"Light rail system expansion predicted"
The nation's top transportation official visits the Puget Sound region on Monday, and a prediction is she'll announce another move to extend the region's light rail system north to the University of Washington.(This is presumably accurate insider "speculation") The responsible thing would have been to wait until the first piece of light rail is at least operational for a while to get a better sense of the cost/benefit trade-offs before recommending spending more money to expand the thing.
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Sound Transit Board Chairman John Ladenburg said he believes [Secretary of Transportation Mary] Peters will announce that her agency is recommending congressional approval of as much as $750 million in federal cash toward the $1.7 billion cost of the extension.
This is the sort of incontinence that leaves us small-government fiscal conservatives dyspeptic about the Congress and the Bush administration.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at November 26, 2006 07:45 PM | Email ThisWhile the mayor dreams of grandiose projects the streets of Seattle are crumbling back to their natural state.
Posted by: Bill K. on November 26, 2006 09:02 PMI'm a big fan of rail transit, but for it to work it need to be a network not just one train and it needs to NOT have to stop at every freaking stop light.
Light rail is good.
Cars are bad.
Light rail is good.
Cars are bad.
Would you like some more kool-aid?
I happened along a drilling crew few years ago doing test cores in the UW area for the rail project. They were very entertained by the idea of a tunnel. At the depths proposed the layer was sand and gravel, wet sand and gravel. The worst possible stuff for tunneling. So expect cost overruns when they "run" into this unexpected problem.
Posted by: JCM on November 26, 2006 10:53 PMperfect timing for Nickels--will he be asked about it by a brave press corps intern in Seattle? (hearing crickets....)
Posted by: jimmie-howya-doin on November 27, 2006 07:36 AMReganites, Evanites, Log Cabin? I wish there was a more complete discussion of what is going to happen on December 2nd and who will be behind the players we will see.
Posted by: Sean on November 27, 2006 08:50 AMI also wish she'd say "your region has lots of big projects. The feds can give you $750MM. How do you want to allocate it: 520 (bus lanes), park and ride structures, support for vanpools, funding to get toll roads up and running, rail running along existing tracks, or light rail on completely new tracks and tunnels?"
But I guess that's not how DC works, unfortunately.
Posted by: Stuart Jenner on November 27, 2006 09:00 AMWe have a little misplaced blame here. I hope and pray for smaller, more efficient and responsible government every day of my life. Fat bloated unresponsive government has been around a lot longer than Bush and the present congress.
Right now, the Tacoma Link cost the taxpayers $ 5.70 for each BOARDING (using Sound Transit's own numbers) just to operate, and is operating at 33% capacity (again using Sound transit's numbers). This does not include the "FREE" parking that cost the taxpayers $ 12.00 per space per day!!
Compared to Sound Transit Buses, Where taxpayers only subsidize rider at $ 2.35 per boarding!!!
The Sounder Train subsidizes each rider to the tune of...are you ready for this...$32,500 per rider per year!!!! John Ladenburg tells us the answer is more trains...hey John why not just buy every Sounder Train rider a new CADILLAC...just like Judge Andersons!!!
Posted by: Pacific Grove Phlash on November 27, 2006 09:47 AMJust last week, the Tacoma News Tribune ran a front page story about a con artist named Hillary Walls. It turns out that the reason why it was a front page story, is that one of Walls' victims was John Ladenburg's secretary.
My father-in-law was scammed in Gig Harbor recently, but he's not a Ladenburg crony, so the perp who scammed him didn't get front page coverage from the Tribune.
Ladenburg is just another tax and spend liberal government bureaucrat who likes to play Monopoly, complete with the toy trains, using our money. All we can expect is more waste and a transit system that will take at least 50 more years before it is even remotely useable or economically sound.
Posted by: Jeff B. on November 27, 2006 10:19 AMState lawmakers last session required both the highway and Sound Transit measures to pass together, or they both fail. Supporters of the two packages want permission from the Legislature to combine them into one ballot measure, arguing in part that the move would avoid voter confusion and increase the odds of approval next year.
Rep. Jeff Morris, D-Mount Vernon, said that if voters end up rejecting the three-county proposal, the Legislature is more likely to take action on its own, given the larger Democratic majorities.
Why even bother voting on it? The Democratic super-majority will just pass it anyway.
This grant comes from the Federal Transit Administration. If we don't get the money, some other red state like AZ, TX or Utah will get it. But Seattle's project rated higher than all the rest because of the incredible decrease in travel time compared to buses light rail will afford, and because of the 70,000 riders a day who will use it. Regular pork has no strings or performance attached. At least these light rail systems have to compete using a neutral set of criteria.
-At the depths proposed the layer was sand and gravel, wet sand and gravel. The worst possible stuff for tunneling. So expect cost overruns when they "run" into this unexpected problem.-
Nothing like a casual conversation with a crew collecting core samples to fully understand geo-engineering. Fact is, JCM, ST will be boring through the same glacial till they are successfully boring through under Beacon Hill. The tunnel to the UW is only 3x the length of the Beacon Hill bore. Not to mention the fact Eropeans have bored through the Alps, and the Japanese have bored under the sea. 3 miles using improved tunnel boring technology really isn't a big deal. Unless, of course, you detest the light rail transit which will be operating in that tunnel, and the 13 minute trip its passengers will be enjoying.
-I'm a big fan of rail transit, but for it to work it need to be a network not just one train and it needs to NOT have to stop at every freaking stop light. -
Me: ther are no stoplights under ground, and there are only two stations on the UW line. On the first line, which is over half complete, ST says trains will have priority along MLK Blvd. This won't cause much disruption in auto flow, because (thanks to Lake Washington and Beacon Hill) there isn't much cross-traffic.
-the multi-billion dollar RTID that's coming next year is probably going to include A LOT of money for Sound Transit, and we do not have a choice in the matter - it's all or nothing. It's probably going to pass because people want something done about the major projects, and then the government can say that "the people" wanted whatever toy train that Sound Transit builds because it's all part of the same package. -
Sorry, Palouse. Recent WSDOT and ST surveys show the public actually has a higher preference for transit than roads in the urban areas of Puget Sound.
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/accountability/publicopinion/Documents/SurveyAugust2006.pdf
http://www.soundtransit.org/Documents/pdf/st2/ST_2006_Annual_Survey_Memo.pdf
The last time Shark weighed in on this subject, he claimed he had a stronger preference for buses. But that statement turned out to be a very thinly veiled smokescreen, given his contempt for the recently passed Transit Now bus inititiative. Election results show strong support for transit in many suburbs - far away from us commies in Seattle.
Rail Runner Ridership Tails Off (NM-Richardson's Railroad)
The Albuquerque Journal ^ | November 25, 2006 | Lloyd Jojola
Ridership on the state's Rail Runner Express declined after introductory fares were instituted Nov. 1-- although those overseeing the service say the drop was less than they anticipated.
During the initial 3 1/2-month, free-use period, the train was averaging about 1,500 riders a day, said Lawrence Rael, Mid-Region Council of Governments executive director.
"We're now between 800 and 1,200 a day, depending on the day of the week," he said earlier this week. Some 5,124 people rode the train the work week of Oct. 30; 4,024 the following work week. (Nov. 7 was Election Day and Nov. 10 was a holiday); and 5,135 the week of Nov. 13, according to figures provided by Rael.
Noting the short length of the corridor the train serves-- it operates between Downtown and Bernalillo, for now-- Rael said project officials are "quite pleased with that level of ridership."
"We thought we were going to be a lot less than 500," he said. "We thought maybe it would be even in the 400 or 300 range, which is not unusual in that it's a very short corridor."
This rail will fail for several reasons. First, it does not take people from where they live to where they work. Second, due to the route (which currently enjoys great bus service), the only riders will be those who already take the bus. A few busses may be displaced, but very few cars. Third, very few rail stations have an assocaited parking lot. Fourth, surface street level trains are a recipe for failure. They are slow and accident prone.
Posted by: Seabecker on November 28, 2006 11:25 AMBut in road projects, they also count a round trip as two cars for any given road, tunnel or bridge.
Posted by: JBK on December 3, 2006 09:18 AM