More Sound Transit 2023 Blunders

The previous post concluded what didn’t happen in 2023 was an East Link debut demonstrating the folly of confiscating the I-90 Bridge center roadway for light rail to replace bus routes into Seattle.  That terminating the Link at CID could obviate the need for a second tunnel. 

This post details other blunders for the year.  They spent the year planning to implement an East Link Starter Line from Redmond TC to South Bellevue P&R, allocating $47M for start-up costs with 2-car trains every 10 minutes for 16 hours a day.  Yet fail to recognize the lack of parking with access to stations and the need to transfer at South Bellevue to commute into and out of Seattle will dissuade ridership, limiting farebox recovery to a fraction of operating expenses. Especially since riders will continue to have access to Rapid Ride E and ST550 for the commute.

 

They continued to ignore the potential light rail noise problem associated with lack of shielding along the Bel-Red route.  The Bellevue municipal noise code limits levels to 55 dB in residential areas and 60dB in commercial. Yet Sound Transit approved a memorandum that limits their need to mitigate noise levels to whatever their CEO considers “reasonable and feasible”.  That doing so with Starter Line will limit trains to 15-20 mph.

They spent another year failing to recognize 4-car light rail trains don’t have the capacity to reduce multi-lane freeway peak hour congestion and cost too much to operate off-peak.  That using the Lynnwood Link light rail extension to replace bus routes reduces transit capacity into Seattle; does nothing to reduce I-5 congestion and those transferring reduce access for current riders.  And continue to fund a Transit Analysis Group (TAG) and private consultant who fail to recognize the problem of “voter approved” extensions.   

They spent the year revising their distance-based fare structure to a $3.00 flat fare. The result will be those riding from Capitol Hill to Westlake will see their fare increase from $2.25 to $3.00 the same as someone from Lynnwood to SeaTac. A strong disincentive to pay any fare despite Sound Transit’s Fare Ambassadors best attempts at “friendly persuasion”.

 

They committed to spending $499,500 on a Bus Base North that was excluded in ST3 proposal. Most of the facilities 120-bus capacity will be used by Community Transit buses.  Yet the east side will provide for the 75% of the funds for the Canyon Park location in Snohomish. They proceeded with plans to spend more than $300M on a I-5/NE 130^th Street light rail station and an In-line BRT station aI-405/NE 85^th Street.  Yet neither station has parking for access.

 

The bottom line is all these blunders reflect another year of a board composed of well-meaning elected officials that don’t understand what constitutes effective public transit.  It doesn’t bode well for the future.