Introduction

In November 1996 citizens living in the central Puget Sound region of the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. voted to raise their local taxes and begin implementation of a ten year, $3,900,000,000 rail and bus plan to expand public transportation facilities and services. The plan -- after 12 years overrunning both the approved budget and the original schedule -- is administered by a public agency and special government taxing district, the Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority (RTA), later renaming itself Sound Transit. This region includes parts of three counties and the major Washington State cities of Seattle, Tacoma, Bellevue and Everett, with a total regional population of about 3 million.

This web site is maintained by a group of Puget Sound area residents who have since 1996 opposed certain parts of the Plan including light rail. We knew back then that voters were deceived about what they were approving, and we said so during the 1996 campaign. In December 2000, Sound Transit revealed that its Seattle light rail plan would cost $1,000,000,000 more than what voters approved, and take three additional years to build. As of early 2009, the first light rail line in Seattle is coming in shorter than orginally specified, and at least triple the cost that voters approved. Important parts of the 1996 plan have been delayed until a phase 2 doubling of the Sound Transit sales tax. Unfortunately, a $23 billion phase 2 expansion plan was approved by voters on November 4, 2008 by a margin of 57% to 43%. This approval came despite false claims made by Sound Transit about cost and performance, as documented within this site.

This Public Interest Transportation Forum presents information that bears on replacing light rail with other available options that would be implemented faster, cost less, and at the same time achieve better levels of mobility, environmental quality, economic vitality, and general welfare in the region than are currently anticipated in the official Plan. More on why we are doing this.

Sound Transit began limited daily commuter rail service from Seattle to Tacoma in September 2000, and initiated 1.6 miles of tram service -- built with tracks that would support four-car light rail trains -- in Tacoma in 2003. According to the current schedule, Seattle light rail is planned to open in 2009. The Seattle region already has an excellent bus-HOV transit system, organized by county, in which Sound Transit now operates express bus service. To learn more about the existing transit systems, click here. 

 Following video from Sightline Institute makes a point about gaining more efficient mobility on roads with HOV lanes carrying buses and vanpools:

Co-editors Nelson and Niles have conducted university-funded research on transit-oriented development. Check out a series of papers and presentations for the Transportation Research Board.

Co-editor Jerry Schneider operates another web site, Innovative Transportation Technologies.

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