West Seattle can have mass transit
I've seen some complaints lately that Sound Transit isn't building light rail to West Seattle and Ballard, and I want to address them. First, original Sound Transit long range plan maps do show a Ballard line - it was removed after the Seattle Monorail Project got rolling because it didn't make sense for two agencies to build in one corridor. In the aftermath, you can now see a study of those corridors back on the final Sound Transit 2 map.
In Sound Transit 2, Seattle gets several more stations - Brooklyn, Roosevelt, Northgate, and Jackson Park, as well as a streetcar line. Seattle got the bulk of light rail investment in Sound Move - ten of twelve stations!
Without the balance of investment provided in ST2, Sound Transit wouldn't see the support they do outside of the city core - support they need in order to keep building the system at all.
The size of the ST2/RTID "Roads and Transit" package is already a contentious issue for some. It connects regional centers - which means West Seattle is competing with Tacoma and Bellevue in terms of who gets a line first, out of a limited pot that's coming from people living everywhere from Everett to Dupont. Adding a new line in Seattle would have to be balanced with further investment all around the region - more than voters might be willing to agree to.
As I said in response to the West Seattle Herald's editorial on this issue a few days ago, if we want more mass transit in the city right now, we could create a local agency that isn't having to balance West Seattle against Bellevue.
The Seattle Monorail Project was good in theory - but forcing a particular route and technology limited their flexibility and contributed to their demise. An agency without these shortcomings could fill the void in the next few years.
I want to reiterate: supporting Sound Transit 2 will only make building an in-city line easier as they bring more people throughout the region to mass transit.
A line from West Seattle to downtown won't have strong ridership if users have to ride buses to any other destination - and if ST2 were to fail, the pressure for transit in intercity corridors would only increase, making it harder to fight for local transit funding.
I would love to be involved in a local transit project to serve other in-city corridors - but only after we pass the package on the table now.
In Sound Transit 2, Seattle gets several more stations - Brooklyn, Roosevelt, Northgate, and Jackson Park, as well as a streetcar line. Seattle got the bulk of light rail investment in Sound Move - ten of twelve stations!
Without the balance of investment provided in ST2, Sound Transit wouldn't see the support they do outside of the city core - support they need in order to keep building the system at all.
The size of the ST2/RTID "Roads and Transit" package is already a contentious issue for some. It connects regional centers - which means West Seattle is competing with Tacoma and Bellevue in terms of who gets a line first, out of a limited pot that's coming from people living everywhere from Everett to Dupont. Adding a new line in Seattle would have to be balanced with further investment all around the region - more than voters might be willing to agree to.
As I said in response to the West Seattle Herald's editorial on this issue a few days ago, if we want more mass transit in the city right now, we could create a local agency that isn't having to balance West Seattle against Bellevue.
The Seattle Monorail Project was good in theory - but forcing a particular route and technology limited their flexibility and contributed to their demise. An agency without these shortcomings could fill the void in the next few years.
I want to reiterate: supporting Sound Transit 2 will only make building an in-city line easier as they bring more people throughout the region to mass transit.
A line from West Seattle to downtown won't have strong ridership if users have to ride buses to any other destination - and if ST2 were to fail, the pressure for transit in intercity corridors would only increase, making it harder to fight for local transit funding.
I would love to be involved in a local transit project to serve other in-city corridors - but only after we pass the package on the table now.
