Tag Archives: sound transit

Sound Transit’s Fare Ambassadors begin platform payment checks

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(Image: Sound Transit)

Sound Transit’s Fare Ambassadors are now checking for payment while you wait for the next train. The agency has rolled out platform fare checks at four downtown stations starting this morning. The plan is to spread the checks through the growing light rail system including Capitol Hill Station in coming months.

“With a little extra time and a lot more elbow room on platforms, Fare Ambassadors will be able to check more fares and provide better customer service,” the ST announcement reads.

Sound Transit says the new checks are part of efforts to make sure fares are paid — and educate riders.

They’re still working out the best way for the checks to take place on the plafform, Sound Transit says, and will be experimenting with different methods.

Meanwhile, fare inspections will continue onboard light rail trains. Continue reading →

With big decisions to be made on Ballard expansion and new line opening milestones still to hit for West Seattle and Judkins Park, Sound Transit in search of a new CEO

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(Image: Sound Transit)

As Sound Transit is struggling with crucial decisions that will shape its next stages of growth and expansion, the agency will also be searching for a new leader. CEO Julie Timm is stepping down after just over a year of leadership that saw Sound Transit struggle to address issues around a return to pre-pandemic ridership levels and big questions about how light rail will expand to serve key areas of Seattle.

Sound Transit CEO Julie Timm announced today she will be leaving the agency in order to return to the East Coast to take care of family matters. Since joining Sound Transit in September 2022, Timm has overseen a renewed emphasis on the rider experience as Sound Transit approaches the opening of several new extensions, starting with East Link next spring. Her focus and leadership in centering current and future riders in the agency’s capital and operating programs will benefit the region for years to come.

Continue reading →

Sound Transit: Trains every 15 minutes as summer construction season wraps up in Seattle

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(Image: Sound Transit)

It is a fact of life that Seattle summers bring transit delays as drier weather means important maintenance work can be completed. Sound Transit has announced light rail service through the city will be reduced to trains running every 15 minutes for about a month as it completes some catch-up maintenance work:

Just as one summer service disruption is ending, another is beginning. Passengers taking Link should note that trains will run every 15 minutes for the next few weeks for a maintenance project. We originally had expected to have 12-minute headways, but we have since had to move to 15 minutes to ensure reliability for our riders. We are working towards optimizing headways, while being mindful of safety through construction zones.

The reduced service will allow crews to reconstruct the platform edges and the tiles at Othello and Rainier Beach stations. Sound Transit says most of the existing tiles are cracked or broken, creating a safety hazard for passengers. Continue reading →

Bad timing — Sound Transit says downtown clock removal mishap could mean 336 hours of light rail service disruption

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(Image: Sound Transit)

Damage from work to remove a clock above Westlake Station will mean delays for light rail service through Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel.

Sound Transit said it expects two weeks of delays starting Thursday night as repairs take place:

During this period, passengers traveling southbound will need to transfer at Capitol Hill station to another train to continue their trips, while passengers traveling northbound will need to transfer at Stadium station. Trains through the tunnel will run in each direction every 30 minutes. Trains between Northgate and Capitol Hill stations and between Stadium and Angle Lake stations will run every 10 minutes. Because trains will be single tracking through the tunnel, the northbound platforms at Westlake, University Street, Pioneer Square, and International District stations are closed. Only the southbound platforms at those stations will be open for trains traveling in either direction.

“During this time, passengers should pay extra attention while they travel so they don’t get on the train going in the wrong direction and don’t stay on the train when they need to transfer,” the Sound Transit bulletin reads.

Sound Transit says the the downtown closure is necessary to allow time to investigate the damage caused last Tuesday “when a construction crew attempting to remove a clock at street level broke through the roof of the tunnel.”

While no one was injured at the time, subsequent examination of the damage showed that it was more significant than originally thought, necessitating the emergency service disruption for the safety of passengers. The closure of the northbound platform will allow Sound Transit personnel to more closely examine the damage and determine what repairs will be necessary.

Passengers traveling through the area should allow for additional time for their trip. Sound Transit says, and possibly should consider alternative modes of getting through the city until the repairs are completed.

UPDATE 5/1/2023: In a bulletin, King County Metro says the delays remain significant but are down to trains operating “every 15-20 minutes in the DSTT.”

 

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Another delay for Judkins Park Station: Spring 2025

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Pretty much ready and waiting (Image: Sound Transit)

The station has stood mostly complete — since May 2022 (Image: Sound Transit)

Judkins Park Station is mostly ready and waiting but the first light rail trains probably won’t arrive there until the spring of 2025.

Sound Transit says ongoing construction problems will further delay its expansion to the Eastside including the new Judkins Park Station in the Central District. In a construction update (PDF), Sound Transit said a major project for “track reconstruction” is  “progressing slower than planned.”

The Seattle Times reported here on the multimillion dollar mistakes that have caused contractors to start over on hundreds of concrete track ties on the I-90 portion of the new light rail route.

Sound Transit has now revised its plans for a spring 2025 opening of the line and the new Judkins Park station with its design that honors neighborhood music legend Jimi Hendrix. Continue reading →

Trouble for Midtown Station plan as Sound Transit board embraces new option for light rail’s future in the International District

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The Sound Transit board has set a new path for its planned light rail expansions by embracing a plan that would split a light rail station in the heart of the International District into two smaller stations north and south of Chinatown that proponents say would be less disruptive to the communities and small businesses of the area. But the split would have repercussions up and down the city including eliminating the planned Midtown Station near 4th and Madison that would serve as a relatively nearby access point for the neighborhoods of First Hill.

The governing board voted 15-1 Thursday to pursue the “North of C-ID” option hinging on a last minute proposal backed by King County Executive Dow Constantine and Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell that will create one of the likely twin stations at 4th and James. Another south of the ID would also be required to manage the future light rail traffic flows as the system branches out to Ballard and West Seattle. Continue reading →

Downtown tunnel work means no light rail service between Capitol Hill and SoDo over Veterans Day weekend

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Capitol Hill to Northgate this weekend? No problem (Image: Sound Transit)

Work in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel will mean no light rail service over the Veterans Day weekend between Capitol Hill and SoDo.

Sound Transit says the service disruption will take place Friday, November 11th through Sunday, November 13th with trains expected to return to this portion of the line by Monday morning.

Officials say riders should allow up to an additional 30 minutes for their trips if they plan to make use of the shuttle buses that will be in place: Continue reading →

Sound Transit’s new plan maintains 10-minute frequencies at Capitol Hill Station during summer maintenance projects

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Link light rail to Lynnwood, Shoreline and Mountlake Terrace is also slated to open in 2024 (Image: Sound Transit)

Sound Transit has backed off plans to drop service frequencies across its light rail system as it undertakes a roster of summer maintenance projects to prepare for upcoming expansions.

The decision means light rail trains are planned to maintain 10-minute frequencies serving stations north of the stadiums including Capitol Hill.

But the new plan means 20-minute train frequencies “that were previously announced to be systemwide” during the upcoming planned work will “now only apply between Stadium and Angle Lake stations. Continue reading →

Sound Transit overhauls fare enforcement policies to address economic and racial equity — and thousands of riders it says do not pay

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The Sound Transit board of directors including Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell have approved long awaited changes to the system’s fare enforcement policies.

Thursday, the board approved changes that will revise policies for its light rail trains and buses to increase warnings and reduce fines, and, importantly, move enforcement from security officers in efforts intended to address concerns over equity and racial disparity.

CHS reported in 2020 on the Sound Transit board’s fare enforcement reform efforts after complaints about police-like enforcement officers and findings that showed the fare policies disproportionately impacted people of color “and individuals with little or no income.”  Surveys showed Black passengers were cited and punished disproportionately by the process. Continue reading →

After stranded light rail riders hiked out of tunnel, Sound Transit says, next time, wait for the ‘rescue train’

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(Image: @Danielhep)

Sound Transit says it is reviewing safety and emergency procedures after a breakdown in the light rail tunnel between the University of Washington Station and the new U District Station left a train full of riders stranded with many opting to hike out of the subway on foot during the Friday night incident.

“A Link light rail train became disabled in the northbound tunnel between University of Washington Station and U District Station after the electronic cable linking the first car and the trailing three cars was severed. As a result, the train came to an immediate stop,” Sound Transit said in its statement on the breakdown that came around 8:25 PM as crowds were leaving the Apple Cup game at Husky Stadium.

Sound Transit says the severed cable prevented the train’s operator from communicating by intercom with passengers in the trailing three cars, and “an unsafe incident developed when passengers decided to use emergency exits to leave the train.” Continue reading →