Transit

By a 5-3 vote last week, the Seattle City Council said it wasn't ready to plan for the decommissioning of the South Lake Union Streetcar. But unifying the city's two streetcar lines into one system seems less likely than ever before.

In North America, modern rail transit usually avoids conventional elevated lines in dense cities and even suburbs. Reece Martin of RMTransit discusses what makes elevated rail so good.

A third-party consultant told the Sound Transit board this week that the Fourth Avenue station option in Chinatown is "not reasonably constructible," due to lengthy construction timelines and a laundry list of risks that come with construction next to a BNSF rail line.

A proposal to be considered this week at the Seattle City Council's budget committee asks for a plan to wind down service on the South Lake Union Streetcar, which has operated since 2007.

More than 4,000 riders jumped on a RapidRide G bus on an average weekday in October, strong performance for a brand new bus route. Trending up, the G Line has room to grow.

King County Metro deleted the Route 20 bus in September without full replacement service. Residents along the route are mourning the loss and asking for more service.

Passage of Seattle's transportation levy was all but assured Tuesday night, after initial returns showed two-thirds of voters in support.

Lucid Stew's "Taking Back The Streets Cascadia Edition" analyzes the idea of repurposing I-5 lanes to create a high speed rail line between Eugene and Vancouver, BC, connecting Portland, Tacoma, Seattle, and a handful of other cities along the way. A two-hour trip from Seattle to Portland or Vancouver, BC would be possible.