Community members speak at Union Station.
On Tuesday night the King County Council held the only public hearing on its proposed ‘Plan B’, detailed in this earlier post, that would maintain transit funding. Most speakers supported the measure, but a number of important questions were brought up as well.
On Thursday night a crowd of hundreds gathered to share ideas for Seattle’s future. Co-hosted by the Seattle Art Museum and the city’s Department of Planning and Development, the evening kicked off the city’s comprehensive plan update process that will culminate next year with new guidelines and a refined vision branded as Seattle 2035. Local government officials, professionals, and artists presented their thoughts in rapid-fire Pecha Kucha style with only 20 slides and 20 seconds each. What emerged was a sobering look at the challenges Seattle faces mixed with an optimistic spirit of hope and extraordinary triumph.
Olympia’s failure to act jeopardizes King County’s entire bus system.
After years of stalling, King County is finished waiting for the Washington state legislature to help solve its transportation problems. With funding for roads and transit too low to even plow snow and keep buses running, County Executive Dow Constantine on Tuesday proposed a sales tax increase of 0.1 percent and other means for funding basic services. The tax would require voter approval and could go to the ballot as soon as April, three months away and, assuming it passes, just in time to avoid a 17 percent cut in Metro bus service starting this summer.
People line up to express their concerns at a community meeting.
A 2010 change to Seattle’s Lowrise 3 (LR3) zoning designation hasn’t sparked much public interest until now, when the economy has picked up and developers are taking advantage of increased height limits for new multi-family buildings. Residents in neighborhoods with LR3 zones, especially those living in adjacent single family homes, are concerned about 40-plus-foot tall apartments that alter neighborhood character, create shade and reduce privacy, and increase on-street parking demand. In order to collect citizen comments, on Tuesday night the Seattle Department of Planning and Development (DPD) hosted a community meeting that brought out both enthusiastic supporters and hostile opposition.
New York City’s “CitiBike” service has been successful since launching last May. (Wall Street Journal)
The bike sharing fad has spread across the U.S. like wildfire, with over 30 cities introducing a form of the service since 2008. High profile programs in New York and Washington, D.C. have proven the merits of bike sharing for commuters and visitors alike, and now the Seattle region is finally getting in on the game. Puget Sound Bike Share, a non-profit partnering with private and public interests in King County, plans to launch this spring despite a funding shortage.
RapidRide lines have a red paint scheme and improved stops and vehicles. (myballard.com)
Two new lines will be starting service this year for King County Metro Transit’s frequent bus service, RapidRide. The system currently has four routes, lettered A through D, that serve key commuting corridors in the Seattle metro area such as Bellevue to Redmond and Ballard to downtown Seattle. RapidRide isn’t at the service level of bus rapid transit (BRT), which has become popular in recent years, but it sets itself apart from standard bus service with frequent headways, street improvements, and technology upgrades.
The increasing fuel efficiency of road vehicles and adoption of alternative power sources like electricity, natural gas, and hydrogen is lessening the ability of gas taxes to pay for transportation systems. The federal gas tax has been 18.4 cents/gallon since 1993 (it would be 30 cents/gallon if it kept up with inflation) and the Highway Trust Fund is projected to have a $14 billion shortfall by 2015. The average state gas tax is 31.1 cents/gallon (Washington’s is 37.5 cents). Amid funding gaps and recent examples of crumbling infrastructure, advocates are calling for increasing fuel taxes and legislators are listening after years of delay. Considering the trends in vehicle technology and research on road damage, though, state and federal legislators should adopt a new taxing system that charges based on road usage.
A sea of empty asphalt in suburbia.
In the postwar decades of the 20th century American cities stood by their carefully calculated minimum parking requirements, resulting in underutilized land and encouragement of car travel. Planners outside of the largest cities have started to reverse this trend by reducing parking requirements, setting maximums, or not allowing any parking at all for new residential or commercial development. And, surprise, the world has not ended. As the affordability of housing lessens and alternative transportation improves across many of the nation’s metro areas, it makes sense to take a second look parking standards.
A coalition of transit supporters rallied at a press conference today in downtown Seattle’s Westlake Park. Representatives from local governments, institutions, and businesses spoke passionately about the need for the Washington State legislature to pass a comprehensive transportation package that includes the means for King County to raise new funds and prevent a 17 percent cut in bus service early next year. I reported on this issue a few weeks ago, and how it will play out still remains to be seen.
With growing demand for power in the neighborhoods around South Lake Union, utility department Seattle City Light (SCL) is preparing to build a new electrical substation nearby. It won’t be like the city’s other 11 facilities with cold chain-link fences, as it will invite residents to play outside and peer inside from perimeter ramps and translucent walls. SCL decided to implement this project in an unusual way because of the concerns expressed at community outreach events; the local NBBJ architectural office, who is consulting on the design, is also only a block from the site.
The Northwest Urbanist 