The phrase,'Unsound Transit', was coined by the Wall Street Journal to describe Seattle where,"Light Rail Madness eats billions that could otherwise be devoted to truly efficient transportation technologies." The Puget Sound's traffic congestion is a growing cancer on the region's prosperity. This website, captures news and expert opinion about ways to address the crisis. This is not a blog, but a knowledge base, which collects the best articles and presents them in a searchable format. My goal is to arm residents with knowledge so they can champion fact-based, rather than emotional, solutions.
9/3/07
Getting Around Our Region is a Problem Now...
Light Rail Won't Make It Better. In Fact It’s Going to Get Worse.
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| Light rail in traffic is massive and slow |
LIGHT RAIL WON'T HELP CONGESTION
- Even by 2020, light rail would remove only 400 of the 34,400 autos expected during peak traffic hour through Downtown Seattle. Seven extra tunnel buses would have the same effect!
- Bus tunnel closure for light rail construction will add 140 buses during peak traffic hour back onto downtown streets.
- Delays traffic at intersections along the route.
CURRENT LIGHT RAIL PLAN IS NOT WHAT WE VOTED FOR IN 1996
- Voters approved: 21 miles, 10 years to complete, $1.7 billion, from U-District to the Airport.
- Now: 14 miles, 13 years to complete, $2.9 billion, uses all available funds just to go from Downtown Seattle to two miles short of the Airport. THERE IS NO MONEY FOR EXTENDING THIS "INITIAL SEGMENT."
DOESN'T GIVE US NEW OPTIONS OR NEW CAPACITY
- Replaces buses and flexible routes with expensive, slower, fixed surface rail cars with a fixed route.
- An equal investment in express buses and van pools will carry thousands more people.
NOT REGIONAL
- Only one station outside Seattle; we were promised five.
- 75% of riders now using the downtown bus tunnel are from outside Downtown Seattle. Adding rail replaces many regional buses with local rail.
OVERPRICED
- Currently $200 million per mile, compared with nationwide average of $35 million per mile and this is the easy segment!
- Requires borrowing at least another billion dollars and puts us in debt until 2039.
DISRUPTS NEIGHBORHOODS
- Requires full or partial buying of over 300 homes and businesses.
- Runs massive trains and overhead wires down neighborhood streets in the Rainier Valley.
UNFAIR
- Most Seattle residents and those in Shoreline and Lake Forest Park get nothing for their Sound Transit taxes except slower express bus service and more transfers.
UNSAFE
- Sound Transit estimates rail collisions with 29 cars and three pedestrians a year. That's an accident every 12 days.
- The light rail plan includes 18 at-grade crossings without gates at intersections throughout Rainier Valley neighborhood.
The articles are posted solely for educational purposes to raise awareness of transportation issues. I claim no authorship, nor do I profit from this website. Where known, all original authors and/or source publisher have been noted in the post. As this is a knowledge base, rather than a blog, I have reproduced the articles in full to allow for complete reader understanding and allow for comprehensive text searching...see custom google search engine at the top of the page. If you have concerns about the inclusion of a specific article, please email bbdc1@live.com. for a speedy resolution.
