Public Interest Transportation Forum http://www.bettertransport.info/pitf
Project Management Oversight report for Link Initial Segment and Airport Link Light Rail for end of May 2008. The analogous report for University Link, same time period, is here. The Initial Segment report for August 2007 is here. University Link for August 2007 is here. The Initial Segment reports consistently warn that the Initial Segment is at risk of not being opened for customer service by July 2009.
The 1996 Sound Move Plan covering Puget Sound regional high capacity mass transit, approved by voters in 1996. Downloaded from a previous version of the Sound Transit Web (1.1 megabyte pdf file).
1916 Map of the Seattle Municipal Street Railway (pdf) from Seattle Municipal Archives, with annotations showing source. Also, the pdf has a reference to a web page at University of Washington showing the history and photographs of this system. The last Seattle streetcar from this era ran in 1941.
University Link technical diagrams of the light rail tunnel route from Pine Street to Husky Stadium. Shows the houses on Capitol Hill under which it passes, and the layers of muck that the bored tunnel tube will penetrate. This is a 6 meg pdf file that is an extract from a document submitted by Sound Transit to FTA as part of the preliminary design for this light rail segment.
Comments of John Niles to PSRC Executive Board meeting of April 10, 2008 concerning PSRC review of Sound Transit's phase 2 plan.
Sound Transit's 2008 documentation of benefit-cost analysis of light rail expansion.
Comments of John Niles, CETA, to PSRC Executive Board meeting of May 24th, 2007 about Sound Transit Benefit Cost Analysis.
Sound Transit's summary results from a benefit-cost analysis of Phase 2 light rail in 2007 Proposition 1
Methodology description for Sound Transit's benefit-cost analysis of Phase 2 light rail in 2007 Proposition 1
Methodology description for Sound Transit's ridership forecasting for Phase 2 light rail in 2007 Proposition 1
Comments of John Niles in 2007 to PSRC Transportation Policy Board on Sound Transit's benefit-cost analysis for ST2.
Technical report from Puget Sound Transit Consultants to Sound Transit on light rail vibration analysis for North Link Light Rail under University of Washington campus. Executive Summary. Full Report.
Technical report from Sound Transit's consultants LTK Engineering on electro-magnetic field analysis for North Link Light Rail under University of Washington campus. Executive Summary. Full Report.
Comment from CETA to Sound Transit Board on financial impact of liquidated damage payments agreed to by Sound Transit in connection with vibration and electro-magnetic field impacts to the University of Washington campus.
Sound Transit Phase 2 Plan (ST2) complete with appendices, presented to the Sound Transit Board of Directors on May 24, 2007 (4.5 megabyte PDF)
Using the University Link Financial Plan, Jim MacIsaac has summarized the cost of the Sound Move Phase one program through 2040. The estimated taxes to be collected 1997 to 2040 sum to $27,764,000,000, or rounded, $28 billion. This estimate assumes the MVET will end in 2028. Here are the details in a one page pdf.
The University Link Financial Plan, June 2006, transmitted by Sound Transit to the Federal Transit Administration, reports on page 14, Table 9, that Sound Transit Sources and Uses of Funds, 1997-2020, Year of Expenditure dollars, total to $14,972,000,000, or rounded, $15 billion. Download the document in a pdf, obtained via Public Disclosure Act request, about 2.3 megabytes. The 1996 approval vote was for a ten-year Sound Move program that would cost $5 billion, Year of Expenditure dollars.
Will Knedlik's sharp attack on Sound Transit and RTID misrepresentations, as handed out in February and March 2007 at "Roads & Transit" Open House events throughout the central Puget Sound region.
Policy analyst Tom Heller uses satellite imagery to portray the physical challenge that Lake Washington poses to central Puget Sound regional transportation. Lake Washington's outline is shown to scale superimposed on other prominent metro areas of the United States.
Federal Transit Association summary of Seattle Light Rail Status as of November 2006 in the FY08 New Starts Report to Congress (pdf document).
Pages from the FY07 New Starts Report on Sound Transit Link Light Rail.
"How to Overcome the Ten Barriers to Effective BRT Planning" by Alan Hoffman (pdf posted on The Mission Group website). Published in the magazine Smart Urban Transport in February 2004.
Where is public transit headed in Europe? Check this excerpt from the 2006 transportation policy review by the European Commission that illustrates only modest gains in market share for buses and trains through 2020 (pdf).
Audit document released by Sound Transit in September 2005 reveals problems with management of the light rail construction project along Martin Luther King, Jr. Way in the Rainier Valley of Seattle.
April 13, 2006 testimony of John Niles to Puget Sound Regional Council's Transportation Policy Board that the North Link EIS data imply that the construction and operation of this railroad is a net contributor to greenhouse gas production (200 kilobyte pdf).
Special collection of Metrobus route maps for the University Link light rail corridor (1.6 megabyte PDF). This is part of work in progress to specify a bus alternative to the Seattle Big Dig under Capitol Hill.
Op-Ed by Seattle citizen Tom Coad, member of Coalition for Effective Transportation Alternatives, "Grandiose Rail Schemes Do Little to Relieve Congestion" in the Seattle Times, February 21, 2006 (external link to Seattle Times)
Seattle's Future Transit Network -- map from City of Seattle
Top line results from Sound Transit's September 2005 public opinion survey asking for citizen views on how well the agency and its services are performing (564K pdf). Questions are also asked about what Sound Transit should build next.
Puget Sound Regional Council provides answers to U.S. Department of Transportation on compliance with requirements to be certified as the Metropolitan Planning Organization for the region.
Communications From Seattle Citizens to State of Washington High Capacity Transit Expert Review Panel
Letter from State Representative Ed Murray (D, Seattle) to Expert Review Panel, 10-20-05, asking for further study of how to serve First Hill now that the light rail subway stop has been eliminated from the Sound Move plan.
Puget Sound Regional Council staff was commissioned by Sound Transit to prepare summaries of the likely economic development effects benefiting the region from transit development activities. Assigned scope in Sound Transit Motion M2003-110 included job creation by the system itself, economic stimulation due to improved mobility, land use development activity around station areas, and improved national/global competitiveness.
Version One, with some calculated benefits, May 2005, pdf, 2.9 megabytes -- an intermediate product not accepted by Sound Transit and leading to rescoping.
Version Two, with no calculated benefits, June 2005, pdf, 2.7 megabytes -- final product accepted by Sound Transit, and released at the Board meeting on September 22nd.Sound Transit's Link Light Rail Operations Plan for the Initial Segment, dated January 2004, including a description of how buses and trains will operate together in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel -- large, 6.5 megabyte PDF scanned document from Sound Transit
Comments to public officials from Seattle citizen Don Padelford
Seattle Light Rail -- 1996 Promises vs. 2005 Reality
Technology Applications Available to Ease Traffic Congestion: Link to USDOT Web.
Sound Transit Report Card, by Emory Bundy, April 2005. The tone of this report is less optimistic than the one that follows.
Sound Transit Citizen Oversight Panel's own version of the 8 year report card issued by Emory Bundy. Dated April 7, 2005, this report with an unabashedly positive tone despite numerous shortfalls in the agency's performance is titled Sound Move Year 8: Review of Progress Toward Achieving a Regional High Capacity Transportation System (250 kilobyte pdf file, shrunk from official 2.8 megabyte size by removing photographs from the cover).
Central Puget Sound's main transit service is a fleet of buses that blanket the region. King County Metro Transit (Seattle and Bellevue) has 1,373 buses, Pierce County Transit (Tacoma) has 382 buses, and Community Transit (Everett and Snohomish County) has 313 buses (from a survey by Metro Magazine, September-October 2004). In contrast, Sound Transit Light Rail in 2009 will have 31 light rail cars on one 14 mile route. It will carry fewer passengers than one productive bus route.
How Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) handled Least Cost Planning (LCP) in the 2001 Metropolitan Transportation Plan. Two specially compiled historical documents available here: (1) Brief mention of LCP in the published Destination 2030 plan, and PSRC staff's technical appendix (1.3 megabyte PDF) and (2) Comments made by citizens during November 2000 during the EIS process for the MTP, and PSRC's response (3.5 megabyte PDF)
Analysis of opinion survey indicating that light rail would sink the chances of voters approving a tax hike for regional transportation improvement. This includes the November 2003 survey questionnaire and raw "top line" results, previously unreleased by RTID.
35 page Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) executed October 24, 2003 by FTA and Sound Transit (2.7 megabyte pdf).
Letter from Congress to FTA, October 23, 2003, listing conditions for the approval of Sound Transit's Federal funding for Central Link Initial Segment (pdf).
Letter from Sound Transit to FTA on October 2, 2003 providing assurances that subarea equity would not be violated under a particular hypothetical scenario of revenue reduction caused by Initiative 776 (pdf, external link).
Letter from Seattle citizens to FTA Administrator Jenna Dorn September 19, 2003 requesting opportunity to review and comment on Sound Transit's contingency plan for funding shortfalls that may result from Initiative 776 (pdf).
Letter from Congress to FTA, September 10, 2003, disapproving the Central Link FFGA (pdf).
List of members of the four Congressional Committees responsible for reviewing the Seattle Central Link Initial Segment FFGA before it was executed between Sound Transit and FTA.
Letter from Congress to FTA, July 28, 2003, noting that Inspector General recommendation of July 11 was not met by Sound Transit Board Resolution 2003-15 (pdf)
Letter from Congress to FTA, July 15, 2003, kicking back the Link Initial Segment FFGA for further work before Congressional review begins (pdf).
USDOT Inspector General audit report on Central Link Initial Segment, July 11, 2003 (external link)
Audio recording (Real Audio) of the January 16, 2003 debate on Central Link Light Rail between Sound Transit Chairman Ron Sims and former Washington State Governor Booth Gardner (external link to TVW.org).
Former Washington Governor Booth Gardner's November 2002 Op-Ed, "Sims should pull the plug on 'lite'-rail project."
Letter of October 2002 to Senator Patty Murray (pdf) from 26 Puget Sound region local government officials, requesting Federal funds for Central Link be reprogrammed to better transit alternatives.
Documents Filed in Citizens for Mobility Lawsuit Against Sound Transit Light Rail
John Niles briefs USDOT Inspector General in 2002 on why the Link Initial Segment is unacceptable as a stand-alone Final Segment (pdf).
Emory Bundy briefs USDOT Inspector General in 2002 on why the Link Initial Segment is likely to be the Final Segment (pdf).
David Gow's comprehensive advocacy and information site for Personal Rapid Transit in the central Puget Sound region.
Coalition for Effective Transportation Alternatives (CETA), co-chaired by Maggie Fimia and John Niles: http://www.effectivetransportation.org
Travel times measured on Seattle area highways right now (external link)
Golden Oldie: Copy of the 1996 web site for the Regional Express campaign that sold Sound Transit funding to regional voters
Traffic Congestion: A Solvable Problem by Peter Samuel (external link)
PITF Letter to Federal Transit Administration on Link Light Rail Safety Concerns, June 2002 (PDF file)
Emory Bundy responds in detail to Glenn Pascall's "The Rail Transit Debate"
PITF Letter to Federal Transit Administration on Sound Transit's New Starts data submission of November 2001 (PDF file)
Metro magazine describes growing interest in bus rapid transit (BRT) as an alternative to light rail (external link).
Booth Gardner's letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Mineta urging continued Federal diligence in review of Link light rail (Word document)
Mineta Institute reviews history of Sound Transit 1996 election victory (PDF file)
Royer's Link Project Review Committee says keep the bus tunnel for buses (PDF file)
Downtown Seattle Association says keep the bus tunnel for buses (PDF file)
Seattle Times April 2001 Editorial: "pull plug on light rail" (External Link)
Puget Sound Regional Council summary review of bus alternatives analyses conducted prior to 1996 (PDF file)
Letter to Puget Sound Regional Council in November 2000 noting that state-mandated least-cost analysis of alternatives was not carried out in the Destination 2030 Metropolitan Transportation Plan
Richard Harkness in December 22, 2000 Seattle Times: "If light rail won’t dent traffic congestion, why build it?"Sound Transit Board considers Least Cost Planning in one of its first meetings, December 10, 1993 (pdf file of the meeting minutes).
From Rails to Rubber: 60 Years of Electric Trolley Buses in Seattle by Metro Employees Historic Vehicles Association. This short essay reviews why trolley cars were replaced with trolley buses in 1940s Seattle. (external link).