Link light rail in Mount Baker Station
A Central Link light rail train pulls into the Mount Baker Station (Photo: Andrew Villeneuve/NPI)

Read­ers, Sound Tran­sit would like us to remind you that this Wednes­day is the last day to weigh in on the next phase of Sound Tran­sit 3 plan­ning. Our region­al tran­sit author­i­ty wants to know what you think should be part of next year’s like­ly vote to bring light rail and improved bus ser­vice into more neighborhoods.

There are sev­er­al ways you can make your voice heard:

  1. Take the online sur­vey
  2. View the new ST3 web­site with the draft pri­or­i­ty list and map
  3. Email the agency at soundtransit3@soundtransit.org
  4. Mail com­ments to: Sound Tran­sit | 401 S Jack­son St | Seat­tle, WA 98104
  5. Tweet to @SoundTransit

Your input will help Sound Tran­sit staff and board­mem­bers decide what projects are wor­thy of fur­ther study for inclu­sion in an ST3 proposal.

Sound Tran­sit’s juris­dic­tion includes urban King, Sno­homish, and Pierce coun­ties, encom­pass­ing the cities of Seat­tle, Taco­ma, Everett, and Belle­vue. Sub­urbs of those cities, like NPI’s home­town of Red­mond, are also in ST’s ser­vice area.

ST3 is so named because it will be the third phase of Sound Tran­sit’s sys­tem build-out. The first phase was approved in Novem­ber 1996; most of what was pro­posed then has since been con­struct­ed, though the planned light rail line run­ning through Seat­tle had to be scaled back until more fund­ing could be secured.

Sound Tran­sit 2 was approved in Novem­ber 2008; that set of projects is either in the con­struc­tion phase already, or near­ing ground­break­ing. Pas­sage of Sound Tran­sit 2 pro­vid­ed fund­ing to bring Link to North­gate (as had been promised in 1996 with ST1) and beyond to Lyn­nwood, as well as east to Red­mond and south towards Fed­er­al Way. If vot­ers approve ST3 next year, it will autho­rize ST to bring bet­ter tran­sit ser­vice into even more neighborhoods.

Before ST3 goes to the bal­lot, though, the Sound Tran­sit board needs to fig­ure out what the best mix of projects is. Rid­er­ship, acces­si­bil­i­ty, and tran­sit-ori­ent­ed devel­op­ment poten­tial will fac­tor into the board­’s deci­sions. But so will your input! So if you want your voice to be heard… take the sur­vey today and have your say.

About the author

Andrew Villeneuve is the founder and executive director of the Northwest Progressive Institute, as well as the founder of NPI's sibling, the Northwest Progressive Foundation. He has worked to advance progressive causes for over two decades as a strategist, speaker, author, and organizer. Andrew is also a cybersecurity expert, a veteran facilitator, a delegate to the Washington State Democratic Central Committee, and a member of the Climate Reality Leadership Corps.

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