Transportation

How the City of Tacoma uses planting strips along its streets tells a tale of haves and have-nots, and of our differing standards. The City has gone out of its way to exclude homeless people from this space with $163,000 worth of boulders.

The City of Seattle quietly dropped speed cushions and other traffic safety treatments from long-made plans after months of radio silence. The backpedal received swift pushback from some District 2 city council candidates.

Ray Delahanty of CityNerd illuminates how traffic models work to reinforce bad assumptions and create inaccurate modeling that supercharges highway expansion. The result is a self-fulfilling prophecy that keep the U.S. trapped in a car-centric world, rather than investing in a greener future with more mobility options.

Light rail riders are poised to be able to take 1 Line trains all the way to Downtown Federal Way before the end of 2025, thanks to work accelerating the grand opening. That will pave the way for a full opening of the 2 Line across Lake Washington by spring of 2026.

Bothell becomes the first city in either King or Snohomish County to fully eliminate off-street parking mandates in order to reduce costs for homebuilding. The move clearly solidifies the city as a leader on housing and land use reform.

Two votes next week will align the City of Seattle with Sound Transit, opening the door to West Seattle Link Extension permit applications later this year. The move comes right on the heels of an overhaul of the city's land use code's light rail provisions.

Seattle Parks and Recreation rolled out plans to add traffic calming to Lake Washington Boulevard last year. But traffic safety advocates are pushing for answers after installation of those upgrades stopped midway through without explanation.

Rollie Williams of Climate Town dives into the long history of how road congestion pricing came to be and why it provides so many social, economic, and environmental upsides for the New York region.