Sound Transit set a new light rail ridership record on Friday, June 19, collecting an estimated 280,000 boardings as Seattle hosted a World Cup soccer match. Lime also set a new record for scooter and bikeshare usage.
On June 27, King County Metro is launching a new summer-only bus route connecting beachgoers to Golden Gardens Park, temporarily closing a hole in the agency's bus network thanks to Seattle Transit Measure funding.f
State Senator Rebecca Saldaña and Seattle Port Commission President Toshiko Hasegawa are both running for King County Council in D2. Both progressives, they shared similar positions at a recent forum, but differed over a county social housing levy and whose experience was the right fit for the job.
Sound Transit's lofty Enterprise Initiative was aimed at getting ballooning budgets under control without cutting or delaying planned light rail projects. However, that may have been an overly ambitious goal, since the agency did have to resort to pulling those levers last month.
Lime is expecting a ridership surge on its e-bikes and scooters on par with the Super Bowl victory parade during Seattle's FIFA World Cup matches. Staff are gearing up to handle the demand.
Seattle just celebrated the grand reopening of Myrtle Edwards and Centennial Parks, with upgrades fueled with $56 million in private donations. The overhaul included several nods to the land's Indigenous people and their Salish culture.
With the boost from the expanded 2 Line, Seattle's Link rail system is humming along at 160,000 daily riders, according to new April data. That makes it the busiest light rail system in the U.S.
While hesitant to alter plans or go back to voters for funding, Sound Transit board members approved a "Request for Information" that could unearth more affordable plans for light rail to Ballard. Even so, the path to get the project back on schedule remains murky at best.
The Sound Transit board voted Thursday to overhaul expansion plans, prioritizing the rail spine from Tacoma to Everett, while deferring indefinitely stations in Tukwila, Interbay, and Ballard. Seattle leaders got Graham Street back into plans, but lamented the stations put on ice.
After clearing the Land Use Committee last week, a package of narrowly targeted zoning changes is headed to the Seattle City Council on June 2. The proposal seeks to spur the construction of towers, affordable housing, and eco-friendly mass timber and passive house buildings.