Sound Transit Updates ST3 Plan Amid Financial Constraints

Posted on by Michael Smith

On Thursday, Sound Transit Board Chair Dave Somers will share a resolution to update the Sound Transit 3 system plan. This update will help align the agency’s future Link extensions with the available funding. Due to record-breaking inflation and more accurate price estimates, Sound Transit is facing a $34.5 billion funding shortfall. In March, the agency shared three potential approaches it was considering for re-aligning ST3. These suggestions alarmed Sound Transit tax payers and transit advocates. Over the past few weeks, groups supporting different projects have sprung up, demanding that Sound Transit build the voter-approved system.

Map of funded ST3 projects under Resolution No. R2026-11. (Sound Transit, edited by author)

The resolution designates some projects to be fully funded through completion, some to be partially funded through planning or design, and others to be deferred until additional funding becomes available.

ProjectFunded by Resolution R2026-11
Ballard Link Extension– Construct CID to Seattle Center
– Design Seattle Center to Ballard
West Seattle Link Extension– Construct to Alaska Junction, skipping Avalon station
Everett Link Extension– Construct to Everett
Tacoma Dome Link Extension– Construct to Tacoma Dome
Graham St and Boeing Access infill stations– Design both stations
T Line Extension– Construct to Tacoma Community College, opening pushed back from 2035 to 2043
Kirkland-Issaquah Link– Construct full line, opening pushed back from 2041 to 2050.
DuPont Sounder Extension– Planning phase
Maintenance Facilities (Link North, Link South, Sounder, ST Express)– Construct Link and Sounder maintenance facilitates
– Partially fund ST Express bus base
Continue reading “Sound Transit Updates ST3 Plan Amid Financial Constraints” | 58 comments

Midweek Roundup: hell or high water

Posted on by Nathan Dickey

Upcoming Link service impacts: Buses replace 1 Line trains between Rainier Beach and SeaTac/Airport this weekend for track and power work on the Tukwila Curve. Link service reductions after 8pm resumed this week as construction of Pinehurst Station continues.

Local News:

Continue reading “Midweek Roundup: hell or high water” | 14 comments

West Seattle / Downtown via SODO busway

Posted on by Martin Pagel

Sound Transit still plans on building a new Link line to West Seattle. As Sound Transit struggles to find ways to fulfill the ST3 promises, there is a better option for West Seattle transit riders. With a relatively small investment in bus-based infrastructure, we could give riders in West Seattle the best of both worlds: a fast connection to Link and a fast, direct trip to downtown.

Connect the SODO Busway with the Spokane Street Viaduct

In 2012 SDOT evaluated various ways to connect West Seattle with downtown Seattle by bus. Since then they’ve added an eastbound ramp from the Spokane Street Viaduct to 4th Avenue South. This ramp could be leveraged to quickly connect to the SODO Busway. If this approach has significant delays, it would be relatively easy to build a second ramp just to the east of that one, directly connecting to the SODO Busway. The Spokane Street Viaduct already has a dedicated bus lane extending partially east of Highway 99. It would be trivial to extend the bus lane to the ramp at 4th or the new one. Buses would then travel in their own lane from West Seattle to downtown. Going the other direction, a new ramp could be built from the southbound busway to westbound viaduct. This would be similar to the one at First Avenue and relatively inexpensive. This work could be done much faster than a Link extension and the savings could be put immediately into running buses a lot more frequently to and within West Seattle.

Only Holgate and Lander Street cross the SODO Busway. ST3 proposed building overpasses to improve Link. The same would apply to the busway. The Holgate to Beacon Hill viaduct could be extended to cross the Link tracks and the busway. A similar link could be built for Lander between 4th and 6th Ave. This would also improve the reliability of Link and the other buses that use the busway. The toughest section for buses is probably between Stadium Station and CID. The report also considered various ways to improve that.

One advantage of this proposal is that the improvements could be iterative. The buses could run more often almost immediately. Southbound buses could use Lander Street and the First Ave ramp until the southbound busway-to-viaduct ramp is complete. Northbound buses could use the ramp to 4th Avenue South. Each improvement could happen bit by bit.

Continue reading “West Seattle / Downtown via SODO busway” | 117 comments

Friday Roundtable: 2025 Ridership Data

Posted on by Michael Smith
Sound Transit Route 550 crossing Lake Washington. Route 550 is the most searched for route on the Seattle Transit Ridership dashboard.

The Seattle Transit Ridership dashboard has been updated to include 2025 ridership data for King County Metro routes and Sound Transit routes operated by Metro. In March 2025, Metro only updated a few routes, mostly with frequency adjustments from Seattle Transit Measure funding. In August 2025, Metro introduced four routes and adjusted various other routes on the Eastside as part of its East Link Connections restructure. Of the new routes (203, 222, 223, and 256), Route 223 had the highest ridership with about 1,000 passengers every weekday.

Average Weekday Ridership per Route 223 Trip: August 2025 to March 2026. “Inbound” is toward Downtown Redmond station, “Outbound” is toward Eastgate Park & Ride. Click the plot to view at full-resolution in a new tab.
Continue reading “Friday Roundtable: 2025 Ridership Data” | 110 comments

Midweek Roundup: yet again

Posted on by Nathan Dickey

New post on Page Two: Reader Jack Valko proposes The Burke-Gilman Subway

Monthly maintenance continues on the Eastside: Buses replace Link 2 Line trains between South Bellevue and Overlake Village stations after ~10pm tonight and tomorrow.

Local News:

Continue reading “Midweek Roundup: yet again” | 90 comments

How Intercity Transit Redesigned its Network

Posted on by Michael Smith
Intercity Transit Route 13 near the Washington State Capitol Building. (Joe A. Kunzler Photo)

Over the past decade, Intercity Transit has worked on completely redesigning its bus network in Thurston County (Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater, and Yelm). Between 2016-2018, the agency solicited feedback on the priorities for future transit and received over 10,000 ideas from the public. Using these data, Intercity Transit devised three future scenarios and asked the public which path they prefer.

  • Service Reductions
  • Status Quo System
  • Transformational System

Unsurprisingly, the transformational system was supported by 83% of survey respondents. The community preferred a redesigned system with:

  • Earlier and later service on high capacity (arterial) roads and moderate capacity (collector) streets
  • Service to new areas
  • High-frequency corridor service similar to bus rapid transit (BRT)
  • Enhanced commuter services

To help fund the redesigned network, voters approved Intercity Transit Proposition 1 in November 2018. The ballot measure also provided funding for a five-year zero-fare demonstration project. This went into effect on January 1, 2020, and was extended by three years due to the pandemic (until 2028).

Intercity Transit observed a change in ridership patterns after the pandemic. Transit ridership shifted from morning and afternoon peaks to more even ridership throughout the day. This dramatic shift paused the system redesign work and more community feedback was collected on post-pandemic travel behavior. The agency adjusted the redesigned bus network based on this feedback and the new network will launch on May 3, 2026. Key changes and unique components of the new system are discussed below.

Continue reading “How Intercity Transit Redesigned its Network” | 22 comments

Sunday Movie: Night Trains

Posted on by Mike Orr

Austria has the most night trains in Europe. This one has “mini cabins” (bed capsules) as well as sleeper rooms and coach seats. (DW Planet A, Deutche Welle’s environmental channel)

The train is an ÖBB Nightjet, a set of overnight routes (in German, with map) serving Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Croatia. EuroNight extends it via partner agencies to more cities in Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.

Soft-spoken bedtime story about a conductor on a night train from Vienna to Naples. (Stephen Dalton Sleep Stories)

This is an open thread.

19 comments

New on Page 2: “Denny bus lanes should be paired with a route restructure”

Posted on by Nathan Dickey

Seattle Transit Blog reader Chetan Sharma has prepared a proposal for shifting a handful of routes to make use of the new bus lanes coming to Denny Way this spring and summer. Check it out on our Page 2.

If you’re interested in contributing your opinion to Seattle Transit Blog, please feel free to contact us. We have guest post guidelines and are always happy to help turn ideas into a topic of conversion on the blog.

1 comments

Jane’s Walk & Mercer Slough Walk

Posted on by Mike Orr

Jane’s Walk is an annual celebration where volunteers in cities throughout the world host group walks in their neighborhoods to honor Jane Jacobs’s birthday. In Seattle, Feet First will host Seattle’s Jane’s Walks between April 26 and May 6. They will all be guided tours: 6 in central Seattle, 1 in West Seattle, and 1 in Auburn. The Seattle Transit Blog will have our own walk April 25 in Mercer Slough, details below.

Jane Jacobs wrote the groundbreaking book The Death and Life of Great American Cities in 1961. It revolutionized urban planning and showed the unique contributions to society and the economy that cities and walkable urban neighborhoods bring. Jacobs lived from 1916 to 2006; she would have been 110 this year.

Continue reading “Jane’s Walk & Mercer Slough Walk” | 71 comments