So there's an article about bus fares over on Crosscut--by the Cascadia Center for Regional Development's Matt Rosenberg--that suggests raising the one-zone peak bus fare to $3.50, an amount to make even the most evangelical of bus riders clutch their wallet. (We throw in "evangelical" because the Cascadia Center is a division of the intelligent-designing Discovery Institute.) But it could be a very good idea, we think, against our skinflint judgment. The $3.50 fare would......

You know the problem. You're on the bus and you have a choice: You can get off in two stops and make a transfer to a bus that will get you to your destination, or you you can stay on and transfer to a different one at a second stop. The switch at the first stop is a shorter and faster route, but only if the bus you are changing to is coming in the......

Photo courtesy of Seattlest Flickr pool contributor Grundlepuck. Transit in Seattle has its challenges. (Yes, operator of the 554 who thought it would be a good idea on Friday to pull your half-full rig next to another bus at the Eastgate Park-and-Ride and then complain back and forth with the other driver for five minutes about your shifts getting changed due to school being out while Seattlest sweltered a few rows back in the ad-wrapped,......

The great folks at Seattle Transit Blog tipped us to this month's yet another audit conducted on Sound Transit. Independent auditor KPMG LLP gave the agency high marks. Since the corrupt private sector is naturally suspect, we're glad that this week's audit comes on the heels of a previous one released in January by State Auditor Brian Sonntag. But fear not, Eyman. As the Seattle PI reported back in May, the State is planning......

Yesterday afternoon we were trying to jaywalk across 15th when a #10 bus pulled up. We walked past it, hoping to use it for blocking. Another #10 bus pulled up. Then we looked down the street. Another #10 bus was pulling up. Thanks to a Metro "more frequent service" upgrade, the #10s run every 15 minutes during rush hour -- or even every 15 seconds, if they all get stuck in downtown traffic. Over on......

Earlier this week, as MyBallard noted, King County Metro reported that Seattle bus ridership in the first three months of 2008 is six percent higher than the same period last year, which we think is great. The more of us on buses, the less of us driving. However, the more of us on buses, the more chance there is to encounter obnoxious cellphone users, which we do not think is great. So we were psyched......

The first thing that struck us about the 3.15-mile, $1.6 billion project that is the University Link light rail line is that it will have half of the projected ridership of the 16-mile Central Link line. Kinda makes us think they should have started with the U District - Capitol Hill part first. As it is, the Central Link goes online in 2009, University Link in 2016. We also marveled at how full the room......

We've got a ton of work to get done this morning so we can knock off early and go enjoy the more than 45 inches of new snow in the past five days and this weekend's coming snow at Baker. However because we try to be fair, we thought it important to note a letter sent by the Sierra Club to Sound Transit regarding ST 2.1 and parking garages since we've come down pretty hard......

Well, the local transit blogosphere is all atwitter about the results of Sound Transit's recent survey. Over at Carless in Seattle they're not so keen on how the surveys were conducted. The Web results are useless, they say, because they're from people who are already interested in talking about transit, which makes them biased. We tend to agree, seeing as we took the survey ourselves and we know we're biased. They are encouraged by the......

According to an article today's PI, it looks as if the city will be spending some money to study the possibility of adding more streetcars to the city's streets. The Transportation Committee passed a bill approving a feasibility study for six lines yesterday. The study, as approved by the committee, would estimate construction costs per mile and yearly operation and maintenance costs for the six lines. Among other issues, it would identify detailed street corridors,......

Riding the bus to work the other day, our heart skipped a beat when we noticed signs taped to the window heralding the arrival of new spring schedules (they're blue!). Once we'd calmed down, we realized how silly it is to get excited over the prospect of a slight change to our bus schedule. It was the kind of self-deprecating experience we figured would make a good lede for a post informing you, gentle......

We're gonna start asking Seattlest Dan to pick our lottery numbers. A full year ago he looked into a cloudy future and typed:We predict next year will see even higher numbers at Metro Transit as job growth continues and "gas prices remain high." Ridership is going to skyrocket when either the Viaduct closes to traffic or light rail starts coming on line, but neither of those will likely happen in 2007.The bus people have dutifully......

There's a nice little piece over at Crosscut this morning about Georgetown's Rainier Cold Storage Stock House (and the demise of), but just like the neighborhood opposition to the building's demolition, it's too little too late. To be fair, the building's owners broke their way through many walls (a much beloved building that defines a neighborhood, an official Seattle Landmark) with the wrecking ball of public safety: it's going to collapse onto Airport Way,......

The latest session of the state legislature is now in full swing and most people are watching the big-ticket items under discussion. The supplemental budget and what to do with our $1.5 billion surplus are at the top of the list. Also high on the agenda are transportation issues like a new vote on light rail and a toll on 520. But there are always niche issues under consideration. They probably won't get the......

In case you missed it on Monday, British Columbia Liberals announced a $14 billion transit upgrade plan. The Vancouver region already has the 49-kilometre SkyTrain system - the longest automated transit system in the world. But Mr. Campbell yesterday committed to about 30 kilometres of new SkyTrain-style and light-rapid-transit lines, plus bus systems elsewhere in the province, and $1.6-billion for 1,500 new clean-technology buses to increase the provincial fleet by about 60 per cent. B.C.......

You know how when you're at the bus stop and the Local shows up and it's packed and obviously only has room for you if you stand in the aisle and clutch at a post and you think, "I'm better than that. I'm waiting for the Express," the Express--which is scheduled to come only minutes later--never shows, late or ever? Then, thirty-five minutes later you're presented with the same dilemma, only this time the Local......

According to the Seattle Transit Blog, the University link of our not-sure-we-wanted-it-but-now-we-got-it--might-as-well-expand-it light rail system is getting the Federal funding it was looking for. It's headed to the President's desk with Seattle receiving the highest possible recommendation for funding from the Federal Transit Administration arm of the U.S. DOT. Screw you, Prop 1! Love you Patty Murray! Here's the Sound Transit release: The project connects the three largest urban centers in the region: downtown......

For some reason no big deal is being made of the rails-to-trails thing going on right now on the Eastside. Preventing the addition of capacity to I-405 is a big deal to Seattle environmentalists, but the impending doom of a potential passenger rail corridor that runs north-south from Renton to Snohomish is of no interest. We don't get it... One guy who does get it is Chuck Mott who seems like an interesting guy.......

The South Lake Union Streetcar will begin an eight-week test period soon, according to the Seattle Transit Blog. First they will do a walk through test to ensure that the streetcars are able to clear branches, traffic signals, and other erroneous things that may disrupt the streetcar along the whole route. Once that is done they will do speed tests on Valley between Mercer and Westlake to see that the streetcar can achieve and maintain......

It’s been hard for us to admit this, greenie that we are, but a vote for Prop. 1 is in order, at least from this Seattlest's perspective. This has been hard because we're as environmentally friendly as they come. We ride our bike; compost; and we reduce, we reuse and leave the recycling as only as the last step of a long process. So the news we saw when we opened our e-mail this morning,......

Along with the million other words being written on this topic, we at Seattlest thought it was a good time to share some of our thinking on the Roads and Transit bill we're going to have the chance to vote on this November. The crux is this: Voters in the greater Puget Sound region are being asked to approve almost $11 billion for a 50-mile expansion of light rail and $7 billion on highways around......

It's rainy which means it's fall, which means there's an election coming, which means that Seattle is all bound up in a transportation quagmire, which means it's time to devote millions of words to the problem and then eventually do nothing. A couple ten thousand of those millions of words were published this weekend in response to the Roads and Transit transportation package that we'll vote on in November. Here is Walt Crowley in the......

Taking the bus tunnel in to work this morning was pretty cool. Our commute was probably all of four minutes shorter than it's been for the past two years while the tunnel's been closed, but we got to walk a little more and we enjoyed the validity that the undergroundness of it brought to our home>to>work experience (that part might be the Chicago talking...it ain't a commute if you're not underground). It looks exactly the......

Seattlest just got done attending the press conference for the re-opening of the Downtown Bus Tunnel. After two years of work, it's set to reopen next Monday. That's exactly two years (as King County Exec. Ron Sims was fond of repeating over and over today) after it closed. We have to say, we're pretty impressed with what they've done. Needless to say, it's a pretty big achievement in a region not exactly known for making......

Quoting the Letters of Transit, er, email:Casablanca Menu Begins Starting August 1st the diverse delicacies of Moroccan cuisine will be showcased at Coastal Kitchen. Come visit us as the decorations go up and you are transported to the famous romantic hideaway. So, accompanied by friends who've long lived in Morocco, we drop by. Uh-oh. Decorations, good. Romantic hideway, not so much. Diverse delicacies, no way. Of all the gin joints in the world, we've walked......

So we woke up with no intention of getting all Gloria Steinem on you early on a Sunday morning, but after searching for the tie that bound together our first day of Bumbershoot, we couldn't help but gloat that the women of Bumbershoot were kicking ass/taking names. We started our day with Decadance Theater, an all-female dance troupe who popped, locked, flipped and B-Girled their way through a history of hip-hop, stomping all over a......

Our transit eggs are currently in one basket, and here it is: Opens 2009, just in time for the Olympics in Vancouver, so says the Sound Transit website. Wouldn't it be cool if you could ride it not only from the airport to Seattle, but all the way up to Vancouver/Whistler? Or down to Tacoma/Portland/San Francisco? (In the last frame of this clip a truck rolls in front of the camera with usfc.com written on......

The Seattle Transit Blog reported (and Seattlest echoed) the fact that 3rd Avenue Downtown is going to remain a transit-only corridor during rush hour way back in June, but since the press release just came out and it'll probably be in the papers tomorrow maybe we should revisit it. Based on the outstanding success in moving buses quickly and efficiently through downtown, Mayor Greg Nickels today announced that local transit agencies will continue to use......

--Because we never forget, Seattlest christens tomorrow--the one day a year Wallingford neighborhood groups have to share their precious park with the rest of the city--"Fuck Wallingford Day." --It's a cold, shrouded city where no one wants to talk to you or know your name, but they'll happily watch your YouTube videos. (via Metblogs) --Safeco is selling GPS transponders for your kid's car. "How many times have I told you I don't want you......

--Seattle Transit Blog is reporting that 3rd Ave Downtown is all transit all the time even after the completion of the bus tunnel. --For some reason we're under the impression that the world at large would be interested in an account of this sale for tool nerds up in B'ham. --Lowest of the low tides is coming. --You really can just throw a "2.0" on anything right now. For instance: PR 2.0. --PETA says......