The 2/23/21 post on this blog opined Sound Transit CEO Rogoff should be asked to explain his decision to delay Northgate Link debut for a year. A November 19th video recorded Sound Transit presentation to the Sound Transit Board detailing plans for the Link's September debut.
Of particular interest were charts showing which I-5 bus routes would be terminated at Northgate Link stations and which would continue into Seattle. The board was told, "the people were excited about the ability to ride Northgate Link". The board and CEO Rogoff unanimously approved the proposal without discussion.
The September 21 debut approval was thought to be preordained. For years Sound Transit's Northgate Link website had scheduled it to begin operation in 2021. (It still does.) However a Sound Transit "Agency Progress Report: December 2020" included a chart showing the Link's Revenue Service Date" as Sept 26, 2022. I-5 corridor transit riders will have to wait a full year to ride light rail.
Again, the 2/23/22 post urged asking CEO Rogoff explain what happened between the November 19th meeting and the December 2020 report. It's something the Seattle Times Traffic Lab should "dig into". Instead they've chosen to abide the delay, two months later abetting the "Next stop for Sound Transit: Fixing $11.4 billion shortfall"
Whatever CEO Rogoff reason for the delay the results go beyond I-5 commuters having to wait a year. It delays the Link's demonstrating light rail routed through the DSTT doesn't reduce I-5 congestion. That only a fraction of Sound Transit's website projected 41,000-49,000 riders by 2022 will do so. Those who do will reduce access for current University Link riders, especially during peak commute. However what's most important, it delays public recognition extensions to Lynnwood and beyond and to Federal Way and beyond also won't reduce congestion.
The bottom line is very little can be done about Sound Transit spending ~$1.5 billion this year on extensions beyond Northgate and Angel Lake. The year's delay in demonstrating Northgate Link failure extends those expenditures and more for another year.
If not justified, the delay goes beyond incompetence to fraud, again abided if not abetted by the Seattle Times Traffic Lab.
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