SB 5803 would mess with success

Ben Schiendelman, an engineering student, transit advocate, and occassional NPI contributor, has a nice guest column in today's Seattle Times outlining the legislation's problems. Here's an excerpt:

Proponents complain that we have 128 local transit agencies — but this does nothing to solve that problem; it only adds a new, inexperienced agency and fractures what we have.

We don't need this. We've done the work — we know what needs to happen next, and the plan is going to voters this year. Why are our own elected representatives in Olympia, specifically the ones whose constituents are most dependent upon transit, getting the state involved in regional issues?

Gov. Christine Gregoire told me a year ago that she didn't feel regional transit governance was an issue the state should interfere with. This would be a good time to reflect on that and realize it was the right position.

Surveys and citizen input consistently confirm that Sound Transit's planned light-rail expansion is exactly what the region's residents want. And we're willing to pay for it, though the Legislature already has delayed the transit package by a year by linking Sound Transit's ballot measure to regional road projects — and letting inflation add hundreds of millions of dollars to the cost.

The whole thing is definitely worth reading.