Transit

Sound Transit gave reporters a sneak peak at the three new light rail stations set to open in Kent Des Moines, Star Lake, and Downtown Federal Way. Check out the station designs and their custom artwork ahead of the grand opening Saturday at 11am.

Corridor-wide bus revamps have been hitting delays and are often taking ten years to deliver, or more. A new King County Metro report released this fall outlines the myriad reasons RapidRide lines fall behind, as the overall program faces an uncertain future.

With several vacancies opening up on the 18-member Sound Transit board, a West Seattle Link "visioning event" this week looked to many like an audition. Facing huge cost pressures, the project could use a champion among the board's ranks.

Electric trolley buses remain the premier zero-emissions bus technology. They outperform trendy, newer battery electric buses for several reasons that Nathan Vass lays out.

Amtrak's annual ridership was up 5%, hitting an all-time record high of 34.5 million rides nationwide over the last year. Amtrak Cascades also hit a record high, reporting 1.4% growth and coming in just short of joining the one-million-ride club.

Tacoma’s recent election elevated two urbanist-backed progressives, which could buoy efforts to expand housing, roll out street safety upgrades, and improve transit. The Urbanist chatted with Tacoma Mayor-Elect Anders Ibsen and incoming Councilmember Latasha Palmer about their plans.

Light rail riders will see out-of-service trains running between International District-Chinatown and Lynnwood as the next major milestone for testing on the full 2 Line.

Long promised and approved by voters in 2016, the cost to build two deferred light rail stations in Seattle and Tukwila has jumped by more than two-thirds in just a few short years. The two projects are likely to be put under a microscope along with the big-ticket ST3 rail extensions.