In the News

Bellevue light-rail line isn’t open yet, but something’s already broken
In its run-up to launching an Eastside starter line next spring, Sound Transit discovered loose tiles on the passenger boarding platform of South Bellevue Station, and needs to replace them fast. Project executives say the 10,000-square-foot retrofit may cost up to $3...
Sound Transit: Promises vs Reality
This presentation is a summary of what we consider the most important ways to measure what Sound Transit promised vs. what they are going to deliver, even by 2050.
Kent keeps its sidewalk promise to schoolchildren
SEATAC — Students are making their way to River Ridge Elementary on new sidewalks this fall, instead of risking their lives on the roadside next to cars and trucks. Unlike many public works jobs in the Puget Sound region, this one got done on time. The Kent School...
How BellHop, Bellevue’s all-electric shuttle service, is doing a month in
BellHop is Bellevue’s all-electric, free shuttle service, providing rides to and from any location within the roughly six-mile area of the city’s downtown core. The service launched Aug. 1 through a partnership with the shuttle company Circuit; the pilot program is...
Harrell, Constantine light-rail ideas add years, money to Sound Transit planning
Sound Transit will extend its light-rail planning two extra years until 2026, and spend $32.8 million more, while consultants study new downtown and South Lake Union station sites promoted by Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and King County Executive Dow Constantine. That...
A financial reckoning is here for Washington’s transportation system.
When Seattle hired a consultant to design a downtown streetcar line, the initial contract totaled $1.85 million. Four years and 11 amendments later, the cost had grown to $14.3 million. Today, the line has yet to be built and the contract is among several now...
Man struck by light rail in South Seattle
Sound Transit light-rail service was delayed for about an hour after the emergency response. The incident occurred within the light-rail line’s most dangerous stretch, on MLK Way South, where trains are on the surface rather than being elevated or tunneled like other...
Study: Traffic is back, but trips aren’t ending up in downtown Seattle
What will it take to get people to return to downtown Seattle? It’s not like we can schedule daily Taylor Swift concerts. The latest numbers on commuting into the downtown core are not encouraging. "Going forward, maybe it’s time to reconsider our transit plans. Does...
With Commuters Staying Home, Transit Agencies Try to Reinvent Themselves
Across the United States, transit systems that have relied for decades on office workers are scrambling to avoid financial collapse as commuters stay home. Many systems are asking their local governments for bailouts as federal pandemic relief runs dry, but they are...
Wetlands bridge adds delay and $72 million to light-rail project
Sound Transit passengers will have to wait until 2026 to ride light rail between SeaTac and Federal Way, because contractors must build a 500-foot-long bridge over unstable wetland soil. Transit staff reported Thursday that this new elevated trackway design, in a Kent...
Sound Transit extends its winning streak of premier credit, easy money
In a year of tight money, Sound Transit is poised to accept another $327 million in federal loans this week, at bargain rates most people can only dream about. The feds offered this money to the Hilltop Tacoma Link streetcar extension, the Northeast 130th Street...
How a demolition crew punctured the Westlake Station ceiling
It’s easy to understand how a demolition crew on a Pine Street sidewalk, while trying to remove a clock base, wound up puncturing the roof of Westlake Station. The top of the station begins only 3 feet deep. Not only that, but the clock’s foundation was integrated...
Contractor blames red tape for Tacoma light-rail project delay
TACOMA — Why isn’t the Hilltop Tacoma Link Extension already carrying passengers? A grand opening for the 2.4-mile, six-station streetcar project is likely to occur in late August, compared to its May 2022 target, at an estimated $283 million, including $65 million in...
Bad light-rail ties on I-90 bridge can’t be fixed, must be rebuilt
After some futile attempts at repairs, Sound Transit contractors have scraped thousands of flawed concrete track ties from the decks of Interstate 90 so new ties can be built from scratch. This second effort by the Kiewit-Hoffman partnership delays the Lake Washington...
Rhetoric vs Reality, the Housing Bills Now Before the State Legislature
If you agree with the information below, please contact your elected officials in Olympia asap and share with neighbors, colleagues, friends and family. These Bills will be moving out of committees this week. Here's how to contact them. If you would like electronic...
Seattle’s bleak downtown light-rail stations have nowhere to go but up
Thousands of passengers who enter the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel learned a while ago to sidestep broken escalators marked by yellow barricades, avoid the fentanyl smokers huddled outside certain entrances and take shallow breaths inside fetid elevators. They’ve...