The January 22nd Seattle Times, Opinion, Special to the Times,
“Better Ways to fund and invest in a transportation system for all” typifies
the failure to recognize the area’s biggest transportation problem is not the
lack of funds it’s how the existing funds have been spent and will be spent in
the future.
The area’s transportation problem was exemplified by a PSRC "EPT Stuck in Traffic: 2015 Report". It included a Commute Mode Share "Pie Chart" showing in 2013, 74% drove alone, 10% carpooled, and 10% rode transit. Clearly reducing congestion requires convincing more of those who drove alone or carpooled to use public transit. The way to increase public transit is to increase capacity and provide access to the increased capacity.
Yet Sound Transit has spent a decade and billions on Prop 1 extensions that do neither. They chose to route the extensions through the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (DSTT). A 2004 PSRC study, funded by Sound Transit, limited capacity to 8880 riders per hour (rph) in each direction, a fraction of the transit capacity needed to reduce congestion. The billions spent on extensions do nothing to increase that capacity. Thus, any riders added by the billions spent on Prop 1 extensions will reduce access for current Central Link riders.
Sound Transit refuses to add parking for access even light rail’s limited capacity despite the fact nearly all of the parking has been full for years. They choose instead to provide riders by using light rail to replace bus routes into Seattle. Thousands of bus riders will be forced to transfer to and from light rail for their commute into and out of Seattle.
The result being Sound Transit, instead of increasing the 10% of commuters using transit, has spent billions on Prop 1 extensions whose operation will result in former bus riders displacing current Central Link riders. For example, riders added by the $2.1 billion Northgate extension will reduce access for University Link riders. The decision to use the extensions to end bus routes into Seattle will reduce total transit capacity.
The billions Sound Transit has spent and will continue to spend on the East Link extension will be regarded as one of the biggest wastes of transportation funds in history. They’ve already devastated the route into Bellevue for half the DSTT capacity, a fraction of what’s needed to reduce cross-lake congestion. East Link operation will also halve Central Link capacity to SeaTac, reducing access for current riders and potentially ending access for many during peak commute.
East Link confiscated an I-90-Bridge center roadway that could have been used for two-way BRT with 10 times East Link capacity, at 1/10th the cost, ten years sooner. It’s already increased outer roadway congestion because the added 4th lanes on outer roadway can’t make up for the loss of the two center roadway lanes.
East Link operation will increase, not decrease, the current I-90 Bridge outer roadway congestion. Again Sound Transit makes up for the lack of access by forcing I-90 corridor bus riders to transfer to and from light rail on Mercer Island. Their "bus intercept" agreement requires they halve the number of current I-90 corridor buses ending access to transit for many. Those unable to no longer ride transit will increase I-90 corridor congestion and add to the I-90 Bridge congestion from loss of center roadway lanes.
(One of the more absurd attempts to boost East LInk ridership is Sound Transit convinced the Bellevue city council to proposal spening millions to transform a thriving business district into a residential area in order to provide riders for their East Main station.)
Unfortunately there is very little that can be done about the billions spent on Northgate or East Link extensions. However those billions wasted pale in comparison to the billions Sound Transit CEO Rogoff intends to spend in his 2019 budget plan. Anyone interested in finding “Better ways to fund and invest in a transportation system for all” should recognize the billions spent on his light rail spine will do nothing to increase DSTT capacity into Seattle.
Thus, any riders added by extending Northgate link to Lynnwood and beyond, Central Link from Angel Lake to Federal Way and beyond, and East Link from Overlake to Redmond will further reduce access for current light rail riders. Forcing those bus commuters to transfer to and from light rail further reduces transit capacity into Seattle.
As editorial opines “we also need to look at how we invest our transportation dollar”. Anyone with a modicum of competence would recognize the way to increase transit ridership is to provide more riders with access to increased bus capacity. Sound Transit needs to end its decade of refusing to increase both.
The bottom line is Governor Inslee has made the reducing CO2 emissions the cornerstone of his administration. He could reduce emissions and congestion by requiring his “Clean Air Act” legislation require Sound Transit divert the ST3 funds for extensions beyond Northgate or Angel Lake to adding parking at existing or new T/Cs or local bus routes to T/C for access to added bus capacity into Seattle.
The area’s transportation problem was exemplified by a PSRC "EPT Stuck in Traffic: 2015 Report". It included a Commute Mode Share "Pie Chart" showing in 2013, 74% drove alone, 10% carpooled, and 10% rode transit. Clearly reducing congestion requires convincing more of those who drove alone or carpooled to use public transit. The way to increase public transit is to increase capacity and provide access to the increased capacity.
Yet Sound Transit has spent a decade and billions on Prop 1 extensions that do neither. They chose to route the extensions through the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (DSTT). A 2004 PSRC study, funded by Sound Transit, limited capacity to 8880 riders per hour (rph) in each direction, a fraction of the transit capacity needed to reduce congestion. The billions spent on extensions do nothing to increase that capacity. Thus, any riders added by the billions spent on Prop 1 extensions will reduce access for current Central Link riders.
Sound Transit refuses to add parking for access even light rail’s limited capacity despite the fact nearly all of the parking has been full for years. They choose instead to provide riders by using light rail to replace bus routes into Seattle. Thousands of bus riders will be forced to transfer to and from light rail for their commute into and out of Seattle.
The result being Sound Transit, instead of increasing the 10% of commuters using transit, has spent billions on Prop 1 extensions whose operation will result in former bus riders displacing current Central Link riders. For example, riders added by the $2.1 billion Northgate extension will reduce access for University Link riders. The decision to use the extensions to end bus routes into Seattle will reduce total transit capacity.
The billions Sound Transit has spent and will continue to spend on the East Link extension will be regarded as one of the biggest wastes of transportation funds in history. They’ve already devastated the route into Bellevue for half the DSTT capacity, a fraction of what’s needed to reduce cross-lake congestion. East Link operation will also halve Central Link capacity to SeaTac, reducing access for current riders and potentially ending access for many during peak commute.
East Link confiscated an I-90-Bridge center roadway that could have been used for two-way BRT with 10 times East Link capacity, at 1/10th the cost, ten years sooner. It’s already increased outer roadway congestion because the added 4th lanes on outer roadway can’t make up for the loss of the two center roadway lanes.
East Link operation will increase, not decrease, the current I-90 Bridge outer roadway congestion. Again Sound Transit makes up for the lack of access by forcing I-90 corridor bus riders to transfer to and from light rail on Mercer Island. Their "bus intercept" agreement requires they halve the number of current I-90 corridor buses ending access to transit for many. Those unable to no longer ride transit will increase I-90 corridor congestion and add to the I-90 Bridge congestion from loss of center roadway lanes.
(One of the more absurd attempts to boost East LInk ridership is Sound Transit convinced the Bellevue city council to proposal spening millions to transform a thriving business district into a residential area in order to provide riders for their East Main station.)
Unfortunately there is very little that can be done about the billions spent on Northgate or East Link extensions. However those billions wasted pale in comparison to the billions Sound Transit CEO Rogoff intends to spend in his 2019 budget plan. Anyone interested in finding “Better ways to fund and invest in a transportation system for all” should recognize the billions spent on his light rail spine will do nothing to increase DSTT capacity into Seattle.
Thus, any riders added by extending Northgate link to Lynnwood and beyond, Central Link from Angel Lake to Federal Way and beyond, and East Link from Overlake to Redmond will further reduce access for current light rail riders. Forcing those bus commuters to transfer to and from light rail further reduces transit capacity into Seattle.
As editorial opines “we also need to look at how we invest our transportation dollar”. Anyone with a modicum of competence would recognize the way to increase transit ridership is to provide more riders with access to increased bus capacity. Sound Transit needs to end its decade of refusing to increase both.
Access can be increased
with added parking at T/Cs or local bus routes to T/Cs. Capacity can
be increased with additional high capacity (HCT) buses. During peak
commute each T/C could have an express route into and out of Seattle rather
than a stop along a light rail spine from Everett or Tacoma. The routes could be scheduled to meet
local demand rather than accept schedules dictated by light rail
economics. (How often does Sound
Transit want to run 4-car trains to Everett or Tacoma?) Off peak bus routes could include the
intermediate stops to meet those needs.
The buses could operate on
HOT lanes with fees raised to limit total traffic to the 2000 vehicles per hour
needed to assure 45 mph.
Doing so would reduce the current 50-minute, 8:00 am. 15.2-mile,
Lynnwood-to-Seattle commute to 20 minutes. The express bus routes would also avoid
the delays associated with all the intermediate light rail train stops.
Egress and access in
Seattle could be facilitated with each route having dedicated stations on an
elongated T/C on 4th Ave. The dedicated drop off
and pick up 4th Ave stations would be more convenient for most and would avoid the
hassle of using the two DSTT stations especially for the return trip.
A 70-ft articulated bus can
accommodate 119 sitting and standing riders. An additional 100 HCT buses
traveling at 45 mph would add the capacity of 5 lanes of freeway into
Seattle. And more could be added
when and where needed. ST3 funds
could be spent providing access to capacity that increases transit ridership rather
than extending light rail that can’t and operations that reduce transit
capacity into Seattle.
The added bus routes would
not only reduce congestion they would dramatically reduce the editorials other
concern “The need for “cleaner transportation options”. The ability
to replace 100 vehicles with a single bus (electric?) is surely a way to reduce
transportation as the “states No 1 source of climate
pollution”.
The bottom line is Governor Inslee has made the reducing CO2 emissions the cornerstone of his administration. He could reduce emissions and congestion by requiring his “Clean Air Act” legislation require Sound Transit divert the ST3 funds for extensions beyond Northgate or Angel Lake to adding parking at existing or new T/Cs or local bus routes to T/C for access to added bus capacity into Seattle.
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