Mercer Island to halve existing I-90 bus routes in exchange for being allowed
to terminate buses at island light rail station.)
Spending billions to replace bus routes does little to reduce congestion into Seattle. Riders transferring from buses to light rail along I-5 corridor also reduce access for those who currently use Central Link.
The bottom line is Rogoff’s claims for Federal Way and Lynnwood extension ridership are delusional. The FTA funds are only a tiny fraction of the $96 billion Rogoff’s 2019 budget projects will be needed to implement the ST3 extensions. Rather than a “critical investment” they only abet his delusions, adding billions to the billions already spent on Northgate and East Link extensions that will inevitably be considered as two of the biggest boondoggles in public transit history.
Spending billions to replace bus routes does little to reduce congestion into Seattle. Riders transferring from buses to light rail along I-5 corridor also reduce access for those who currently use Central Link.
The bottom line is Rogoff’s claims for Federal Way and Lynnwood extension ridership are delusional. The FTA funds are only a tiny fraction of the $96 billion Rogoff’s 2019 budget projects will be needed to implement the ST3 extensions. Rather than a “critical investment” they only abet his delusions, adding billions to the billions already spent on Northgate and East Link extensions that will inevitably be considered as two of the biggest boondoggles in public transit history.
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