I'll be filing again as a King County Executive candidate because of the Seattle Times decade-long connivance with an incompetent Dow Constantine Sound Transit Board. This year the area's residents will see for themselves the results of that connivance: the debut of the Northgate Link in September.
Sound Transit should have never extended Central Link routed through DSTT to Northgate. It resulted from their agreement to pay University $20 million to tunnel under the campus rather than implement a T/C at the UW Stadium station. Their initial Central Link plan had included a 2nd Montlake Cut bridge to facilitate SR520 transit bus connection to the T/C
The T/C would have enhanced cross-lake commuting when University Link began operating in 2016. Sound Transit could have increased I-5 transit capacity and ridership with added parking and bus routes into Seattle. Instead Sound Transit proceeded with the $2.1 billion, 4.2-mile extension to Northgate, claiming 15,000 daily riders by 2026. Since then Sound Transit has increased the purported "benefits"with their website describing it as a "$2.5 billion, 4.2-mile, 3-station extension that will operate every 6 minutes during peak hours with projected ridership 41,000 to 49,000 by 2022".
The video of a November 19th 2020 Sound Transit Board meeting showed their latest plan for Northgate Link's debut in Sept 2021. It will finally demonstrate what would have been obvious to anyone with a modicum of transit competence, the extension does nothing to reduce I-5 congestion.
Reducing roadway congestion requires reducing the number of vehicles on roadway. Again Sound Transit website claimed it will reduce congestion by attracting 41,000 to 49.000 riders. Yet the extension does nothing to increase transit capacity via DSTT into Seattle,
Rather than adding parking or local bus routes to light rail stations Sound Transit plans to generate light rail ridership by using it to replace bus routes into Seattle. The November 19th video shows Sound Transit attempts to generate light rail riders will, at best, be "limited".
Their surveys showed commuters preferred riding buses directly into Seattle during rush hour. As a result, Sound Transit will continue routing ST510 into and out of Seattle. It provides routes during peak commute from Everett Station along I-5 every 10-15 minutes between 5:00 and 8:45 a.m. and from 2:30 to 6:50 p.m.
All of the Snohomish Community Transit SCT 400 series routes and King County Metro 41 into and out of Seattle will also continue. The video showed Metro plans to add new KCM 322 & 362 routes from Northgate via Roosevelt Station into Seattle. Thus, Northgate Link will be limited to replacing ST511-513 routes from Northgate and ST522 routes from Roosevelt Station. (A UW T/C could have reduced more bus routes into Seattle without spending a dime on light rail extension)
My campaign will "predict" only a fraction of Sound Transit's 41,000 to 49,000 commuters will ride the link. That using light rail to replace ST511-513 routes from Northgate and ST522 routes from Roosevelt station will do nothing to reduce I-5 congestion.
Those riding the extension will result in less access for University Link riders at UW Stadium and Capital Hill stations, especially during peak commute. The added riders will also exacerbate the problem with finding access at Westlake and University Stations in DSTT for return trip.
The other result will be higher operating costs. The 4.2-mile extension adds 8.4 miles to the current round trip Link route. Sound Transit recently published a "Temporary Service Schedule" that includes 84 weekday and 75 Saturday and Sunday routes. The result being Northgate Link will add 706 miles on weekdays and 630 daily miles on weekends.
With Sound Transit light rail cars costing ~$25 per mile, the link will add $17,650 per car on weekdays and $15,750 per car daily on weekends. The added route lengths with Northgate Link operation will add $4.6 million per car to annual operating cost.
Assuming 3-car trains, Northgate Link will add $13.8 million to annual operating cost for current "Temporary Service Schedule". Those costs could increase or decrease depending on number of cars-per-train or trains-per-hour. What won't increase is fare revenue unless those forced to transfer to light rail will pay a 2nd fare.
The bottom line is it's too late to do anything about the Northgate Link failure to reduce I-5 congestion. By the time of the election, an incompetent Sound Transit Board, with Seattle Times connivance, will have spent an additional $1.5 billion on light rail extensions to Lynnwood and beyond, and to Federal Way and beyond that exacerbate that failure.
Another year of Sound Transit Board's plan to spend $21.6 billion over the next five years on their Transit Improvement Plan the Sound Transit Board approved and the Seattle Times ignored. My goal as a candidate for King County Executive is to use the Northgate Link debut to make it the last.
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