Again. But... um... as a frequent rider of light rail—light rail has probably saved me $1000 already on trips to the airport and back—I rarely see other people buying tickets. I've never seen any transit cops checking to see if riders purchased tickets or transit cops issuing fines to freeloaders. So it's possible that there has been "an upward dynamic of people who ride it, then embrace" light rail, but the folks who've embraced light rail and ride it aren't buying tickets.

Oh, and light rail reaches the airport this Saturday. Mass transit to the airport—it's looks like Seattle is an all-grown-up-now city.