The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper: Slog: Transportation

The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper: Slog: Transportation http://slog.thestranger.com/blogs/slog/ Seattle's #1 Weekly Newspaper. Covering Seattle news, politics, music, film, and arts; plus movie times, club calendars, restaurant listings, forums, blogs, and Savage Love. en-us Copyright 2013 The Stranger. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, The Stranger readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. editor@thestranger.com (The Stranger Editor) webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Sat, 18 May 2013 00:00:01 -0700 Sat, 18 May 2013 17:30:00 -0700 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss What Kind of Cars Do I Like? http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/17/what-kind-of-cars-do-i-like http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/17/what-kind-of-cars-do-i-like Charles Mudede <p>Beer <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/drinkin-with-charlse-mudede/Content?oid=16766179">can cars</a>...<br /><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/d838/1368806617-chow-charles-570.jpg" alt="chow-charles-570.jpg" title="" width="500" height="263" /></div><br />A note: I think I'm close to convincing my son that not learning how to drive a car is the classy, truly aristocratic thing to do. Wanting to own a car shows poor taste, a lack of good upbringing. Car worship is so middle class. My son is not aristocratic by blood, but he can be so by behavior. And maybe one day someone may even look at him and his airs and say: "So, you're one of those <a href="http://www.subzin.com/s/So+you're+one+of+those+public+transportation+snobs">public transportation snobs</a>."</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/17/what-kind-of-cars-do-i-like#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16791330&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Transportation http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/17/what-kind-of-cars-do-i-like?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16791330&id=comments 25 What Kind of Cars Do I Like? Fri, 17 May 2013 09:02:22 -0700 The Stranger "Bus service shouldn't be optional—it should be a right." http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/15/bus-service-shouldnt-be-optionalit-should-be-a-right http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/15/bus-service-shouldnt-be-optionalit-should-be-a-right Cienna Madrid <p>Hundreds of people crowded into Pioneer Square's Union Station to demand that the legislature allow King County to tax motor vehicles in order to continue funding Metro bus routes (as well as road and street improvements). As Goldy writes in this week's paper, without that taxing authority, Metro will be forced to <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/seattles-invisible-28-lane-freeway/Content?oid=16766783">slash services by 17 percent</a> next year.</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:412px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/3bc0/1368637555-metro1.jpg" alt="Metro riders wait patiently to plead their cases." title="Metro riders wait patiently to plead their cases." width="400" height="300" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Ansel Herz</li><li class="imageCaption">Metro riders wait patiently to plead their cases.</li></ul></div></p> <p>Bus riders are understandably frustrated by the threatened cuts. They're discouraged that they have to once again lobby for services that they fought hard to preserve just two years ago. The <em>Seattle Times</em> has a thorough write-up of Metro's <a href="http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020985627_metrocutsxml.html">years-long struggle</a> to fund its services, while news intern Ansel stopped by the meeting yesterday and talked with a few people who would most likely be affected by the cuts.</p> <p><div class="blogImageLeft" style="width:312px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/6d93/1368637607-metro2.jpg" alt="Metro2.jpg" title="" width="300" height="226" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Ansel Herz</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div>"My bus commute is the 106, and it takes me about 35 minutes," explained Gabriel Cain, a 34-year-old IT worker. "<strong>Driving is faster, but it's not cheaper</strong>. My route is on the reduced service list. I think they need to do things like add to the motor vehicle excise tax to pay for this, because this is very important to a lot of people. Cutting bus service impacts people who are a lot more hard off than I am."<br /> <br />"<strong>Bus service shouldn't be optional—it should be a right</strong>," testified Yasmine Elbaradie, who's unemployed. Elbaradie said that it's really disheartening to see Metro back on the chopping block after cuts were proposed just two years ago. "There's still no guaranteed funding source for Metro. I think it'd be excellent if we could have a <strong>permanent source of funding for the buses</strong> and not have to repeat this situation down the line again. I depend pretty heavily on the bus, as a lot of other people do. Some people don't have the option—if there's no bus they can't do anything else."</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/15/bus-service-shouldnt-be-optionalit-should-be-a-right#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16770976&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Transportation http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/15/bus-service-shouldnt-be-optionalit-should-be-a-right?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16770976&id=comments 54 "Bus service shouldn't be optional—it should be a right." Metro riders wait patiently to plead their cases. Ansel Herz Wed, 15 May 2013 11:15:58 -0700 The Stranger Boat Watch http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/14/boat-watch http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/14/boat-watch Grant Brissey <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><a href="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/8911/1368580698-woodlawnandkenwood.jpg" class="zoomable"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/8911/1368580698-woodlawnandkenwood.jpg" alt="WoodlawnandKenwood.JPG" title="" width="500" height="373" /></a></div></p> <p><small>h/t: <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Profile?oid=4067801">biffp</a></small></p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/14/boat-watch#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16767155&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Transportation http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/14/boat-watch?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16767155&id=comments 18 Boat Watch Tue, 14 May 2013 18:22:58 -0700 The Stranger For the First Time in Six Decades, Americans Are Driving Less http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/14/for-the-first-time-in-six-decades-americans-are-driving-less http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/14/for-the-first-time-in-six-decades-americans-are-driving-less Charles Mudede <p>And <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/us/report-finds-americans-are-driving-less-led-by-youth.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hpw&">no thanks to those old farts</a> who worry about the future of the national debt and fuck all about the environment...<br /><blockquote>For six decades, Americans have tended to drive more every year. But in the middle of the last decade, the number of miles driven — both over all and per capita — began to drop, notes a report to be published on Tuesday by U.S. Pirg, a nonprofit advocacy organization.</p> <p>People tend to drive less during recessions, since fewer people are working (and commuting), and most are looking for ways to save money. But Phineas Baxandall, an author of the report and senior analyst for U.S. Pirg, said the changes preceded the recent recession and appeared to be part of a structural shift that is largely rooted in changing demographics, especially the rise of so-called millennials —<strong> today’s teenagers and twentysomethings.</strong> “Millennials aren’t driving cars,” he said.</blockquote> One hopes that cars will be for the new generation what cigarettes were for my generation.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/14/for-the-first-time-in-six-decades-americans-are-driving-less#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16762053&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Transportation http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/14/for-the-first-time-in-six-decades-americans-are-driving-less?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16762053&id=comments 28 Tue, 14 May 2013 09:33:19 -0700 The Stranger Hey Seattle Bus Riders: Your Commute Could Be at Risk http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/13/hey-seattle-bus-riders-your-commute-could-be-at-risk http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/13/hey-seattle-bus-riders-your-commute-could-be-at-risk Cienna Madrid <p><strong>Tomorrow at 4:00 p.m.</strong>, the King County council will be hearing public testimony at Union Station (401 S Jackson St) on proposed Metro service cuts that would <strong>eliminate 65 bus routes</strong> in the county and hobble another 86 routes. As Professor Goldy explains, that's "a capacity cut equivalent to about <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/03/seattles-invisible-28-lane-freeway">a quarter of I-5's weekday traffic</a>, or more than half of the Viaduct's."</p> <p>Put another way, if you ride Metro with any regularity, this will likely affect you—Metro estimates the cuts would impact 70 percent of its ridership. So go. Testify, if you can:</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/5074/1368477011-metro_reminder.jpg" alt="Phone poles for public transit!" title="Phone poles for public transit!" width="500" height="667" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Anna Minard</li><li class="imageCaption">Phone poles for public transit!</li></ul></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/13/hey-seattle-bus-riders-your-commute-could-be-at-risk#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16754596&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Transportation City http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/13/hey-seattle-bus-riders-your-commute-could-be-at-risk?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16754596&id=comments 34 Hey Seattle Bus Riders: Your Commute Could Be at Risk Phone poles for public transit! Anna Minard Mon, 13 May 2013 13:32:24 -0700 The Stranger Tesla the Beautiful http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/10/telsa-the-beautiful http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/10/telsa-the-beautiful Charles Mudede <p><a href="http://inhabitat.com/tesla-posts-first-quarterly-profits-in-companys-10-year-history/">Inhabitat</a>:<br /><blockquote>To say that it’s been a good week for Tesla would be quite an understatement. First, the Tesla Model S earned Consumer Reports’ highest-ever rating with a score of 99 out of 100. Then, after 10 years in business, the electric car maker announced its first quarterly profit in Q1 of 2013 with a net income of $11.2 million. In the wake of the news, Tesla stock prices surged 24 percent, as shares of the company’s stock reached $69.40 when markets closed in New York on Thursday.</blockquote><br />Yesterday, on my way to San Francisco's airtport... <br /><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/dc67/1368195534-img_20130509_065545_edit_2.jpeg" alt="IMG_20130509_065545_edit_2.jpeg" title="" width="500" height="194" /></div><br />My hate of cars could not resist its beauty. Was it the design? Or was it the fact that it was not like the other cars on the road, not a dinosaur, not a dying death machine? I asked my driver to catch up with it—I wanted to see the side and front of it. He applied the necessary pressure on the pedal and overpowered the space between us. We both looked at and admired its form and the smoothness of its movement. Indeed, we stared so hard at all of its refined features that it took us more than a moment to realize that a woman with fancy blond hair was driving it. We wondered what she thought of the big-eyed cave men in the dinosaur.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/10/telsa-the-beautiful#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16728454&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Transportation http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/10/telsa-the-beautiful?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16728454&id=comments 40 Tesla the Beautiful Fri, 10 May 2013 07:15:20 -0700 The Stranger Fatal Car Crashes Are Down http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/03/fatal-car-crashes-are-down http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/03/fatal-car-crashes-are-down Dominic Holden <p>And the Sightline Institute points out that it's happened <a href="http://daily.sightline.org/2013/05/03/washington-car-crashes-decline-again/">after voters could legally smoke pot</a>:</p> <blockquote><p><div class="blogImageRight" style="width:262px;"><a href="http://daily.sightline.org/2013/05/03/washington-car-crashes-decline-again/"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/b86c/1367606212-sightline_wa-fatalities.png" alt="Sightline_WA-fatalities.png" title="" width="250" height="297" /></a><ul><li class="imageCredit">Sightline Institute</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div>One of the often-overlooked benefits of declining driving, particularly among the young, has been a rapid reduction in car crash deaths over the past decade. And those safety improvements have probably been <strong>helped by falling sales of super-sized pickups and SUVs</strong>, along with other promising automotive technology trends.</p> <p>But during last year’s debate over marijuana legalization in Washington, I heard quite a bit of concern that <strong>permissive marijuana laws would reverse the recent declines in crash fatalities</strong>. I recall chatting with a well-meaning tow truck driver—a guy who’d seen the aftermath of a lot of terrible crashes—and he was convinced that legalizing pot would just mean more dead kids. Being a parent myself, I found it easy to understand that perspective. Despite a long-term decline in alcohol-related crashes in the state, drunk driving is still a very serious problem—and I can certainly relate to the fear that legalizing another intoxicating substance would boost car crash deaths.</p> <p>So far, though, the opposite has been true: crash fatalities in the first part of the year seem to have <strong>fallen to a new low</strong>. </p></blockquote> <p>This is a tiny sample size from only four months, and the Sightline Institute acknowledges these are preliminary numbers, but <em>if the trend continues</em> through future years in Washington and Colorado, which also legalized pot, these sort of findings may help debunk claims that pot legalization causes more highway fatalities. (That argument was used heavily to stop previous legalization initiatives in California and Nevada.) But to the larger point—larger than pot—I'm just glad fewer people are dying on our roadways.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/03/fatal-car-crashes-are-down#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16664547&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Transportation http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/03/fatal-car-crashes-are-down?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16664547&id=comments 16 Fatal Car Crashes Are Down Sightlin Institute Fri, 03 May 2013 11:52:18 -0700 The Stranger Seattle's Invisible 28-Lane Freeway http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/03/seattles-invisible-28-lane-freeway http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/03/seattles-invisible-28-lane-freeway Goldy <p>Imagine if, simply because the state senate couldn't be bothered to do its job, WS DOT announced that they would have to <strong>shut down a couple lanes of I-5</strong> through Seattle next year. That's pretty much the transportation capacity equivalent of what's facing King County Metro.</p> <p>If the legislature fails to grant King County the authority to levy a <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/26/time-is-running-out-to-save-metro-from-17-percent-cuts">1.5 percent Motor Vehicle Excise Tax</a>, Metro could cut bus service by up to 17 percent in order to close a projected $75 million annual revenue shortfall. With <a href="http://metro.kingcounty.gov/am/reports/monthly-measures/ridership.html">average weekday ridership of about 400,000</a>, that's capacity equivalent to about 68,000 rides a day.</p> <p>To put that in perspective, I-5 carries about <a href="http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/A8FFEB01-8557-44F8-9B3D-5AFDC6AAB03B/0/i5ReconstructFolio_01312008.pdf">250,000 vehicles a day</a> through Seattle, the Alaskan Way Viaduct <a href="http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/Viaduct/Faqs">only 110,000</a>. So we're looking at a capacity cut equivalent to about a quarter of I-5's weekday traffic, or more than half of the Viaduct's. Just from a 17 percent cut in Metro service.</p> <p>It's easy to lose sight of just how crucial transit is to our region's daily commute. Through their various services Sound Transit and Metro together carry about 500,000 rides a day; that's almost as much as <strong>I-5, I-405, and the Viaduct <em>combined</em></strong>. Or to visualize it another way, the average capacity of a single freeway lane is about <a href="http://www.mikeontraffic.com/2011/12/numbers-every-traffic-engineer-should-know.html">18,000 vehicles a day</a>—making ST/Metro's half-million rides a day roughly equivalent to building a <strong>28-lane freeway</strong> through Seattle.</p> <p>Yeah, sure, a 17 percent cut in bus service does not mean a 17 percent cut in bus ridership; some riders will just switch to other routes regardless of how crowded they already are. But the same would be true of closing a freeway lane. And of course, some bus riders will choose to drive instead, increasing traffic congestion for everyone else, including the remaining buses on the roads. "The vast majority of our transit users have cars at home," says King County Executive Dow Constantine.</p> <p>If the consequence of their inaction was the closure of a couple freeway lanes, it's hard to imagine that Republican state senators would be so cavalier. If only they understood that transit cuts are the functional equivalent of freeway closures, I'm guessing this local MVET option wouldn't even be an issue.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/03/seattles-invisible-28-lane-freeway#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16663294&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Transportation http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/03/seattles-invisible-28-lane-freeway?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16663294&id=comments 29 Fri, 03 May 2013 11:39:43 -0700 The Stranger Seattle Finally Has a Train Station... http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/02/seattle-finally-has-a-train-station http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/02/seattle-finally-has-a-train-station Charles Mudede <p>It took forever, but it's finally here; finally this part of Seattle and the old multimodal dream is coming together nicely... <br /><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:412px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/7460/1367508246-img_20130501_151501.jpg" alt="IMG_20130501_151501.jpg" title="" width="400" height="275" /></div><br />The remodeling project was so slow that at one point (<a href="http://www.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/09/01/out-of-time&view=comments?oid=2153798&show=comments&sort=desc&display=">three years ago</a>), I decided it was best to just demolish the whole damn thing. My thinking? Making something new might make us more excited.<br /><blockquote>At 12:50 p.m. today, the defeated mayor of Seattle climbed up to the 11th floor of the clock tower at King Street Station (a structure that should have been demolished instead of endlessly being renovated) and officially restarted the station’s long-dead clock. These are the words he offered for the sad occasion, sad because at the very moment life was returning to the clock was also the moment that life was leaving his mayorship: “For the first time in more than a decade, Seattleites can once again set their watches by the King Street Station clock.” (Yes, Nickels, we will now be able to see if the Global Positioning Systems's time synchronization for cellular phone networks is correct or not.) As the mayor descended the tower, step by step, the sound of time's ticking diminished.</blockquote> Now we have to deal with the old tracks. We want our bullet <a href="http://cascadiahighspeedrail.org/about/default.html">trains between the big cities</a>. This want needs new tracks. Obama talked about doing something about it years ago. But because Obama is only good at being the first black president and not much else, we continue to only hear talk <a href="http://dc.streetsblog.org/2013/04/10/obamas-2014-transpo-budget-calls-for-higher-spending-hsr/">about this upgrade</a>. (To be fair, there has been some serious talk about high-speed rail in our region since 1992. Obama is only continuing this solid tradition of talking.)</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/02/seattle-finally-has-a-train-station#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16654346&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Transportation Architecture http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/02/seattle-finally-has-a-train-station?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16654346&id=comments 15 Seattle Finally Has a Train Station... Thu, 02 May 2013 08:46:06 -0700 The Stranger Time Is Running Out to Save King County Metro from 17 Percent Cuts http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/26/time-is-running-out-to-save-metro-from-17-percent-cuts http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/26/time-is-running-out-to-save-metro-from-17-percent-cuts Goldy <p>This time next year <strong>King County Metro</strong> could very well be finalizing <a href="http://www.kingcounty.gov/exec/news/release/2013/April/01MetroTransitPotentialCuts.aspx">a 17 percent cut in bus service</a>, eliminating as much as a third of its routes while reducing or revising service on another third. And many of the routes left unchanged won't be left untouched, absorbing higher ridership and more crowding.</p> <p>And this isn't some scare tactic. These are the cuts Metro will likely make based on the analysis in its <a href="http://metro.kingcounty.gov/planning/pdf/2011-21/2012/metro-2012-service-guidelines_rpt_040313.pdf">2012 Service Guidelines Report</a> should the state legislature fail to approve the local option taxing authority necessary to close a looming $75 million budget gap. And days from the end of regular legislative session, that authorization has yet to come.</p> <p><strong>"All we ask from the legislature is the freedom to responsibly invest,"</strong> explains King County Executive Dow Constantine. "King County is prosperous because of investments in things like bus service and roads," says Constantine, "and with that investment the rest of the state will prosper."</p> <p>Specifically, county and city leaders have asked the legislature for the authority to impose up to a 1.5 percent MVET (a tax on the value of your car). Revenue would be split 60/40 between Metro and roads, with the road money distributed to the cities and unincorporated King County proportionate to population. At it's full value, a 1.5 percent MVET would raise about $85 million a year for Metro and another $55 million to help close the region's growing deferred road maintenance backlog.</p> <p>"We have a very significant backlog of maintenance needs," explains Constantine chief of staff Sung Yang. "And the longer you put off maintaining the roads, the bigger the cost."</p> <p>The transportation funding package passed by the Democratic-controlled state house includes a local MVET option—for King County only—but with the requirement that it be approved by a countywide vote of the people. "We would have clearly preferred the ability to do this councilmanically," says Yang. But the Republican-controlled senate so far hasn't done even that.</p> <p>"<em>If</em> there's a transportation package, I think it will include the MVET," predicts deposed senate majority leader Ed Murray (D-Seattle). The snag in the senate, says Murray, is his Republican colleagues' reluctance to approve the ten cent a gallon gas tax increase necessary to fund the proposed $8.4 billion transportation budget. And without a transportation funding package, what are the chances of the senate approving the Metro-saving MVET option? <strong>"I don't think enough votes would be there,"</strong> speculates Murray.</p> <p>At this late point, with the clock winding down, if the legislature is going to approve the MVET option it'll have to happen in a special session. And if they don't get it done before adjourning for the year? Expect Metro service cuts to begin by the fall of 2014. For if we miss this November's ballot there just won't be the time to approve and implement an MVET before the temporary $20 "<a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/bus-stomp/Content?oid=9124984">congestion reduction charge"</a> expires at the end of June, 2014. And bother drivers and bus riders alike will suffer.</p> <p>"Forty-three percent of people going into and out of downtown Seattle do so on transit," says Constantine. Some of these people won't be able to get to their schools or their jobs. Others will just climb behind the wheels of their cars, making traffic congestion that much worse for everybody. "The vast majority of our transit users have cars at home," says Constantine.</p> <p>The ultimate irony is that the legislature's failure to allow voters here in King County the opportunity to tax ourselves to pay for the local transportation infrastructure we need to prosper, could end up making future state budgets even harder to balance. "<strong>King County is half of the state's economy</strong>, and the failure to invest in the economy of King County means the economy of the state will suffer," says Constantine, who remains hopeful that the senate will do the right thing. "Assuming each of these people ran for office wanting to do right for their constituents," that is.</p> <p>An assumption that in itself assumes a level analytic skill not generally on display in Olympia. </p> <blockquote><p><strong>Routes at risk for deletion (65 routes):</strong> <br />7EX, 19, 21EX, 22, 25, 27, 30, 37, 48NEX, 57, 61, 76, 77EX, 82, 83, 84, 99, 110, 113, 114, 118EX, 119, 119EX, 123EX, 139, 152, 154, 157, 159, 161, 173, 179, 190, 192, 197, 200, 201, 203, 205EX, 210, 211EX, 213, 215, 216, 237, 243, 244EX, 250, 257, 260, 265, 268, 277, 280, 304, 308, 601EX, 907DART, 910DART, 913DART, 914DART, 919DART, 927DART, 930DART and 935DART.</p> <p><strong>Routes at risk for reductions and revisions (86 routes):</strong> <br />1, 2S, 2N, 3S, 3N, 4S, 4N, 5, 5EX, 7, 8, 9EX, 10, 11, 12, 14S, 16, 21, 24, 26, 26EX, 28, 28EX, 29, 31, 36, 41, 43, 47, 48N, 60, 65, 66EX, 67, 68, 70, 71, 72, 73, 106, 107, 116EX, 118, 121, 122, 125, 148, 156, 177, 181, 182, 186, 187, 193EX, 202, 204, 209, 214, 221, 224, 226, 232, 234, 235, 236, 238, 241, 245, 246, 248, 249, 255, 269, 271, 309EX, 311, 312EX, 331, 355EX, 372EX, 373EX, 901DART, 903DART, 908DART, 909DART and 931DART.</p></blockquote> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/26/time-is-running-out-to-save-metro-from-17-percent-cuts#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16596814&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Transportation Olympia http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/26/time-is-running-out-to-save-metro-from-17-percent-cuts?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16596814&id=comments 25 Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:02:00 -0700 The Stranger Subarea Equity: A Stupid Policy Is a Stupid Policy Is a Stupid Policy http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/25/a-stupid-policy-is-a-stupid-policy-is-a-stupid-policy http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/25/a-stupid-policy-is-a-stupid-policy-is-a-stupid-policy Goldy <p>I love and respect the geeks at <a href="http://seattletransitblog.com">Seattle Transit Blog</a> because they know more about transit and transportation than I do, and I love and respect Dominic for a lot of the same reasons. (Also, how could you not? Just look at that cute little punim!) But that doesn't mean I think they're always right.</p> <p>Case in point, their recent <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/23/stb-ed-murray-throws-seattle-under-the-train">shaming of state senator and mayoral candidate Ed Murray</a> for saying he supports eliminating Sound Transit's <strong>subarea equity</strong> provisions. STB's Ben Schiendelman berates Murray for not having "a better grasp of the issues" while Dom implies that Murray is not "smart about transportation." But <strong>it's subarea equity that's stupid</strong>, not Murray.</p> <p>Originally pushed by Rob McKenna in an effort to kill Sound Transit by fanning intraregional feuding, subarea equity requires that tax dollars raised in each of the agency's five subareas—Snohomish, Pierce, East King, South King, and North King (Seattle)—be spent in their respective subareas. Equitable sure, but an incredibly inefficient means of prioritizing transportation spending. A triumph of politics over policy.</p> <p>When Portland built its hugely successful light rail system they initially focused their resources on the dense downtown core, and then built out to the suburbs. Subarea equity has forced Sound Transit to build the entire region at once; it's a big part of the reason that our light rail system is taking so long to build.</p> <p>It also didn't work out exactly the way suburban proponents had hoped it would. The outlying subareas were hit harder by the Great Recession, and their economies have recovered much slower than Seattle proper, particularly the South King subarea, which has seen its sales tax revenues fall far short of what is necessary to build the promised light rail extension to Federal Way. But thanks to subarea equity, <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/05/09/light-rail-less-south-king-county-commuters-should-thank-rob-mckenna-for-their-sub-area-equity">Sound Transit lacks the flexibility</a> to shift money to where it's needed. (I'm not arguing that it makes sense for Sound Transit to shift money to South King, just that if it did make sense, Sound Transit couldn't.)</p> <p>Subarea equity has always been <strong>an artificial constraint imposed by politicians on transportation planners</strong>. And the fact that it hasn't worked out as badly for Seattle as McKenna had intended doesn't make the policy any smarter.</p> <p>Dom and Ben fear that without the subarea provisions in place, and with a majority of Sound Transit board members representing suburban areas, Seattle will get screwed in the upcoming ST3 proposal, jeopardizing the construction of a westside line (West Seattle and/or Ballard). And it is certainly reasonable to air those concerns. But no ST3 ballot measure can pass without overwhelming support here in Seattle, and that overwhelming support isn't coming for a measure that doesn't lay down track within city limits.</p> <p>As for their characterization of Murray as not having a grasp of transportation issues, well, that's just plain silly. For even STB admits that subarea equity is bad transportation policy. "[Subarea equity] does force Sound Transit to make some <a href="http://seattletransitblog.com/2008/02/14/sub-area-equity/">goofy decisions</a>," STB's Martin Duke wrote in 2008, "because it has to spend like crazy in outlying areas to offset the huge capital costs in the core." And in 2011 Duke argued that a more flexible policy would better serve the region: "<a href="http://seattletransitblog.com/2011/08/05/subarea-equity/">Precise formulas are not the answer.</a> In general, arbitrary divisions are obstacles to sensible resource allocation."</p> <p>That's pretty much what Murray is arguing for. "It's an outdated formula," a somewhat exasperated Murray told me by phone. Instead, Murray says he wants to replace subarea equity with a more flexible formula "that is <strong>density driven</strong>, instead of just slicing up the pie." Murray isn't advocating for ditching subarea equity and replacing it with nothing. He's advocating for ditching subarea equity and replacing it with a policy that directs Sound Transit's resources more toward where they're needed.</p> <p>That's smart transportation policy, and shows a clear grasp of the issues.</p> <p>Whether it's smart politics, well, that's another question. I've long felt that Murray's embrace of transportation regionalism, while dead right from a policy perspective, is <a href="http://horsesass.org/?p=20513">more than a little naive on the politics</a>. Given my druthers—and more importantly, <strong>sufficient local taxing authority</strong>—I'd much rather Seattle just build light and street rail on its own like Mayor Mike McGinn proposes. But Olympia will never give Seattle the MVET or sales tax authority necessary to fund my druthers. Hell, it's not even clear that Olympia will give King County the MVET authority necessary to preserve Metro bus service and maintain our roads.</p> <p>So while it's endlessly frustrating to give politicians and voters in Pierce, Snohomish, and South King veto power over what kind of transit system we build here in Seattle, those are the handcuffs Olympia has slapped on us. And lacking the taxing authority to build a transit system outside those constraints, the least we can do is implement policies that better spend the resources we have.</p> <p><small>[<strong>NOTE:</strong> While I was writing this post, Murray posted a guest op-ed on the same subject. So please feel free to read Murray defend his policies <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/25/why-i-oppose-sub-area-equity-for-sound-transit">in his own words</a>.]</small></p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/25/a-stupid-policy-is-a-stupid-policy-is-a-stupid-policy#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16589786&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Transportation Politics http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/25/a-stupid-policy-is-a-stupid-policy-is-a-stupid-policy?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16589786&id=comments 31 Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:36:15 -0700 The Stranger Boring Report http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/23/boring-report http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/23/boring-report Christopher Frizzelle <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/1f42/1366769666-boringreport.jpg" alt="boringreport.JPG" title="" width="500" height="375" /></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/23/boring-report#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16576496&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Transportation The Weather http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/23/boring-report?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16576496&id=comments 10 Boring Report Tue, 23 Apr 2013 19:12:33 -0700 The Stranger STB: "Ed Murray Throws Seattle Under the Train" http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/23/stb-ed-murray-throws-seattle-under-the-train http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/23/stb-ed-murray-throws-seattle-under-the-train Dominic Holden <p>Oh, <a href="http://seattletransitblog.com/2013/04/23/murray-throws-seattle-under-the-train/">Ed Murray</a>:</p> <blockquote><p>As a quick bit of background, subarea equity is a policy in which Sound Transit is split into five subareas – and money collected in a subarea must be spent in that subarea. This means money collected in Seattle essentially stays in Seattle, money collected on the eastside stays on the eastside...</p> <p>Murray claims that his reason for <strong>wanting to remove subarea equity</strong> would be to focus transit investment in Seattle—but the outcome of removing it would be the opposite. As a transit advocate who wants Seattle to have more grade separated transit, this is scary because it’s a direct threat to a new line in the city, and it’s scary because a mayoral candidate should have a better grasp of the issues.</p></blockquote> <p>If Seattle is going to build a functional light rail network in Seattle—a complete Seattle Subway, if you will—it will be by spending money <em>raised by Seattle</em> to building that rail network <em>in Seattle</em>. That's where we have the greatest tax base, the greatest density, the greatest need for transit, and the votes to pass it. We won't get there if we allow suburban voters, who aren't as thrilled about spending money on this stuff, to serve as an obstacle and delay for future votes on construction. Moving at the sluggish pace the whole region approves transit, <strong>we wouldn't complete a complete light-rail network for another hundred years</strong>. That's stupid. If Murray were smart about transportation, he'd be at the forefront of trying to build that transit system in his lifetime. Pro-transit voters might even support him in his run for mayor.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/23/stb-ed-murray-throws-seattle-under-the-train#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16572707&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Transportation http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/23/stb-ed-murray-throws-seattle-under-the-train?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16572707&id=comments 29 Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:06:41 -0700 The Stranger Communism Triumphs as Bellevue City Council Approves Light Rail Route http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/23/communism-triumphs-as-bellevue-city-council-approves-light-rail-route http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/23/communism-triumphs-as-bellevue-city-council-approves-light-rail-route Goldy <p><strong>Sound Transit</strong> gets a lot of guff for failing to complete its projects on time, and no doubt it will get even more when its East Link extension finally opens in 2023, two years later than originally promised to voters. <a href="http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020839687_bellevuelightrailxml.html">But it's not all Sound Transit's fault</a>:</p> <blockquote><p>The Bellevue City Council took a historic step Monday night, endorsing a route for Link light- rail trains <strong>more than four years after voters approved</strong> higher sales taxes to build three suburban lines.</p></blockquote> <p>It's true, Sound Transit suffered a traumatic birth, over-promising and under-delivering on its 1996 ballot measure. There were a lot of bad decisions and poor management in the agency's early years—but that was a decade and a half ago. Under CEO Joni Earl's leadership, Sound Transit has transformed itself into a model agency, routinely passing its frequent state and federal audits with flying colors (even if the press releases from former state auditor Brian Sonntag didn't always make it sound that way).</p> <p>The Bellevue City Council on the other hand... well... I'd mock them for taking <strong>four years to choose a light rail route</strong>, if not for the fact that it's been a dozen years since the Nisqually quake marked the Viaduct for demolition, and yet tens of thousands of cars a day are still hazarding the crumbling roadway after a decade of political infighting here in Seattle. So, he who is without sin, and all that.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/23/communism-triumphs-as-bellevue-city-council-approves-light-rail-route#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16569239&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Transportation Politics http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/23/communism-triumphs-as-bellevue-city-council-approves-light-rail-route?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16569239&id=comments 17 Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:52:17 -0700 The Stranger I Wonder If Avis Is Bummed They Bought Zipcar http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/18/i-wonder-if-avis-is-bummed-they-bought-zipcar http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/18/i-wonder-if-avis-is-bummed-they-bought-zipcar Grant Brissey <p>All the way back in January, Avis Budget Group <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/01/02/zipcar_bought_by_avid_budget_group_for_500_million.html">bought Zipcar for $500 million</a>. Because their competitors were already getting into the hourly rental business, they figured they should too. But here's my question: <strong>Who the hell is going to rent cars on an hourly basis now that Car2go is here</strong>? Unless Avis plans on radically revamping their hourly rental terms, they—and their competitors for that matter—have bought into <strong>a business model that's wheezing its last bank transactions</strong>. At the time of the purchase, there was a fair amount of speculation about the motives for the deal, but <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/best-explanation-on-why-avis-bought-zipcar-2013-1">often it</a> failed <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-01-02/with-zipcar-avis-backs-steve-cases-sharing-economy">to mention</a> Car2go at all, and a lot of the coverage <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/technology-quarterly/21572914-collaborative-consumption-technology-makes-it-easier-people-rent-items">still does</a>.</p> <p>True, Zipcar will rent for a longer term, like for a weekend or whatever. But anyone with a credit card or a utility bill in their name can do that at a rental agency already with far less money. Say what you want about <strong>the lack of dignity involved with driving a Car2go</strong>, but, really, if I've got that option, and it's a fraction of the price of a cab and ten times faster than Metro, I'm going to take it. What's more, those <strong>giant Zipcar emblems</strong> on the Zipcars' passenger-side doors don't afford one a whole lot more dignity than does driving a Smart Car. You've seen them on the road; <strong>Cars2go are everywhere</strong>. Usually I can reserve one within a few blocks of my house. Heck, they're <a href="http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2013/04/police-arrest-suspect-in-car2go-hit-and-run/">already hitting cyclists</a>.</p> <p>And then there's the real clincher: With Car2go, you just leave the thing wherever you park and go find another one when you're done with whatever you went out for—<strong>you don't pay for the in-between time</strong>. You don't have to worry about returning a car if you want to have a few drinks, or, say, decide to have a sleepover while you're out. Any way you look at it, Car2go is just a vastly superior system.</p> <p>And I should note that I say this as a customer of both companies, although ever since I signed up for Car2go, I haven't touched a Zipcar, and <strong>I can't think of a single reason to</strong>.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/18/i-wonder-if-avis-is-bummed-they-bought-zipcar#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16512303&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Transportation Money http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/18/i-wonder-if-avis-is-bummed-they-bought-zipcar?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16512303&id=comments 40 Thu, 18 Apr 2013 12:05:05 -0700 The Stranger Neighborhood Safe Streets Bill Passes the State Senate http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/17/neighborhood-safe-streets-bill-passes-the-state-senate http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/17/neighborhood-safe-streets-bill-passes-the-state-senate Anna Minard <p>The Neighborhood Safe Streets Bill (which we've always called the "<a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/19/slow-the-fuck-down-bill-passes-in-the-house">slow the fuck down on neighborhood streets</a>" bill, since it gives cities the opportunity to slightly lower speed limits on nonarterial streets without doing costly and time-consuming traffic studies) just passed the state senate today.</p> <p>"We were the <strong>absolute last bill</strong> before the senate cutoff," says Blake Trask, policy director at Bicycle Alliance of Washington. The bill's supporters started to think it had pretty much no chance—then, with an hour to go, they suddenly heard the bill might make it to the floor. <strong>It passed 45–2.</strong> "For it to be the last bill is something special," Trask says. "We can't thank Senators Billig and Frockt enough" for orchestrating its passage, he says, and also thanks the bill's house sponsor Rep. Cindy Ryu.</p> <p>It's nice to see something good come out of Olympia for a second. If you've forgotten all about this <strong>pedestrian-and-bike-friendly</strong> bill, which had bipartisan support all along, a refresher from our <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-good-the-bad-and-the-fucking-nuts/Content?oid=16173376">yearly bill roundup</a> is after the jump.</p> <blockquote><p><strong>Saving Cyclists</strong></p> <p>Here's a popular bill that has died in past years for stupid procedural reasons. Representative Cindy Ryu (D-Shoreline) is once again sponsoring a safe-streets bill, HB 1045, that would allow cities to lower speed limits on side streets to a safe 20 miles per hour (from the usual 25) without requiring a traffic study, which can be prohibitively expensive. It has bipartisan support, and its backing outside Olympia is broad: the AARP (the olds!), AAA (the cars!), public-health organizations (the humans!). Just pass it, already.</p></blockquote> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/17/neighborhood-safe-streets-bill-passes-the-state-senate#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16522418&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Transportation Olympia http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/17/neighborhood-safe-streets-bill-passes-the-state-senate?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16522418&id=comments 28 Wed, 17 Apr 2013 18:49:29 -0700 The Stranger Hey, Olympia: You Have a (Columbia River Crossing) Bridge To Sell Me http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/17/hey-olympia-you-have-a-bridge-to-sell-me http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/17/hey-olympia-you-have-a-bridge-to-sell-me Goldy <p>So, um, why is it again that I should care about whether we build a new I-5 <strong>Columbia River Crossing</strong> bridge? I know the current two bridges are old, but unlike hundreds of other bridges in the state, nobody's suggesting that they are ready to collapse. And yeah, traffic can sometimes be bad through Portland, but that's true of lots of segments of I-5.</p> <p>Help me wrap my mind around this. As a Seattle Democrat, I'm supposed to be fighting to spend $450 million on a bridge that serves a portion of the state I rarely visit—a bridge that is vociferously opposed by Republicans, largely because it includes a light rail line that folks down in Vancouver apparently don't want? Really? The state didn't spend any tax dollars helping us build light rail here in Seattle—light rail we wanted—so why should I fight to spend state tax dollars building an unwanted light rail line to Vancouver?</p> <p>I mean, if this is really the sticking point with Republicans, why is it in my personal self-interest not to just let it go in order to gain Republican support for the rest of the transportation package? Surely, that would be better than forcing the package and its 10 cent per gallon gas tax increase to the ballot at the same time King County will be <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/16/house-transportation-tax-package-includes-metro-saving-local-mvet-option">asking local voters to approve a 1.5 percent MVET</a>. Wouldn't it?</p> <p>So yeah. If state Dems want our support on this, they're gonna need to do a better job selling us on this bridge.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/17/hey-olympia-you-have-a-bridge-to-sell-me#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16515539&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Transportation Olympia http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/17/hey-olympia-you-have-a-bridge-to-sell-me?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16515539&id=comments 35 Wed, 17 Apr 2013 08:59:41 -0700 The Stranger House Transportation Funding Package Includes Metro-Saving Local MVET Option http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/16/house-transportation-tax-package-includes-metro-saving-local-mvet-option http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/16/house-transportation-tax-package-includes-metro-saving-local-mvet-option Goldy <p>State house Democrats released a revised <a href="http://post.thestranger.com/seattle/Blogs/Admin/Post?mode=entry&blogid=21233">$8.4 billion transportation funding package</a> today, funded by a 10 cent a gallon increase in the gas tax. The proposal would spend $3.9 billion on highway projects and only $32 million on bike, pedestrian, and transit improvements. Whatever. That's what state transportation budgets do.</p> <p>Of greater significance to folks here in the Seattle area is a footnote appended to the funding package: <strong>a local option Motor Vehicle Excise Tax (MVET).</strong> The state would authorize the county to levy up to 1.5 percent MVET—generating about $140 million annually—to be split 60/40 between bus service and roads. This is revenue that Metro desperately needs to stave off massive service cuts, and it's almost everything the county and the cities had asked Olympia for... except for the fact that <strong>it requires the tax to be put up to a public vote</strong>.</p> <p>It's a little insulting to be denied councilmanic authority, and a public vote is never a sure thing. But the alternative would be the sort of devastating service cuts Pierce Transit has already suffered. Metro only avoided major service cuts after the legislature granted the county temporary authority to levy a two-year $20 car tab fee, ultimately approved by a two-thirds vote of the county council. This "congestion reduction charge" raises about $25 million a year, enough combined with cost savings and the draining of Metro's cash reserves to maintain service at current levels. But the fee expires in June, 2014 and the reserve account is empty. Failure to provide an alternative funding mechanism would leave Metro with a $75 million budget shortfall and service cuts of up to 17 percent.</p> <p>I'm cautiously optimistic that county voters will do the right thing. But the business community is going to have to join transit and social justice advocates in pushing the MVET if we're to assure passage.</p> <p>As for the split between transit and roads, this is exactly what county and city officials asked for. The roads share would be distributed to cities and unincorporated King County proportionate to population. That means with about 30 percent of county's population, Seattle should get about 30 percent of the road money, or about $17 million a year, assuming the county chooses to levy the maximum 1.5 percent.</p> <p>What the senate does with their transportation budget proposal remains to be seen. Sung Yang, the chief of staff to King County Executive Dow Constantine, is hopeful that senate Republicans will follow the house Democrats' lead. "What happens to transportation in King County is <strong>integrally tied to the economic health of the rest of the state</strong>," explains Yang.</p> <p>Here's hoping Rodney Tom and his merry band of Seattle-haters choose pragmatism over spite.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/16/house-transportation-tax-package-includes-metro-saving-local-mvet-option#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16506955&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Transportation Olympia http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/16/house-transportation-tax-package-includes-metro-saving-local-mvet-option?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16506955&id=comments 24 Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:53:03 -0700 The Stranger FYI, We Already Tried Deregulating Seattle's Taxi Industry. It Didn't Work. http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/11/fyi-we-already-tried-deregulating-seattles-taxi-industry-it-didnt-work http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/11/fyi-we-already-tried-deregulating-seattles-taxi-industry-it-didnt-work Goldy <p>Much of the comment thread on my <em><a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-war-on-cabs/Content?oid=16460368">War on Cabs</a></em> piece is pretty awful. But there is one line of commentary that's worth dignifying with a response, and that is the suggestion that the obvious solution to our current regulatory crisis would be to <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-war-on-cabs/Content?oid=16460368#comment-16468991">deregulate the industry</a>:</p> <blockquote><p>[R]egulating the precise number of taxis is a classic example of something the government should let the market decide.</p></blockquote> <p>Except, Seattle already tried deregulating its taxi industry. And failed.</p> <p>As outlined in a <a href="http://www.seattle.gov/consumeraffairs/docs/IATRTAXICABDEREGULATIONANDREREGULATIONINSEATTLE9-11-2001.pdf">2001 report</a> from the city Consumer Affairs division, <strong>Seattle abandoned a half-century of taxi regulation</strong> back in 1979, eliminating its rate-setting authority and opening the industry to all comers. The expectation was that the magic of the market would lead to lower prices, greater efficiencies, and better service. Yay, competition! But it didn't work out that way:</p> <blockquote><p>The taxicab industry was deregulated in 1979 because it was believed that competition would provide the public with improved service and lower rates. In fact, <strong>service quality declined and rates were often higher.</strong> Subsequently, the taxicab industry was reregulated starting in 1984. Initially, rate ceilings were established and later a moratorium was placed on issuance of new taxicab licenses. Seattle, like nearly all of the other cities that experimented with deregulation, eventually returned to regulation of entry and rates.</p></blockquote> <p>And that's not just a city bureaucrat's conclusion. Writing in the pro-market <em>AEI Journal on Government and Society</em> (and posted to the libertarian Cato Institute's website) Evans School professor of government affairs Richard O. Zerbe Jr. explained back in 1983 that despite its promises, taxi deregulation in Seattle resulted in <a href="http://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/regulation/1983/12/v7n6-6.pdf">"unexpected problems" and "widespread consumer complaints."</a> Deregulation, Zerbe concludes, is not as simple as free market advocates think:</p> <blockquote><p>The lessons of Seattle taxicab deregulation are more complicated than the simple one that deregulation works or does not work. First, a change in regulation—from more to less, just as from less to more—can have unexpected side effects. Second, reformers should realize that, <strong>in some markets, even institutional structures that at first appear to restrict entry … are compatible with a competitive (low-cost) solution.</strong> To view the choice of polices as a black-and-white dichotomy between regulation and deregulation is much too simple.</p></blockquote> <p>I don't envy the council in addressing this complicated issue. The current regulatory regime in which the number of licensed taxi drivers far exceed the number of licensed taxicabs has created a market imbalance that leaves drivers at the mercy of the owners. This has not only made it difficult for taxi drivers to earn a living above the cost of their lease and other expenses, it has also driven many former taxi drivers behind the wheels of for-hire vehicles, while fueling the rebellious attitude that has led for-hire drivers to ignore the regulatory prohibition against picking up passengers who hail them from the street. Meanwhile, both taxi and for-hire drivers are facing new competition from difficult to regulate app-based services like Uber, SideCar, and Lyft.</p> <p>A demand study will determine whether there is a need to increase the supply of licensed taxicabs. But totally removing barriers to entry is an experiment that has already been tried. So to simply suggest, as some will, that the market not government should be making these decisions, would be to ignore real world experience in Seattle and many other cities.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/11/fyi-we-already-tried-deregulating-seattles-taxi-industry-it-didnt-work#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16473596&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Transportation http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/11/fyi-we-already-tried-deregulating-seattles-taxi-industry-it-didnt-work?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16473596&id=comments 20 Thu, 11 Apr 2013 12:49:20 -0700 The Stranger It's True, Seattle Cabs Suck http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/11/its-true-seattle-cabs-suck http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/11/its-true-seattle-cabs-suck Dominic Holden <p>The drips of racism in the comment thread on <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-war-on-cabs/Content?oid=16460368">Goldy's article about cabs and their growing competition</a> are repugnant ("It smells like six month old leftover Indian food mixed with ass and vomit," "[t]hat isn't the cab you smell it is the driver," "drivers who pretend they don't speak english," and they "are often Muslim and seem to hate Americans"). But I can't argue with the substantive complaints about Seattle taxis: The cabbies balk when you try to pay with your card, <strong>they often don't show up when you call</strong>, the dispatchers give you guff if you complain that they picked up a different fare even though <em>you're the one who called</em>, they're expensive, the drivers smoke, and many of them just have no clue where they're going. </p> <p>Still, I take cabs several times a month—they're cheaper than owning a car if you use them occasionally—and I sympathize that drivers have <strong>difficult, low-paying jobs with grueling hours</strong>. Many of the drivers (lots of whom are professional and kind and have given me great service) work essentially at the mercy of the fat cats who own several cars. And, apparently, plenty of their customers are racist pieces of shit. But Christ, it's not like the rest of us riders are frustrated with Seattle cabs for no reason. And it's not like shitty dispatch and shitty service are impossible to fix. They're <em>totally fixable</em>. </p> <p>So I'm all about the surge in competition: The cars for hire, the limos, the car-sharing services, the ride-sharing apps. They're surging because they're better than cabs. Sure, some of the competition is probably breaking the law, but hopefully the Seattle City Council can regulate that competition into legality. (I'm not saying deregulate the entire industry; killing the cab companies would be a terrible blow for our tourism industry.) But give Yellow Cab, Orange Cab, and Farwest some real above-the-board competition to fear—that seems like the only way to force cab companies to <strong>step up their game</strong>.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/11/its-true-seattle-cabs-suck#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16472542&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Transportation http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/11/its-true-seattle-cabs-suck?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16472542&id=comments 36 Thu, 11 Apr 2013 09:38:33 -0700 The Stranger McGinn Proposes Accelerating Transportation Studies http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/10/mcginn-proposes-accelerating-transportation-studies http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/10/mcginn-proposes-accelerating-transportation-studies Goldy <p>At a press conference today in Fremont, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn proposed $800,000 in supplemental budget spending to <strong>accelerate planning of two transportation projects</strong>. $500,000 would be spent to study the feasibility of a new Ship Canal crossing; $300,000 would be spent to accelerate design work on a University District to South Lake Union high capacity transit corridor. The funding would come from the $11.75 million the city saved by completing the $163 million Spokane Street Viaduct project under budget.</p> <p>No, it's not exactly groundbreaking news. The current budget already includes $1,000,000 in 2014 and $1,000,000 in 2015 for the University District to South Lake Union corridor. The $300,000 McGinn proposes in 2013 would simply advance the planning project. And a new Ship Canal crossing has long been discussed, but the City Council failed to include funding for a study in the current budget.</p> <p>But while the projects aren't new, the proposed funding would represent a bit of milestone, <strong>bringing every single major transit corridor in the city's Master Plan into the development phase</strong>. That's progress, if not exactly at the breakneck pace that a lot of transit advocates would like. And most importantly, it puts the city in a better position to compete for federal grants when they become available.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/10/mcginn-proposes-accelerating-transportation-studies#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16464549&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Transportation City http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/10/mcginn-proposes-accelerating-transportation-studies?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16464549&id=comments 13 Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:37:15 -0700 The Stranger Riders Have More Options Lately, but Taxi Drivers Say That For-Hire Drivers and Upstart Car Services Are Breaking the Law http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/10/riders-have-more-options-lately-but-taxi-drivers-say-that-for-hire-drivers-and-upstart-car-services-are-breaking-the-law http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/10/riders-have-more-options-lately-but-taxi-drivers-say-that-for-hire-drivers-and-upstart-car-services-are-breaking-the-law Dominic Holden <p>Goldy's got a great piece in this week's paper that asks: Is there "<a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-war-on-cabs/Content?oid=16460368">a war on cabs</a>"?</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-war-on-cabs/Content?oid=16460368"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/f17b/1365619212-war_on_cabs_by_mike_force.jpg" alt="The Seattle City Attorneys Office has determined that SideCar—and similar businesses—are subject to for-hire vehicle licensing and regulation requirements, the citys consumer affairs department confirms. Yet none of their drivers or vehicles are certified, licensed, or inspected." title="The Seattle City Attorneys Office has determined that SideCar—and similar businesses—are subject to for-hire vehicle licensing and regulation requirements, the citys consumer affairs department confirms. Yet none of their drivers or vehicles are certified, licensed, or inspected." width="500" height="425" /></a><ul><li class="imageCredit">Mike Force</li><li class="imageCaption">The Seattle City Attorney's Office has determined "that SideCar—and similar businesses—are subject to for-hire vehicle licensing and regulation requirements," the city's consumer affairs department confirms. Yet none of their drivers or vehicles are certified, licensed, or inspected.</li></ul></div></p> <p><a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-war-on-cabs/Content?oid=16460368">GO READ THE PIECE >></a></p> Transportation http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/10/riders-have-more-options-lately-but-taxi-drivers-say-that-for-hire-drivers-and-upstart-car-services-are-breaking-the-law?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16462890&id=comments 0 Riders Have More Options Lately, but Taxi Drivers Say That For-Hire Drivers and Upstart Car Services Are Breaking the Law The Seattle City Attorney's Office has determined "that SideCar—and similar businesses—are subject to for-hire vehicle licensing and regulation requirements," the city's consumer affairs department confirms. Yet none of their drivers or vehicles are certified, licensed, or inspected. Mike Force Wed, 10 Apr 2013 11:44:52 -0700 The Stranger Today in the Only City in Seattle: Making Connections at Mount Baker Station http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/08/today-in-the-only-city-in-seattle-making-connections-at-mount-baker-station http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/08/today-in-the-only-city-in-seattle-making-connections-at-mount-baker-station Charles Mudede <p>Sometimes a little imagination can go a long way...<br /><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:412px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/51e2/1365442740-20130406_145740_edit_1.jpeg" alt="20130406_145740_edit_1.jpeg" title="" width="400" height="275" /></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/08/today-in-the-only-city-in-seattle-making-connections-at-mount-baker-station#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16446700&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Transportation http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/08/today-in-the-only-city-in-seattle-making-connections-at-mount-baker-station?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16446700&id=comments 25 Today in the Only City in Seattle: Making Connections at Mount Baker Station Mon, 08 Apr 2013 10:37:47 -0700 The Stranger If You're Having Trouble Hailing a Cab Right Now... http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/04/if-youre-having-trouble-hailing-a-cab-right-now http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/04/if-youre-having-trouble-hailing-a-cab-right-now Goldy <p>... It's because all the drivers (for-hire and limo drivers too) are <strong>packed into council chambers</strong> at City Hall:</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><a href="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/0753/1365112902-photo.jpg" class="zoomable"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/0753/1365112902-photo.jpg" alt="Tax, for-hire, and limo drivers are packed into council chambers for contentious hearing on regulations and enforcement." title="Tax, for-hire, and limo drivers are packed into council chambers for contentious hearing on regulations and enforcement." width="500" height="190" /></a><ul><li class="imageCredit">Goldy | The Stranger</li><li class="imageCaption">Tax, for-hire, and limo drivers are packed into council chambers for contentious hearing on regulations and enforcement.</li></ul></div></p> <p>Sure, Sidecar, Uber, and other such upstarts are making waves, but who knew there was such a contentious struggle already going on <strong>between taxi drivers and for hire drivers?</strong> But in their testimony before the City Council, there's one thing they all agree on: "The system is broken."</p> <p>And how!</p> <p>(More later.)</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/04/if-youre-having-trouble-hailing-a-cab-right-now#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16420596&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Transportation City http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/04/if-youre-having-trouble-hailing-a-cab-right-now?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16420596&id=comments 28 If You're Having Trouble Hailing a Cab Right Now... Tax, for-hire, and limo drivers are packed into council chambers for contentious hearing on regulations and enforcement. The Stranger Thu, 04 Apr 2013 15:14:24 -0700 The Stranger "Reasonably Polite Seattleites" Build Guerilla Bike Lanes http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/04/protected-bike-lanes-are-impossible-to-build http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/04/protected-bike-lanes-are-impossible-to-build Dominic Holden <p>As you guys probably know, it's impossible for the city to build protected bike tracks, which are separated from vehicle traffic. Even though <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/debunking-the-so-called-bike-backlash/Content?oid=15813162">a whopping 73 percent of voters want them</a>, they're just too cost-prohibitive and time consuming. Otherwise, I'm sure, the mayor and Seattle City Council would have built them. But, again, it is completely impossible because they <a href="http://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2013/04/04/guerrilla-road-safety-group-politely-installs-illegal-bike-lane-protectors-on-cherry-street/#more-109711">take <em>so long</em> and require <em>so much money</em></a>:</p> <blockquote><p>An extremely polite group of anonymous guerrilla road safety activists armed with <strong>$350 worth of reflective plastic pylons</strong> turned the painted Cherry Street bike lane under I-5 into a <strong>protected bike lane Monday morning</strong>.</p></blockquote> <p>Here's a photo of the guerrilla bike lane built by a group calling themselves <strong>Reasonably Polite Seattleites</strong>:</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><a href="http://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2013/04/04/guerrilla-road-safety-group-politely-installs-illegal-bike-lane-protectors-on-cherry-street/#more-109711"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2013/04/04/1365112043-reasonably_nice_people.jpg" alt="PROTECTED BIKE LANE: A few hours and a few hundred bucks." title="PROTECTED BIKE LANE: A few hours and a few hundred bucks." width="500" height="330" /></a><ul><li class="imageCredit">Photo by Reasonably Polite Seattleites via Seattle Bike Blog</li><li class="imageCaption">A few hours and a few hundred bucks.</li></ul></div></p> <p><a href="http://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2013/04/04/guerrilla-road-safety-group-politely-installs-illegal-bike-lane-protectors-on-cherry-street/#more-109711">Seattle Bike Blog</a> also has a letter that Reasonably Polite Seattleites sent to the city's transportation department and the (completely awesome) letter the city sent back. Check it <a href="http://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2013/04/04/guerrilla-road-safety-group-politely-installs-illegal-bike-lane-protectors-on-cherry-street/#more-109711">out</a>. "The posts that you installed on Cherry Street <strong>will be removed</strong> and I am sorry about that," the traffic engineer says. </p> <p>But, you know, it's impossible to build these things.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/04/protected-bike-lanes-are-impossible-to-build#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16418222&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Transportation http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/04/protected-bike-lanes-are-impossible-to-build?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16418222&id=comments 36 Thu, 04 Apr 2013 15:08:27 -0700 The Stranger Cars Killing Pedestrians http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/02/cars-killing-pedestrians http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/02/cars-killing-pedestrians Charles Mudede <p>I read this <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/02/nyregion/bloombergs-ire-on-defeat-of-red-light-cameras-is-justified.html?_r=0">NYT</a> story with, of course, the recent tragedy in <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/25/car-strikes-three-pedestrians">North Seattle</a> (four pedestrians were struck by a pickup—two were killed and two badly injured) in mind: <br /><blockquote>Michael R. Bloomberg can grow easily irritated, and he minces fewer words the closer he gets to the end of his near-infinite mayoralty.</p> <p>Last week, when two of Brooklyn’s Republican state senators put the kibosh on the mayor’s request for cameras intended to nab drivers who speed near city schools, Hizzoner did not bother with conversational niceties.</p> <p>He offered to hand out the telephone numbers of the senators, Simcha Felder and Martin Golden.</p> <p>“Maybe you want to give those phone numbers to the parents of the child when a child is killed,” the mayor said. “It would be useful so that the parents can know exactly who’s to blame.”</blockquote><br />What the two state senators want is not cameras but money for religious programs. But this important safety matter should not be in the hands of elected officials; it should just be imposed by civil servants.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/02/cars-killing-pedestrians#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16397023&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Transportation http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/02/cars-killing-pedestrians?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16397023&id=comments 9 Tue, 02 Apr 2013 07:49:23 -0700 The Stranger The Natural Stupidity of Children and Seattle's Public Transportation System http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/19/the-natural-stupidity-of-children-and-seattles-public-transportation-system http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/19/the-natural-stupidity-of-children-and-seattles-public-transportation-system Charles Mudede <p>Around 10 am this morning, just as the train reached the Mount Baker Station, my spirits sunk at the sight of 30 or so children waiting to board on the flying platform. We would be here forever, the kids would slow everything down to a crawl, time would tick and tick and tick. But then I brightened as I remembered that I wasn't on the bus but the train. </p> <p>When a bus has to deal with a large group of children, their natural stupidity overwhelms it. The bus becomes stupid. Its operations become one with all that is stupid about children—their clumsiness, their chaos, their limited sense of reality, their poor sense of themselves and surrounding space. But the train with its many doors and absence of steps and other obstructions can smoothly absorb a wild blast of children. And during the process, during their transition from outside to inside, the children and the train do not become the same thing—stupid. The train retains its intelligence, closes its doors, and neatly, efficiently proceeds. This is what it's like to live in the only city in Seattle. <br /><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:412px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/3820/1363720854-img_20130319_100521.jpg" alt="IMG_20130319_100521.jpg" title="" width="400" height="400" /></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/19/the-natural-stupidity-of-children-and-seattles-public-transportation-system#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16292595&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Transportation http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/19/the-natural-stupidity-of-children-and-seattles-public-transportation-system?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16292595&id=comments 25 The Natural Stupidity of Children and Seattle's Public Transportation System Tue, 19 Mar 2013 12:36:00 -0700 The Stranger Former Director of Seattle's Deep-Bore Tunnel Project Now Tasked with Reviewing Seattle's Deep-Bore Tunnel Project http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/14/former-director-of-seattles-deep-bore-tunnel-project-now-tasked-with-reviewing-seattles-deep-bore-tunnel-project http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/14/former-director-of-seattles-deep-bore-tunnel-project-now-tasked-with-reviewing-seattles-deep-bore-tunnel-project Cienna Madrid <p>Today, State Transportation Secretary Lynn Peterson called for a <a href="http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/News/2013/03/SecPetersonProjectReview.htm">thorough review</a> of three mega transportation projects commissioned across the state—including Seattle's very own deep-bore tunnel project—to ensure the projects meet their deadlines and <strong>billion-dollar</strong> price points.</p> <p>Who's heading those reviews, you ask? Ron Paananen, the former director of the deep-bore tunnel project. (Soon after securing the tunnel deal, <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/09/02/director-of-deep-bore-tunnel-project-leaves-state&view=comments">Paananen retired to the private sector</a> and left the state.)</p> <p>“Ron’s experience managing large-scale projects and his reputation across the state and country is second to none,” gushes Secretary Peterson over here.</p> <p>Perhaps Paananen is a <strong>deep-bore tunnel savant</strong> or perhaps this is a case of cronyism. Regardless, I wouldn't think that the former director of a <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/what-could-possibly-go-wrong/Content?oid=4399657">highly contentious project</a> would be the best person to deliver a thorough, objective review of his own project.</p> <p>On the bright side, if things go horribly, horribly wrong with the project, Paananen's new position should put him within <strong>easy reach of a pitchfork</strong>.</p> <p>Onwards to the future!</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/14/former-director-of-seattles-deep-bore-tunnel-project-now-tasked-with-reviewing-seattles-deep-bore-tunnel-project#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16249582&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Transportation Comedy http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/14/former-director-of-seattles-deep-bore-tunnel-project-now-tasked-with-reviewing-seattles-deep-bore-tunnel-project?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16249582&id=comments 4 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 12:39:45 -0700 The Stranger Seattle Only Has One City http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/14/16247540-seattle-only-has-one-city http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/14/16247540-seattle-only-has-one-city Charles Mudede <p>That city exists between the airport and downtown. What makes it a city is this....<br /><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:412px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/0937/1363277506-img_20130314_081658.jpg" alt="IMG_20130314_081658.jpg" title="" width="400" height="400" /></div><br />It was packed this morning with the citizens of the only city in Seattle. These people live in the future. The rest live in the past. And the past is just plain primitive. No amount of car sharing can help this terrible situation. Without a public transportation system that has a dedicated line or lane, you are going nowhere. You are stuck in the past. The city is a stage, and that stage is supported by Link.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/14/16247540-seattle-only-has-one-city#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16247540&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Transportation http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/14/16247540-seattle-only-has-one-city?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16247540&id=comments 57 Seattle Only Has One City Thu, 14 Mar 2013 09:10:15 -0700 The Stranger Transit Ridership Hits Second Highest Level Since 1957 http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/11/transit-ridership-hits-second-highest-level-since-1957 http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/11/transit-ridership-hits-second-highest-level-since-1957 Goldy <p><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/11/us-usa-transportation-transit-idUSBRE92A02D20130311">The number of Americans riding public transit</a> in 2012 increased to the second highest level since 1957. And the growth in ridership would have been even stronger if not for the near total shutdown of services on the transit-heavy East Coast thanks to Superstorm Sandy.</p> <blockquote><p>Altogether, U.S. transit ridership rose 1.49 percent, with passengers taking 10.52 billion trips on trains, buses and commuter rail in 2012.</p> <p>The increase was universal across the different modes of transit.</p> <p>There were 1.42 percent more trips on heavy rail such as subways, <strong>4.47 percent more on light rail</strong>, and 0.52 percent more on commuter rail than in 2011. Meanwhile, bus ridership grew 1.2 percent. Some of the light rail rise came from cities expanding or creating lines.</p></blockquote> <p>With 10.7 percent growth, <strong>Sound Transit</strong> was one of six light rail systems to see double-digit ridership increases last year.</p> <p>The gradually recovering economy is of course creating demand for more commuter trips. But rising gas prices and crowded highways are no doubt the main factors driving more commuters to choose transit. And neither gas prices nor traffic are likely to get better in the future.</p> <p>And to those devout drivers in the comment thread who scoff that riders should pay the full cost of transit—just imagine how much worse your commute would be with <strong>another 10.52 billion car trips</strong> crowding America's roads?</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/11/transit-ridership-hits-second-highest-level-since-1957#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16218578&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Transportation http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/11/transit-ridership-hits-second-highest-level-since-1957?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16218578&id=comments 9 Mon, 11 Mar 2013 11:28:10 -0700 The Stranger