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Peter Callaghan is a local columnist. He’s covered the
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I found part of the news release curious:
"The Sound Transit Board of Directors is responding to the public’s support for voting on a transit-only measure by taking a renewed look at what transit service expansions would make the biggest and quickest improvements for commuters for the least cost."
It was only three and a half months ago that the $18 billion ballot measure got the stuffing kicked out of it. I know Sound Transit paid good money to have consultants tell the agency why the measure got trounced so badly. There were a lot of reasons, but the one that Sound Transit wanted to hear most was how the agency should never have been forced to team up with a roads package to get onto the ballot.
The Legislature is doing its part to clear the way for Sound Transit. The Senate has passed a bill that would force the roads advocates to sit on the sidelines for at least a year. Are lawmakers trying to set the stage for Sound Transit to put another multibillion proposition on the ballot this fall?
I don't know.
I do know that Prop. 1 failed because it was so big. Even Sound Transit's consultants said that. It was so big because $11 billion of the $18 billion was Sound Transit's share.
Moreover, Seattle and King County both had a hand in undermining Prop. 1, according to John Stanton, the wireless company executive who is now trying to persuade locals stop being parochial and get behind a regional transportation czar.
The year before the Proposition 1 vote, King County Metro Transit took actions to start raising $2 billion and Seattle to raise $800 million, "and probably contributed to the failure of Proposition 1 at the ballot," Stanton said.
Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels is the new chairman of Sound Transit, so it's not surprising that he is so eager to go back to voters with another request. From the outset, the light-rail system has been designed to keep Seattle the employment center of the Puget Sound universe. It's the only mode of transportation that can move downtown Seattle's work force into the city fast enough.
Gov. Chris Gregoire said after the Prop. 1's defeat, she thought maybe voters wanted to actually observe Sound Transit operating a light-rail line for awhile before agreeing to spend another $11 billion to expand it. And the first segment of light rail between downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac Airport won't be up and running until December 2009.
Nickels apparently isn't paying attention to the governor. But then, he didn't pay any attention to Gregoire when she said the Alaskan Way Viaduct had to be replaced with another elevated structure, either.
Here's the official news release:
Sound Transit seeks public sound-off about options for expanding transit
Sound Transit today asked Puget Sound residents to shape the future of mass transit in this region.Postcards will start arriving in people’s mailboxes across the region today inviting ideas and views on improving transit through an online survey. The survey will help Sound Transit decide how best to tackle increasingly poor commuting conditions with the right expansions of regional light rail, commuter rail and express bus service and infrastructure.
“Every year our region’s population grows by an estimated 50,000,” said Sound Transit Board Chair and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. “Rising congestion means frayed nerves, less time around the dinner table and more greenhouse gases. Taking this survey will help the region get moving with a transit expansion plan that has strong public support.”
Residents can take the survey through March 9 by visiting www.soundtransit.org.
In November 2007, voters turned down a large package of road and transit investments. Now, the Sound Transit Board of Directors is responding to the public’s support for voting on a transit-only measure by taking a renewed look at what transit service expansions would make the biggest and quickest improvements for commuters for the least cost. The survey will help shape the answers to vital questions like:
·How ambitious should a transit package be?
·What are the highest priorities for service expansions, ranging from light rail to regional express bus to commuter rail?
·How soon should a plan be brought to the voters for decision?
The results of the survey will be presented to the Sound Transit Board in mid-March as it continues discussing the content and timing of a future transit package.
The options under review span the entire region and focus on meeting current demand as well as future population and employment growth through a package of rail and express bus expansions targeting the right investments for the right corridors. The package will build on the regional transit system voters launched in 1996. Today that system carries more than 50,000 riders each day, a number that will more than double following the 2009 opening of light rail service between downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac International Airport. Sound Transit is working to break ground in 2008 on expanding light rail to the University of Washington with a federal grant and existing funding, a project that alone will increase light rail ridership by more than 70,000 each day.
Residents who prefer to take the survey in a written form rather than online can call 1-866-511-1398 to receive a copy by mail.
COMMENTS:
Mike Lonergan
Tacoma City Council
I'll repeat - the public is telling all who will go so far as to listen that they want "ROADS!!" and when the dept of transportation starts to demonstrate that they understand what the public is saying, the public will then begin to look at other options!!
The Puget Sound Regional Council and all the others who pretend they know what voters want never figure it out on there own by walking neighborhoods or asking the very voters of this state what we want. They hire someone for a lot of money from another state to figure it for them/us. That is why these propositions lose to the general public here in Washington, Not to mention they usually are what these councils want, not what voters want.
Councilman Lonergan brings up a good point, but clearly the common sense he brought to that discussion as a member of the Puget Sound Regional Council was a misinterpretation in the eyes of the Sound Transit folks. That scares me a bit.
Joe, it seems like you are on track. Too big is the issue, but to think it was only too big because of the roads part seems silly. But too big is rarely too big if the people are sold on the value of it. To me, that is the real issue. It is obvious the transit/roads package at $18B didn't say 'value' to the voters. I kind of doubt that an $11+B transit only package will say 'value' either...at least not if Pierce County is voting.
Seattle wants transit, specifically light rail, to feed commuters and tourists into the core of the city. Maybe rightly so, but Pierce County needs roads. We need to make some common sense connections (167 and cross-base highway perhaps) and relieve congestion.
Once we have tackled that, maybe the high cost-per-rider light rail options will seem worth our hard-earned tax dollars.
Oh, and it would be good for Sound Transit to finish a project on budget and as promised...I for one am not enthralled with sending my money to an organization that continually performs poorly and seemingly treats me (as a Pierce County citizen) as somehow second-rate.
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