Who Made King County Transit the Tunnel Fall Guy?

Who Made King County Transit the Tunnel Fall Guy?

What Gregoire, Sims, and Nickels could do was present everyone with a fait accompli: a construction megaproject in midstream, and the promise of gridlock if more funds aren’t made available. Specifically, says Metro chief Kevin Desmond “about 125 daily bus trips and 7,500 daily transit seats will be lost — while tunnel construction and viaduct demolition continues into 2016.” Continue reading Who Made King County Transit the Tunnel Fall Guy?

The Surprising Truth About Bicycling in Seattle

The Surprising Truth About Bicycling in Seattle

Guess what the weather was like when 71 percent of all car-bicycle collisions took place? Clear or partly cloudy. Fourteen percent of collisions occurred when it was overcast. Only twelve percent when it was rainy.

You just assume that the weather is bad, it’s slippery, there’ll be more accidents. But no. In Seattle, looking at the absolute numbers, high season for bicycle-related accidents for the past five years are the months May through September, with April and October as the shoulders. Continue reading The Surprising Truth About Bicycling in Seattle

With Tolls, New Larger 520 Bridge Could Serve Half as Many

With Tolls, New Larger 520 Bridge Could Serve Half as Many

Why would so much traffic divert? Tolls. As Mike Lindblom reports for the Seattle Times, WSDOT’s financial projections call for some 48 percent of existing traffic to seek other routes, thanks to $3.50 Good to Go tolls on the bridge during peak hours (that’s $5.00 if you haven’t signed up with Good to Go). The tolls are supposed to increase 2.5 percent annually until 2017, at which time they will increase 15 percent. Continue reading With Tolls, New Larger 520 Bridge Could Serve Half as Many