Why Sound Transit OMFS Funding?

The Thursday 14^th Sound Transit System Expansion Committee approved the following “Recommendation to the Board”.

B. Motion No. M2025-40: Authorizing the chief executive officer to execute a contract modification with Mott MacDonald, LLC to exercise a contract option for Phase 2 Design-Build Project Management services for the Operations and Maintenance Facility South project in an amount not to exceed $109,840,000, with an approximate 10 percent contingency of $11,160,000, totaling $121,000,000, for a new total authorized contract amount not to exceed $140,843,544, contingent upon adoption of Resolution No. R2025-19.

 

C. Resolution No. R2025-19: Amending the Adopted 2025 Budget to advance the Operations and Maintenance Facility South project by a) increasing the authorized project allocation by $121,000,000 from $403,729,393 to $524,729,393 and b) increasing the adopted 2025 annual project budget by $2,000,000 from $156,672,390 to $158,672,390.

 

D. Resolution No. R2025-20: Authorizing the chief executive officer to acquire certain real property interests, including acquisition by condemnation to the extent authorized by law, and to reimburse eligible relocation and reestablishment expenses incurred by affected owners and tenants as necessary for construction, operation and maintenance of the Operations and Maintenance Facility South project.

 

The presentation and discussion of the funding and property acquisitions  took nearly 40 minutes.  It began with charts showing the 2031 Forecast Opening in a OMFS Project Timeline Meets or Exceeds Target.  The rest of the time was spent detailing concern over funding  the various phases from preliminary design through final construction.  In the end all three were unanamously recommended for approval to the board.  

 

It exemplified a  long history of the System Expansion Committee failure to ask the “right” questions. Spending millions on outside advice as to how to better implement ST3 extensions rather than how to reduce the area's congestion.  

 

The OMFS, like many of the projects they've funded wasn’t included in the 2016 Prop 1 approved by voters.  They recently announced plans to debut the 8-mile Federal Way Link this fall. They presumably have plans to operate and maintain the trains on the route. Thus, why was the committee even funding an OMFS project?  Especially one with a 2031 in-service target date and costing more than $500 million.

 

A previous post concluded the extension to Federal Way was a blunder. Area commuters already had better access to transit into and out of Seattle on KCM  bus routes.  The “likely” result, the number of 1 Line trains  routed beyond SeaTac or Angle Lake to Federal Way will be limited to reduce clogging current riders during peak commute, better match ridership off peak, and minimize the 8-mile extensions added operating costs.

 

Spending more than $500 million on an OMFS to maintain those trains in 2031 just adds to that blunder.

 

 

Washington’s Self-Inflicted Energy Costs

The August 10th Seattle Times included an article on “Why Trump’s ‘One-Big Beautiful Bill’ likely to raise WA energy costs”.  Another example of their Climate Lab project that"explores the effects of climate change in the Pacific Northwest and beyond."

Previous posts have detailed the “limited” benefit of attempts to reduce Washington’s CO2 emissions.  They make up only 1.56% of the countries.  That the United States makes up 11.2% of the world's. Thus, any benefits from reducing emissions are limited to reducing the states 0.117% of the total.  

They don’t require allowances from those burning natural gas where they live or work or gas or diesel in their vehicles that make up nearly 70% of the state’s total CO2 “pollution". Thus, reducing Washington’s CO2 emissions will have little effect on climate.

Here in Washington state, energy experts and policy wonks are coming to understand Trump’s plan is going to mean higher electric bills.  The tax plan will eliminate single-family tax credits and hamstring the very wind, solar and battery projects Washington state is scrambling to build.  The money lost will soar into the billions, according to some estimates.

Precisely when your bills will rise and by how much remain somewhat unclear. But the tax plan will eliminate single-family tax credits, hand out billions to fossil fuel companies and hamstring the very wind, solar and battery projects Washington state is scrambling to build.

The article claims money lost, according to some estimates, will soar into the billions. Ratepayers throughout Washington will be forced to absorb higher electrical bills as the cost to build new wind, solar and battery projects increase by perhaps 30% or more.   Those who installed rooftop solar panels, heat pumps or similar devices were eligible for a tax credit worth 30% of their cost, but that offering will end by Dec. 31. The bill also eliminates a $7,500 consumer rebate for some electric vehicles.

The bottom line is Trump's bill does nothing to increase the cost of creating renewable energy. The Traffic Lab’s version of “money lost or cost” is money paid by someone else. If Washington wants to prevent Trump’s plan for increasing the state’s costs for renewable energy projects, they should recognize the miniscule effect they’ll have on CO2 emissions and global warming and abort them. 

Another Sound Transit Boondoggle

 The August 7th Executive Committee Meeting Agenda Included the following Business  Item:

.

For Recommendation to the Board

B. Motion No. M2025-36: Adopting principles and a process to help guide the Board on how to best achieve the planned outcomes of the Enterprise Initiative work, including an update to the current system plan (Sound Transit 3) and long-range finance plan.

 

The motion, the apparent result of a Board Retreat & Initiative Overview, was unanimously approved, included the following purpose:

 

Begin establishing shared principles and priorities that will inform decision making.

The 5 pages of the 24 page report,  detailing “35 Years of Sound Transit in 5 Eras”, would seem to suggest it was a little late to “begin establishing shared principles”.

 

Sound Transit has a staff that in 2025 included1572 position and $957 million in funding.  For years they’ve spent millions on Transit Advisory Groups and outside consultants.  They spent $600,000 hiring a Megaproject Manager who recently persuaded the board to spend up to $500 million on a MOTAC agreement over 7 years on some 15 outside consultants.  Again, all to better the process for creating the light rail spine.

 

The Enterprise Initiative concluded with the following Key Takeaway:

 

We have already made successful generational investments, and our voter-approved system is approximately 50% complete today.

 

The Executive Council meeting justified that conclusion with a chart showing 1 Line Weekday Ridership per Station with Northgate and Lynnwood extensions had increased to 5000 daily. However, the June Ridership Report for the 6 stations along I-5 totaled 15,954, 2660 per station.  A fraction of the up to 70,000 Sound Transit had projected for  Northgate and Lynnwood 1 Line ridership. 

 

Riders added by the Federal Way extension later this year and the 2 Line route across I-90 bridge next year won’t justify the cost of implementing the light rail spine route from Lynnwood to Redmond.  Sound Transit can’t ensure returning 1 Line and 2 Line trains will provide the 3 minutes of headway promised at the International District Station.  That neither Ballard nor West Seattle light rail routes to Sodo will attract sufficient riders to switch to light rail for the commute into Seattle to justify the more than $20 billion cost and 15 year disruption. 

 

The bottom line is Sound Transit’s “successful generation investments” on current I Line extensions have failed to meet ridership expectations.  The ridership from 1 Line route to Federal Way this fall and the 2 Line from Redmond next year will “likely” replicate those results debunking the need for further extensions.  Those extensions will presumably add to current “power sensitivity" operating delays.

 

Thus, spending whatever it takes Sound Transit to implement Enterprise Initiative to “better create their product” won’t improve light rail's ability to reduce congestion.

 

 

The WSDOT’s Years of Pain” on I-5 Begins

A previous post detailed the “Years of Pain” resulting from WSDOT plans for resurfacing the Ship Canal Bridge that closed the southbound I-5 HOV lanes. That the “Pain” could be mitigated if Community Transit (CT) and King County Metro (KCM) re-implemented previous routes on I-5 with increased frequency if needed during time spent resurfacing the bridge.

 It didn’t take long tor the “Pain”.to begin.   The WSDOT July 29th 8:15 am travel time for the 26.72 miles from Everett to Seattle increased from 76 minute average to 91 minutes. That travel time for the 15.22 miles from Lynnwood to Seattle increased from 55-minute average to 82 minutes.

 

However, for years, the WSDOT’s concern has been more about increasing revenue than reducing travel time.  For example the July 29th 8:15 am. travel time for the 26,86-mile Everett to Bellevue average and  current time was 63 minutes.  The 16.73 miles from Lynnwood to Bellevue took 75 minutes. Those able to carpool or pay HOT fees to use HOV lanes, did so in 46 minutes.  The 9.68-mile Bothell-to-Bellevue section taking 29 minutes was reduced to 15 minutes on HOV lanes.

 

The south end average travel times for 21.85-miles from Federal Way to Seattle was 77 minutes, those using HOV at the time, 47 minutes.  The 24.12 miles from Federal Way to Bellevue 83 minute average took 52 minutes on HOV lanes.  The 10.92 mile Renton to Bellevue portion average 51 minutes was reduced to 27 minutes for HOV lanes.  

 

Again, the previous posts opined travel times could be reduced if more commuters had access to public transit yet neither CT or KCM had provided more routes.  A recent midday return with my wife from Lynnwood through Bothell to the Eastgate area benefited from being able to use one of the two HOT I-405 lanes from Bothell.  Yet no public transit buses were noticed in either direction.  

 

The bottom line is the area’s congestion continues with the WSDOT insisting on HOT fees on 2 lanes instead of one, CT and KCM not increasing transit routes, and Sound Transit using light rail trains to replace bus routes into Seattle.  

 

The resulting “pain” has just begun.