Transit

Revive I-5 is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reduce car dependency and encourage transit, walking, rolling, and biking, but the Seattle region is letting it slip between its fingers. It's not too late to fix that, opines Kadie Bell Sata.

Claudia Balducci, the second longest serving member of the Sound Transit board, will no longer be a member of the committee she's lead since 2018. The swap out comes just as the board faces critical decisions around the future of the Sound Transit 3 expansion plan, work that will largely be hashed out in policy committees.

Eagerly awaited by transit riders, the full 2 Line light rail connection will finally bridge Seattle and the Eastside and bring expanded train service all the way from Redmond to Lynnwood. The expansion will bring stations at Judkins Park and Mercer Island online.

As the First Hill Streetcar celebrates a decade carrying riders, questions mount about the future of the Seattle Streetcar network as a whole. With a plan to finally connect the two existing lines being declared dead, the status quo is likely not sustainable.

With creative tools needed to get the entire Sound Transit 3 network across the finish line as planned, Sound Transit is turning to the idea of 75-year bonds. If the Washington State Legislature OKs the concept, the move would mean extending debt to finance light rail projects into the next century.

Adding a light rail stop next to Bellevue's decommissioned airport could unlock more than 100 acres for dense urban development, boosting the potential of the planned line to Issaquah. Like Bel-Red or the Spring District, Eastgate could be the next Bellevue neighborhood to transform with transit-oriented development.

Pierce County is facing financial challenges that are straining budgets, leading to health department layoffs and lagging transit service levels. Federal chaos could make the problem worse in years ahead.

Late-night bus service starting March 28 will give riders with late flights at Sea-Tac more breathing room. The pilot is one element of Sound Transit's planned overnight bus network queued to launch this fall.