keep in mind that seattle had no issues with boring a 1.7 mile tunnel for a road.
@AdaDenali
Жыл бұрын
I mean a lot of people had problems with SR-99
@mixi171
Жыл бұрын
that's part of the problem: we now have 3 tunnels through downtown and a ton of skyscrapers with large footings which makes it challenging to build another tunnel.
@satiric_
Жыл бұрын
If anything the 99 tunnel is a good example of why tunnel boring under downtown Seattle is difficult, expensive, and time consuming. And it highlights the need to either put all trains through the existing transit tunnel, or build a new cut-and-cover tunnel on 4th or 5th.
@satiric_
Жыл бұрын
We were lucky that Big Bertha got stuck somewhere where it could be accessed from above. If it had gotten stuck under pioneer square, or under downtown Seattle, we would have been screwed.
@metrofilmer8894
Жыл бұрын
As someone living here, I can confirm that there were actually a ton of issues with that project. There were just far far more issues with keeping the viaduct in its original way. Plus, while not perfect, that project helped reconnect the city with the waterfront
@liamalancheril6743
Жыл бұрын
Appreciate your videos as always, especially the Seattle ones! As a Seattle area resident, I'm extremely disappointed by the meekness Sound Transit has exhibited throughout it's existence. Their decisions seem to suggest that their goal isn't to provide world class transit, but to make sure they cause as little disruption as possible. Examples include aligning routes along freeways instead of avenues/boulevards (sacrificing development opportunities and walkability), creating at grade sections with level crossings (sacrificing safety), using light rail instead of metro vehicles (sacrificing capacity), and now this wild proposal to bypass King Street and Pioneer Square (sacrificing connectivity). Connectivity, capacity, safety, walkability, and development opportunities are kind of the biggest reasons for building rail transit in the first place and those are being sacrificed in the name of cost and disrupting the present as little as possible. We're talking 8 added minutes of travel time (average depending on trip route) with the most egregious being 10 minutes for people traveling to/from Bellevue/Redmond (Amazon/Microsoft) and the Airport. From my observations over the last several years, I've seen little understanding or acceptance from Sound Transit of the transition period required to achieve greatness. I understand the concerns about disrupting this neighborhood specifically, but they should study how to reduce disruption in their operations/construction without completely changing the plan. For example, why does it need to take 10 years to build the original station? Unfortunately the last public comment period passed (March 9). The final vote will be held on March 23. I don't think it's exaggerating to say this is one of the most important infrastructure votes in Seattle's recent history given the implications.
@premsprespective3507
Жыл бұрын
I never thought about that, all the expenses outside are happening alongside i-5 restricting access to people living on another side of i-5
Жыл бұрын
I think RM Transit, or some other channel, once put it as “avoiding short term disruption, ends up causing long term disruption”. Here the city needs to be reminded of this?
@RMTransit
Жыл бұрын
@ Exactly, failing to do a project right once often means several other more expensive and time consuming projects later
@rossbleakney3575
Жыл бұрын
I agree, I would also add: A shortage of urban stops. The University of Washington (UW) got only two stops (it should have three). Between the UW and downtown they only added one station (Capitol Hill). There should be a station at First Hill, as well as one at 23rd & Madison. This is how a traditional metro works. They ignored bus to rail integration for much of the line. SkyTrain is extremely successful in part because the buses and trains complement each other so well. The Canada Line is especially effective. Every major cross street has a station. Sound Transit seems disinterested in that sort of thing. All the while, there is an obsession over distance. This plays a part in all of these decisions. If your goal is to build a traditional metro, then you don't skip First Hill. Maybe you don't go any further. You wait until you cover such an important part of the region. But if your goal is to go out to the hinterlands, then you skip it. My own theory is that the folks who are making these decisions don't know much about transit, but think they do. They are politicians. I don't mean that in a bad way. My mom was a politician. I have great sympathy for politicians. But these politicians all have more important jobs. They run major cities or counties. These are huge organizations for which they will be judged. In contrast, no one will judge the efficacy of the system for decades, and even then, people can always make excuses (e. g. the city didn't grow the way we thought it would). So without knowing much about mass transit systems, they looked at what all Americans are familiar with: freeways. This metro is remarkably similar to the existing set of freeways. If you didn't care about the downside of freeways, and there none in the area, it would look like this. Long distance lines, with huge gaps. Little concern over what is actually next to the stations/on-ramps. The problem is, mass transit is not like a freeway. Worse yet, the freeway runs alongside many of the routes. As a result, very few will actually save time for a typical trip. The region would be much better off with a traditional metro -- one with multiple lines intersection in various places in the urban core -- with feeder buses connecting to the rail system from outside. Or maybe just a smaller system that covers the essentials, while maximizing bus-to-rail integration. The irony is, the nearest neighbor to Seattle (Vancouver BC) has built such a system. It is just sad that we couldn't learn any of the lessons there. It is like Seattle is the Goofus, and Vancouver is the Gallant of transit in the Pacific Northwest.
@dntcarrot
Жыл бұрын
You can still make comments up to March 23! I'll be making a public comment that day.
@larquel2
Жыл бұрын
Fun fact about the escalators, the reason they are broken all the time is because they literally bought ones not meant to be run constantly, but then ran them constantly...
@joep3279
Жыл бұрын
I fucking hate that. Everyday I step off and am like, "oh I wonder what it'll be today, stairs or escalator."
@christopherolson4130
Жыл бұрын
Gotta save that money... Meanwhile, they are spending half a billion on parking...
@jakeburnett1809
Жыл бұрын
Escalators can never become broken, they can only become stairs - Mitch Hetburg
@jamescastle7704
Жыл бұрын
Supposedly they are in the process of replacing them with their expansion plan
@T.A.W
Жыл бұрын
That's pretty much the Sound Transit Way!
@davidballantyne762
Жыл бұрын
Great video Reese. I am the Design and Construction Director for the FW project with Metrolinx and have been involved on this project since 2015. It is truly exciting to see this come to life and will definitely serve a part of Toronto that has been sorely lacking higher-order transit for a long time. What I can offer in addition to your video is that the local community is very excited about the project, even though we have had some challenges with traffic during construction... Also, the streetscaping will be amazing when we are complete, with elevated cycle tracks as well as enhanced sidewalks and grade-separated multi-use paths at Hwy 400 and CP rail corridor. Come back when we are finished and check it out!
@damascus6478
Жыл бұрын
I just made my first trip to Seattle, great ciy, but needed to go to Everett. There are two trains in the morning from Everett to Seattle and two in the afternoon back to Everett. There are no trains on the weekends or at any other time. It is hard to understand why Sound Transit thinks nobody in Everett would ever want to go to Seattle in the evening or on the weekend.
@kkw2237
Жыл бұрын
Agree. Don't forget they want to setup Everett as the second airport for the region but come with no public transit to downtown Seattle. And they have only one car rental which discourage tourist to use the airport. It also means the locals have to drive long down to SeaTac to catch their flights
@adm1nspotter
Жыл бұрын
And the planned extension of the Link to Everett isn't even supposed to open until 2037. So even if they do continue on the same path, we'll all be really old by the time it gets finished. I didn't even consider the travel time for the Link that far north. Yikes.
@lwpdhofgh
Жыл бұрын
You should have checked the busses. There are lots of them to Everett
@laelwhite5331
Жыл бұрын
The limit of 2 trains south in the am and 2 trains north in the pm and only on weekdays on Sounder North is due in large part to an old (2003?) contract between Sound Transit and BNSF that they wouldn't run more than that for 100 years. So, apart from putting some ever so diplomatic pressure on Sound Transit to revise that contract, given the glaring lack of respect for mobility equity and reducing VMT and GHG, don't expect more.
@DonaldMains
Ай бұрын
Maybe Sound Transit thinks because there isn't enough demand on the weekends. Did you think of that? There are buses by the way that go to Everett. You really think it makes sense to send a heavy train 30 miles for 40 people?
@arikohrn8010
7 ай бұрын
People take Light rail, not because it's faster or more convienent then driving, because it's dramatically cheaper than finding parking downtown.
@joe42m13
Жыл бұрын
My city has the central bus station right along the main tracks going through downtown. However, the Amtrak station is a few miles away. Even worse, the local commuter line stops at the airport on the outskirts. Both trains used to run into the heart of downtown, but bringing it back would require additional track lines and a new station and few seem to have the vision, let alone the courage to pursue such an ambitious plan.
@jimpern
Жыл бұрын
You're wrong about a couple of things. There is no "King Street Union Station". These are two separate stations that are a block apart, and Union Station has not been a railway station since around the start of Amtrak in 1971. Furthermore, King Street Station and the Chinatown Link station are not one and the same; they are, in fact, nearly two blocks apart and require crossing over the tracks and then going past Union Station to get to the Link station. I was also under the impression that the Ballard-West Seattle light rail line was going to use the same tunnel as the existing Central line, not a new tunnel, but as I live quite a distance from Seattle, you may be right about that one. But after building the WA-99 tunnel, I don't really think the city wants to build another new tunnel.
@riot23
Жыл бұрын
I am curious though RMTransit, which doesn't seem to be stated in the video. Is the current plan better than doing none at all? I agree that Seattle could do a lot better and greatly improve upon the plan they currently have. However, with the amount of politics, land rights, and cost that happens with decisions like these to begin with I assume it is still better getting something in place than not having one at all.
@trainluvr
Жыл бұрын
You know, we use the phrase rapid transit to describe a variety of modern systems, yet we see (in video and real life) trains lazily drifting in and out of stations and around not so sharp curves following grossly padded schedules. We see trains sitting motionless as the high priests of safety ponder when to operate door controls. Transit may be rapid when compared to streets gridlocked at peak times, but it seems to be a deceptive term. Too few systems have the punch of a BART train, or the people mover at ATL, or the Montreal Metro (praise be). Am I wrong or is the way Seattle LRT operates a good example of an UNrapid transit system? This would be a fun topic to explore in depth in a future video. Because SPEED, MATTERS!
@laurencefraser
Жыл бұрын
I suspect there's a reason most people talking about such things seem to generally drop the word 'rapid'. Of course, Linguistics would tell us that the main reason is that the lack of a concept of non-rapid transit made the 'rapid' lable redundant, but equally, the transit just not actually being all that rapid would do it too.
@aboringuy
Жыл бұрын
This is making me think of the original plans for Charles Center in Baltimore. It was supposed to be the hub for three subway lines in Baltimore but now just ends up as a massive and awkward liminal space since the city basically said "this is way too expensive," cut the NW/E subway line in half, turned the N/S line into a really shitty light rail, and completely scrapped the W/NE line. The MTA (not to be confused with NYC's MTA) did propose a light rail extension recently (though the comment period is over) which would connect the places the N/S line was supposed to connect which is a testament to bad decisions in the moment leads to higher costs later. I hope Seattle can avoid the poor planning that befell Baltimore.
@benjaminsteele13
Жыл бұрын
I think the other big thing is how Seattle, King County Metro, and Sound Transit have not coordinated to make sure they are placing infrastructure equitably. The central gripe of CID is that they get all the infrastructure placement for things like homeless services, which was plopped down by Seattle during the last five years, and then have to get torn up for full-region transpo. Seattle set Sound Transit up for failure even for than ST undercuts itself on this one, by not being at all interested in making places in the city pull their weight on the way we've collectively advocated for impossibly high housing prices. Instead, CID takes every hit because it's older, has language access issues, and has been relatively depopulated by round after round of "investment" that it's not getting full value from. A transit hub should be a blessing for a neighborhood, but decades of shortsighted decisions to make CID a sacrifice zone have ensured that it would be skeptical, and now we may pay a permanent price for it.
@TheZzzleep...
Жыл бұрын
The plan is completely underground in Uptown+Belltown+Downtown+Chinatown with Chinatown the hub due to its heavy rail service. The above ground service will mirror 15th Ave W. The above ground is largely elevated. The reason the hub has not been OKed yet is some residents of Chinatown oppose expanding that station due to construction impacts having been thru that before.
@jefferypardue7509
Жыл бұрын
King Street station is about a block away from union station. Union station is owned by sound transit. Pioneer square and Chinatown international district light rail stops attract a lot of bombs and vagrants and people hanging about smoking drinking and carousing. And the Seattle times came out today March 19th 2023, with a article about the Seattle underground tunnel & it's maintenance issues.
@at0mly
Жыл бұрын
SF has this same problem as well. All of the new HSR services and Caltrain are in to the Salesforce Transit Center, which isn't on BART or Muni. It's absurd.
@JaapGinder
Жыл бұрын
My suggestion as a Dutchmen: let some Dutch designers do the work: efficiency guarenteed! E.g. two lines following about the same track... JOIN them! Connectivity? Well, look at The Netherlands. look at Rotterdam, like 3 metro lines share the same track in the center, but before and after they are completely separated. (yes, there are 3 more lines). Yes, it is expensive, but will pay back in the years coming. Learn from it, I use the publc transport a lot, and it's easy here. The US can learn from The Netherlands! Tunneling: ask the Dutch (You reffered them for Amsterdam metro) Besides that all: I like your videos a lot! Very infomative!
@1978dkelly
Жыл бұрын
I'd love to bring just about any foreign team to the US and have them build our transit since we are in general so terrible at it. The only caveat is they would have to be given free rein to do as they wish and not be beholden to whatever stumbling blocks usually bedevil American planning boards.
@ahmedzakikhan7639
Жыл бұрын
China builds best infrastructure. Dutch system is prehistoric - sorry.
@Lucius_Chiaraviglio
Жыл бұрын
This reminds me of Chicago with its downtown commuter rail (METRA) stations that mostly don't connect to the rapid transit (Ogilvie is next to an L station, but the others aren't -- not a huge walk, but bad if you have bad weather).
@richardjacques1731
Жыл бұрын
One thing that really blew me away about the light rail was the UW station being by the stadium instead of on 15th or University. Good for students and on game days (how many is that) useless for the thousands of apartments within walking distance of 15th.
@Vic-bx4oi
Жыл бұрын
i guess they added that station inside of the ave now... just took forever so we all graduated by then XD
@FreewayBrent
8 ай бұрын
Early on in the video, the host mentions that it will take two *HOURS* to get from Everett to Tacoma? Why isn't this being built as a heavy/commuter rail with higher operating speeds? Assuming it takes an hour to go from Everett to downtown Seattle for example, I'm sticking to driving for that distance.
@siener
Жыл бұрын
Public transport projects in Seattle are always a mixed bag. Many successes marred by self-inflicted defeats. The Link light rail expansion has been one of the better run projects. Northgate Station has been a massive success - and it's had a real positive impact on those of us that live in the north of the city. But the way the planning got the Ballard line has been going doesn't fill me with confidence at all...
@deric8
Жыл бұрын
I personally feel Sound Transit screwed themselves when they sold their site at the old Convention Center Bus Tunnel station in 2018, knowing they were going to plan a line to Ballard. That Convention Center station would have been a good location to start a new portal and begin the Ballard line off of that junction. It was already grade separated all it needed was an entrance to the existing tunnel route. Only once that connection was completed is when they sell that station site off and or build an new platform for trains.
@jack2453
Жыл бұрын
Wow. Looks like they are taking lessons from Parramatta (in the Sydney region) which is about to get major investment in heavy rail, light rail and metro - at different locations a kilometre apart.
@u1zha
Жыл бұрын
As far as I understand here they're just 100 m apart, and thus I would say the rerouting of tunnel and making it curvy would be quite pointless? I don't know which plan he's talking about, ST3 website shows an Int'l District "transfer" station intact. If that's axed and the closest station is Pioneer Square then that's indeed a bit closer to a kilometre...
@kitchin2
Жыл бұрын
@@u1zha the ST3 website is out of date. Notice even in its semi-frozen state there is no description of the 3 transfer stations downtown. Transfers are barely even an implied goal in the lists of goals. The ID Chinatown thing is hugely political, as was the highway tunnel. The usual rap on Seattle is that its history is single homes, even compared to other West Coast cities.
@charlie2640
Жыл бұрын
Having made the connection between Amtrak and Seattle light rail at the King St station several times it is not now very convenient. My memory is that it requires a trip up to street level a walk outside of about a block and crossing two streets at a signal. Certainly not ideal. This could be greatly improved with the intention of creating a regional transit hub.
@DCuerpoJr
Жыл бұрын
I’ve lived in Seattle throughout the entire development of the Light Rail system and it’s been a mess. The primary line stretches across Martin Luther King Jr Way S at the surface level, right down the middle of the road. Many low income homes and local minority-owned businesses were torn down to accommodate the Light Rail. Accidents often happen on the rail line, sometimes even involving collisions with Light Rail cars, resulting in shutting down both directions of the system until the accident is cleared. As a result, the new Light Rail expansions are either above or below road and pedestrian traffic.
@Iheartseattle1
Жыл бұрын
What they really need to do is extend the light rail down to Renton and Kent. It would give 200,000+ people light rail access and provide another north south line so that people on the eastside don’t have to go into Seattle to go south
@pepperyiyi
Жыл бұрын
The biggest problem with Link, why would anyone put that on the ground like it doesn't even make sense how the lightrail is taking longer for me to drive in peak traffic. It's useless.
@kathleenbarryjohnson5408
Жыл бұрын
I definitely need to comment that the majority of people in the CID wanted 4th Ave. S. The idea of a North South alternative has been carried by a small minority of people, led by a single organization, and the Mayor and County Executive. The Mayor hired a consultant who is good friends the primary land owner where this new South CID station would land. The County Exec for some reason is tying the North CID station to redevelopment of the Civic Campus area. He can definitely redevelop the Civic Campus without killing the 4th Ave S station, but for some reason this is his hill to die on. Oh and King County already has a lease on the South of CID station land, but would need to buy it from the friend-of-consultant landowner.
@attmlb
Жыл бұрын
I work in downtown seattle but recently moved even further from main transit linesdue to affordability. I used to use transit to come downtown when I lived closer, but since moving, my drive is 45minutes to an hour, and most transit optoins are 1.5 hrs minimum. During Covid, street parking was incredibly affordable at just 50-cents an hour, in some areas leading to me driving in most days instead. Over the past year it's gone to $2.50 or more in those same areas. Driving and parking is effectively deincentivised, but there is still no true viable alternative given the existing hubs, and the proposed expansion hardly improve the access in my area, even if they reach the surrounding communities on time in the next 10-20 years. It's disheartening to know that this is considered a good example of transit in the region and that it could simply be getting worse in years to come with poorly thought out "compromises" setting us up for a worse overall system despite how much we're paying for it.
@huskydogg7536
Жыл бұрын
Driverless robotaxis, though slow in arriving, will still beat this solution and be much, much cheaper to implement, with the added benefit of removing a lot of pavement for parking currently required.
@andyzacek9760
Жыл бұрын
Westlake station, the one they are planning to connect at, is connected to a gigantic shopping mall complex, Westlake mall and Pacific Place (basically two huge malls in one). It doesn't matter that fewer and fewer people even go to malls anymore, not to mention the people who do make up a small fraction of transit users; I guarantee you they wanted the connection at Westlake because they want it to connect to the dying shopping malls.
@elizabethdavis1696
Жыл бұрын
I have a question if a person was to move to a different city in the USA based on the best transit system which would it be?
@ficus3929
Жыл бұрын
Its not even close, 100% New York
@kitchin2
Жыл бұрын
@@ficus3929 And not just the city, the 20hr/7day commuter lines that almost reach Philly (more or less do) and Providence-Boston. Even reaches the Appalachian Trail to the north, and the end of Long Island. The weakness is non-radial transit, but that’s everywhere. NJ has the best setup of the suburbs, but lost funding and so is crowded.
@MarloSoBalJr
Жыл бұрын
New York, Boston [if they get their sh*t together]; Philly & Chicago... maybe even DC
@laurencefraser
Жыл бұрын
New York... though from what I've come accross, transit is basically the entire list for 'reasons to move to New York rather than anywhere else', and transit and inertia make up the entire list of 'reasons not to leave New York'.
@RMTransit
Жыл бұрын
If transit is the only consideration than NYC
@leg690
Жыл бұрын
@RMTransit please do a new video on Seattles potential new Light Rail plan! It would be a good video
@alexhaowenwong6122
Жыл бұрын
Don't underestimate Atlanta's transit. Pre-COVID MARTA rail per-mile ridership rivaled BART's, which is amazing in a core city much more sprawling than SF-Oakland.
@laelwhite5331
Жыл бұрын
They used the money WSDOT rejected.
@TempRawr
Жыл бұрын
as a local we are definitely suffering due to the lack of the hub. They are trying to make up for this late in the game but the damage its going to cause to local infrastructure is chaos.
@maikerusazarando857
Жыл бұрын
Amen brother! Now I’m really interested in your opinions on Fukuoka…
@bbundridge
Жыл бұрын
Just FYI - HSR isn't going to happen in the PNW no matter how much we say we want it. That is evident in how the Cascades is managed. Overall, great video!
@rossbleakney3575
Жыл бұрын
It depends on what you mean by "High Speed Rail". If you mean Japanese style bullet trains, then no. If you mean trains going say, 120 KMH with very good reliability, then it is definitely possible. We just need to understand that the former is very difficult, while the latter is not.
@bbundridge
Жыл бұрын
@@rossbleakney3575 100% agree. There is a push to build ultra high speed rail here and we need to come to the reality that isn't ever going to happen in our region. 110mph corridors, absolutely and it can be done today for far less than HSR. The probably is that WSDOT thinks it is sexy but all it does is create consultant's cash funds and take away from the Amtrak Cascades. The amount of money they have spent on HSR studies could have reduced travel time between Blaine and Pacific Central Station by 30 minutes already, which is sorely needed.
@jenhaley
Жыл бұрын
I've got Redmond Eastlink construction going on in my neighborhood, so I do keep up with the latest updates (delays), but in addition to a hub, a Redmond/Kirkland/Bothell line would be nice (some say a 520 Bridge shuttle would be redundant, but make the cars go 80mph during peak traffic and maaaaybe?).
@caseydunn9107
Жыл бұрын
I think the value of having Link connect to Sounder and especially Amtrak is overstated here. These carry a few thousand per day most of the time compared to over 100k boardings per day on Link.
@metrofilmer8894
Жыл бұрын
Thank you for pointing this out as it appears to be something a lot of people are very aware of. Sounder and Cascades combined run less 15 trains per day out of Seattle thanks to BNSF, and overall, Westlake is much more of the Geographic and Economic Center of the region, so making Westlake the hub of the local transportation network makes far more sense than King Street as people actually want to go to Westlake
@shealupkes
11 ай бұрын
I have used and seen the substantial amount of transfers between the N and S lines and the link during peak hours or not, I prefer idea of spreading transfers between westlake, uni st., pioneer square, chinatown, stadium, and sodo, bit silly to suggest they should provide less options
@SFTrafficObserver
Жыл бұрын
San Francisco has the Salesforce Transit Center
@TransitAndTeslas
Жыл бұрын
Can we do a video on Phoenix's pretty meek but decently ambitious transit plans? We got some BRT coming, light rail extensions, and a new "downtown hub"....we lack intercity rail service in our town so we don't have a real "hub" so the downtown hub will be the best we are going to get. I do like how there is a single brand to worry about though, Valley Metro, rather than some agencies like LA where they have 900 different agencies, brands and passes to worry about.
@1978dkelly
Жыл бұрын
The problem I see with Phoenix is there isn't much of a downtown or CBD anywhere. Houston and LA are polycentric. Phoenix is almost acentric.
@TransitAndTeslas
Жыл бұрын
@@1978dkelly Which probably explains why our light rail line hits all 3 downtowns in one ride. They all can argue which one is more important haha.
@its-LuqmanVlogs
Жыл бұрын
Will there be a video about Dallas' light rail lines or DART?
@cellavb447
Жыл бұрын
Reece you coming to Montreal when the REM launches in April?
@the1gip
Жыл бұрын
Hi Reece, love your videos but I admit I didn't really understand the main premise of this one. I'm not a Seattle local but on Google Street View it looks like these two stations are literally next door to one another? I can see entrances to both in the same view, they don't look more than 50m apart. Surely any passengers doing the journeys you describe would just walk this very short distances between the two confusingly named stations rather than go all the way out of town to transfer? Or am I missing something?
@RMTransit
Жыл бұрын
There would not be a CID station on the new line, so you couldn’t make said quick walk!
@EricaGamet
Жыл бұрын
To actually walk out of the light rail station to the Amtrak station, it's about a 300 meter walk. And that's if you don't need elevators, like I do. You have to walk through or around an office plaza, cross a major street, then either climb down a ton of stairs or go over the bridge that crosses the Sounder train tracks, down the elevator, and double back to the Amtrak station. Fun when you use a cane to walk and it's pouring rain. I haven't looked at the new lines/stations very closely yet... so I don't know what new issues will crop up. Still better than any city I've personally lived in.
@the1gip
Жыл бұрын
@@RMTransit Ah, thanks for the clarification. I think I got confused by all the station names and missed the fact that the new tunnel wasn't going anywhere near either.
@Lantalia
Жыл бұрын
King Street / International District is completely untenable, also, king street and Intl District aren't connected, at best, they are adjacent, but there is a substantial street and multiple buildings separating them
@LuigiMordelAlaume
Жыл бұрын
The benefits from the light rail is extremely misrepresented in this video. This is about enabling anyone to work and live far across town (see San Francisco's issue). It is also the only realistic option to make freeways and streets drivable for commerce/travelers that depend on roads. But again, the primary benefit this light rail offers is to give people that can't afford $5k/mo for shoebox apartment a chance to work where wages are higher. This will cool off the insane rent/housing closest to seattle and stimulate demand in the surrounding areas. Seattle literally can't house more people than there are now, but there is an abundance of economic opportunities. This makes places like Lynnwood unlivable without a car because entire square miles are nothing but homes of people that then clog up the freeway (slowing other commerce) and enabling a cycle of poverty for people that spend 25% of their paychecks on commuting.
@LitchAustin
Жыл бұрын
Part of what you are missing is the homeless/ addict issue. The major homeless shelter in Seattle is just north of king street and Chinatown is one of the major places addicts find their drugs. The folks in the ID have associated transit with homelessness and addicts so they REALLY do not want to be a major transit station that will increase the numbers of addicts and homeless folks in their neighborhood. The neighborhood has demonstrated the ability to vote as a block big enough to change city elections so the county and regional government listens to them.
@1978dkelly
Жыл бұрын
What do other countries do to curtail this I wonder?
@kertchu
Жыл бұрын
@@1978dkelly certainly not giving the homeless housing first so they can get back up on their feet easier
@shrekistlieben
Жыл бұрын
Can't believe BC/Vancouver has lower GDP than ... Oregon. Much less than WA. Skytrain and Vancouver just feel so much more impressive.
@Name-ot3xw
Жыл бұрын
Seattle could massively improve their transit times by providing a couple lines that skip the downtown corridor. As is, if you want to go from north to south, or east to west you will be spending a half hour or more in downtown traffic.
@lathandixon4855
Жыл бұрын
Also walking through Pioneer Square? Kinda sketch :/
@jamesorlando8178
Жыл бұрын
Great video! I’d be sooo interested to hear your thoughts on seattle streetcar, I find it sooo unusual
@adm1nspotter
Жыл бұрын
I rode on the First Hill line once to see what it was all about, and was really underwhelmed. City Beautiful rode it during his "Seattle transit speed run", and he didn't have much good to say about the streetcar either. There were plans to connect the two existing lines, but apparently that project is now on indefinite pause.
@Jaxck77
Жыл бұрын
Just a heads up, Kings Street & International District are NOT the same station. They’re almost two full blocks apart, requiring crossing a very large multi-lane road as well as travelling up from station height to road height on either side. It can take 10mins to walk that otherwise tiny distance when the traffic is highest. One of the biggest transit improvements in that area would be an underground pedestrian connection between the stadiums, the light rail, and King’s Street. But that may never happen considering how fucking butthurt I District nimbys have been recently. They have good company with the cunts living in Clyde Hill and on Mercer Island.
@RoboJules
Жыл бұрын
Why Seattle isn't just electrifying and speeding up the sounder is beyond me. Even if it had only 30 minute frequency, it would be enough to act as Seattle's main regional spine that everything connects to, and there are enough useful existing rail branches that would really tie together the region. It would also cost a fraction of the cost of light rail, and have higher capacity. Instead, Seattle is battling LA and Phoenix for the top spot of most uselessly long LRT line. More so, they could have completely grade separated Link Light Rail, and used proper high floor, open gangway rolling stock, but they chose not to. Now it will always play second fiddle to what Skytrain is capable of just a couple of hours north, which is sad because Seattle desperately needs something as good as Skytrain more than Vancouver.
@KyurekiHana
Жыл бұрын
They can't improve the Sounder because they don't own the rails, BNSF does. BNSF prioritizes their own shipping, and cheap solutions in order to get that short term profit. Unfortunately, it was an act of congress that gave BNSF its rail network, and so there's not much they can do to fix that.
@RMTransit
Жыл бұрын
It should certainly be investigated but, as it is BNSF's line thats the challenge!
@metrofilmer8894
Жыл бұрын
ST doesn’t own any track on the Sounder Corridor. It’s all owned by BNSF, who like the other class 1 railroads, hasn’t allowed sound transit to make any improvements to infrastructure or services
@tylsim
Жыл бұрын
The lease on Sounder track usage makes operations incredibly expensive - each rider costs Sound Transit roughly $35, versus like $5 for light rail. Until they have their own track, it doesn’t make much sense to invest more in it.
@Alternatevil
Жыл бұрын
The issue with Chinatown is that residents don’t want Sound Transit to condemn a large part of the major throughways and blocks of buildings to build what most likely incentivize property developers to further displace and demolish what is frequently ignored as a crucial cultural and economic draw of the city.
@johnkamot3237
Жыл бұрын
He would know that if he did the research. He did this video for the likes and views.
@fremunda
Жыл бұрын
I wish there was something we could do about this
@nuffaildaniaelle977
Жыл бұрын
Central station is important to boost city's economy
@DDELE7
Жыл бұрын
Do you think that Seattle will eventually convert Link to a high floor rapid transit system just like Boston did with the modern day Blue Line (to address capacity issues in the future)
@GenericUrbanism
Жыл бұрын
No, it’s too expensive and there’s no political will.
@lindsiria
Жыл бұрын
Not anytime soon. Right now Seattle is just trying to get the fundamentals down. It won't run into capacity issues for decades. The only conversions I see at this time is making the central line fully grade separated (as there is one section that isn't). But that won't happen for decades either
@MarloSoBalJr
Жыл бұрын
No.
@RMTransit
Жыл бұрын
Unlikely, new lines perhaps could be high floor though!
@kitchin2
Жыл бұрын
The budget for Link projects is already $31b, says the ST3 website. Over 30 years I think, but big.
@QiuyuanChenRyan916
Жыл бұрын
I mean seattle is islolated by water, public transport is going to be more efficient than cars, particularly railway system.
@SeaScrabbler
Жыл бұрын
Even having a stub terminal a bit past Northgate for the Tacoma line, running three lines in the current tunnel (combined frequencies at just under 3 minutes) and sorting out the Ballard issue another way would be a solid option.
@lattetown
Жыл бұрын
The problem with the ID hub is that it will negatively impact the historic pan Asian district. Seattle has a long history of building in ethnic neighborhoods as a continuation of racial covenant discrimination.
@matt47110815
8 ай бұрын
King's Street Station (Chinatown International Station) never felt like a hub to me, but Westlake Station did, although there is just the Light Rail and the Monorail. Still, the Station is big, and has a lot of UNUSED Shopping Spaces, a totally missed opportunity. I lived 20+ years in the USA, 8 years in Seattle - i still think Seattle has the best Public Transportation in the USA, but that is based mostly on King County Buses, not the Light Rail. Other than that, my Home of Hamburg (Germany) has - in comparison - an absolutely STELLAR Transit System. 😅 I am quite happy to no longer live in the US.
@paulpachikara6597
Жыл бұрын
This is type of stuff that makes me so mad and sad
@rupertbare2023
Жыл бұрын
Take note, Seattle. Vancouver may offer comparative "quality" urban transit, but it also lacks an urban hub. The existing main "junction" of the Skytrain and Canada lines at Granville and Georgia has no engineered walking connection for changing passengers, above or below ground, and a total lack of signage to guide them from one line to the other. It's a joke. And not a funny one either.☹
@gioslost
Жыл бұрын
0:55 "British Columbia South??!?!?!" 😡
@metrofilmer8894
Жыл бұрын
No worries. Washington was originally called Columbia, so it’s actually the other way around BC is British (now Canadian) Washington 😊
@Olc...
Жыл бұрын
One big problem is homeless. Here in Seattle, any public transportation is filled with homeless and crime. That's why they always most run empty with passengers because it's unsafe to use them. Same as all other liberal run cities.
@ifithrewmyguitaroutt
Жыл бұрын
Your Atlanta shade is not appreciated. But entirely warranted. We're working on it... sort of. In fact, you could consider doing a video on the proposed MARTA expansion. As you can imagine, it's not going well.
@sea80vicvan
Жыл бұрын
Having lived in Seattle all my adult life, I've seen the convoluted history of transit planning play out. Basically a bunch of conflicting political interests and historical NIMBYism creating unwieldy solutions that don't satisfy anyone. Using the CID as the transit hub is the logical choice but it will take a lot of arm twisting to make that happen. That said, there is an elephant in the room regarding the CID - the historical racism behind the way the residents have been treated, not just on this project, has made them understandably wary of any major changes to their neighborhood. Case in point: the originally proposed station for the new line was on 5th Ave, a block east of the current light rail stop and Union Station, and would have torn up the heart of the area. (And the smugness of the predominantly white urbanist groups and their "we know better than you do" attitude doesn't help. If you want to learn more about the rejected plan decades ago that Reece refers to, search "forward thrust Seattle"; too long to go into, but the federal money that would have gone to that project was snapped up by Atlanta instead.
@RMTransit
Жыл бұрын
I could not agree more, whats key is that Chinatown needs transit - because a lack of connectivity is horrible, but it needs to respect the needs of the area
@mixi171
Жыл бұрын
@@RMTransit the existing tunnel already serves Chinatown well, why not just upgrade it to allow for higher frequency?
@nithinvejendla2851
Жыл бұрын
As a counter-point to the "white urbanist groups" trope - aren't most people involved in politics and government white? Like it feels weird to call out urbanist groups for their whiteness, but elected officials
@chadnewton5721
Жыл бұрын
Because the existing station won't continue serving the ID well once the lines are split. The Rainier Valley and Airport will connect into the new line, without access to the ID unless a 2nd station is built there.
@mixi171
Жыл бұрын
@@chadnewton5721 I mean the best rider experience would be if we run all three lines through the existing tunnel, no need to switch between different tunnels. Upgrading the signaling system would allow all three lines to use the same tunnel with great frequency. No disruption of CID for ten years either.
@neolithictransitrevolution427
Жыл бұрын
Minnesota got a lot of transit money recently to expand their BRT. I would love a video on what they are doing, I don't think you have many examples of the Midwest (excluding Chicago), a region almost synonymous with sprawl, and it would be great to see what they can do right.
@williamfay2725
Жыл бұрын
I am also hoping to see more on Minnesota, particular the light rail in the twin cities. It’s seems like another example of a city (cities, in this case) that should’ve built a metro but went with the light rail option instead.
@lizcademy4809
Жыл бұрын
@@williamfay2725 And I don't understand some of the light rail routing decisions ... such as avoiding Uptown and going through parkland for the Green line extension. "We're going to avoid the populated areas and build stations a mile from the neighborhood center."
Жыл бұрын
@@lizcademy4809 would this be transit virtue signing? Announce you have a transit system, but one that doesn’t serve its populace.
@alexhaowenwong6122
Жыл бұрын
@it's putting quantity before quality. The original MSP Green Line is located in a dense area so don't know why MSP is now avoiding density.
@RMTransit
Жыл бұрын
I did a video on Minnesota long ago actually !
@Keenan111
Жыл бұрын
Thank you for making this video. I'm a Seattleite and while our transit agencies mean well, they are just completely incapable of making good/cohesive/coherent decisions. Seattleites loves ST and King County Metro, but after living in Europe for a few years it has become painfully clear to me that Seattle needs some tough love. The transit agencies MUST get their acts together. The unconnected streetcar lines that have no alignment or signal priority sitting in traffic, the bizarre alignment and system length of Link, the absolutely deranged rolling stock decision that results in EIGHT driver compartments for each full-length Link train... the list goes on and on. You brought up fantastic points in this video regarding the central hub that I've barely even thought about, which just make the current plan relying on ridiculously deep stations even more frustrating. I have been saying for years (I should point out that ST3 was approved in 2016 and they are still plodding along and debating the tunnel) that ST needs to just cut and cover down 4th/5th. The concerns about business and traffic disruption are, frankly, irrelevant. This is a once in a generation investment and no one should care that some banks and office towers would have their street (read: car) access disrupted for at most a few years. Sorry, but you can't please everyone. Someone will inevitably be inconvenienced when infrastructure work is needed, so why not focus on doing it right? Ugh, and the escalators. THE ESCALATORS. Come ON, Sound Transit!
@johnhigson6206
Жыл бұрын
Definitely tough love. Is it possible to inject some resilience into the squishy who expect the insanity of a risk-free life?
@ModMINI
Жыл бұрын
Seattle leaders need to go to Tokyo and see what a functioning public transit system could look like.
@jumbo_mumbo1441
8 ай бұрын
Your rant just convinced me they won't do it right 😢. Seattle city government loves their businesses and suburban commuters just way too much and prioritize making everyone happy instead of making the tough decision that needs to be made. I think it's a city gov culture thing, based on listening in to a couple of city counsel meetings.
@shivabalannagakumaran6019
Жыл бұрын
It's good to have Transit Hubs that connects to Trains (Subway/Metro Rail, LRT/Trams/Streetcar, High Speed Rail), and Buses especially since it makes Transit is easier to access. If you play Cities Skylines (especially Cities Skylines 2 coming out soon). It's better to have Transit Hubs to make it easier for citizens in the city being built in Cities Skylines for them to access.
@CityBuilder568
Жыл бұрын
I completely agree with you
@SeanMather
Жыл бұрын
I love that gamers understand this perfectly, but politicians don’t
@RMTransit
Жыл бұрын
Having all the modes come together is certainly extremely valuable!
@TheLiamster
Жыл бұрын
Cities Skylines is one of my favourite games. I’ve bought all the dlc content and I’m definitely getting the second when it comes out hopefully later this year.
@ConnorCTG
Жыл бұрын
Free update coming March 22nd. I’m so excited
@gevans446
Жыл бұрын
I would love a video reviewing the MARTA subway in Atlanta, what they're doing right/wrong and what can be done to improve the system.
@CABOOSEBOB
Жыл бұрын
Frequency and not being so suburb oriented
@RMTransit
Жыл бұрын
Interesting idea!
@T3kNician
Жыл бұрын
I agree, I would love to see that too.
@applesyrupgaming
Жыл бұрын
@@CABOOSEBOB i mean wmata made tod in the suburbs like arlington and montgomery counties
@alexhaowenwong6122
Жыл бұрын
@@CABOOSEBOB Agreed, although tbf, MARTA Rail's 2019 per-mile ridership rivalled BART, despite Atlanta's core being much sprawlier than SF-Oakland's.
@larrybrennan9700
Жыл бұрын
The Chinatown/International District station issue is really complicated. The CID is hanging on for its very survival, and a highly disruptive public works project could really do it in. Of course, it is a logical place to put a transfer and create a real hub. I really wish there was a way to put the station on the westside of King Street. It would be a bad light rail transfer, but still provide access to long-distance rail. As for how we got here, look up the "Seattle Process". We could have had a city-wide monorail system by now.
@chrischampagne9469
Жыл бұрын
As a carless Seattleite I really appreciate your attention and concern for this particular issue. It was always the plan for CID to be the hub and for lots of good reasons. So I’m really baffled by Sound Transit’s recent proposals to not have a connecting station there (and spend more money studying those options!). I feel confident that we will still get the 4th and Jackson station, as it should be, because the neighborhood mostly seems okay with that location (they really just didn’t like the 5th Ave option!) and because the other proposals are just sooooo bad! I’ve sent ST my comments to explain three main reasons why (even though it sort of feels like doing their job for them). 1) As you mentioned, Sounder/Amtrak and the streetcar are all there (not to mention many bus routes); 2) Also mentioned, the backtracking required by 2-line riders coming from Bellevue/Redmond wanting to go South. 3) Not mentioned, it’s the only location on the new tunnel route that would be anywhere near the stadiums, since the new route will bypass the existing Stadium station.
@thebravesirrobin.
Жыл бұрын
I've read quite a bit about Seattle's transit development, and my intuition says that Harrell and Constantine are absolutely set on the "North and Sound of CID" option. Bruce Harrell claims the new understudied, out-of-left-field option has broad support. He's technically not wrong. But the vast majority of public comments prefer the station on 4th, which includes swaths of people/businesses/community organizations who are direct stakeholders of the CID and showed up to the big public hearing last month. He's papering over an inconvenient truth and, again, it's so obviously understudied. His support can't possibly be made in good faith. Even worse, this bizarre idea conveniently lets him give out some favors: King Country property would be boosted by the "North of CID" station. One of his associates owns land exactly where the "South of CID" station would be built. The $700 million bridge renovation can be punted to a later administration. Board members of Sound Transit from outside of Seattle score easy political points if they go along with this new option which already has support from Harrell and Constantine, creating the illusion of progress to satisfy their constituencies in the short-term.
@Videowatcher10p
Жыл бұрын
This makes me appreciate Philadelphia having 11 "Transit Centers/Hubs" All serve buses 7 of them serve metro or light rail 3 of them serve regional rail (1 has both metro and RR) one close to a regional rail station Then west chester and kop mall are bus only
@MichaelfromtheGraves
Жыл бұрын
although I did think of City Hall when he said only having one hub can cause crowding issues.
@RMTransit
Жыл бұрын
Hubs are good, though how you define then can vary
@andrewdiamond2697
Жыл бұрын
...for now...since KOP mall is getting a connection to the Norristown HSL and will leave only the West Chester as bus only.
@kareemseifeldin7805
Жыл бұрын
@@andrewdiamond2697 KOP Rail might be at risk though. (At this point it's just rumors, but its support base is sufficiently narrow--really just the SEPTA Board and Leslie Richards at this point--that a strong wind is all that's needed to knock it out of commission.) The massive outpouring of support for ditching KOP Rail in favor of the Boulevard Subway from all the mayoral candidates in this week's forum and this morning's editorial in the Inquirer aren't helping matters.
@andrewdiamond2697
Жыл бұрын
@@kareemseifeldin7805 Honestly, the Roosevelt Blvd. Subway should have been done 50 years ago.
@magnushultgrenhtc
Жыл бұрын
"Poor soil" is basically a consequence of being a city. That's why they have made tunneling machines that build the walls at the same time as they excavate and move forward.
@u1zha
Жыл бұрын
Yes, true, though even if you were to build the tunnel with Earth pressure balance TBM with all the possible help of grouting or ground freezing, there still can be permanent effect on groundwater flow and pressure - flow blocked or redirected just because of the finished tunnel structure being there. And those changes can lead to buildings leaning or cracking. Dunno what the water table looks like in that area. I don't quite have the context Reece has, all the plans I could google on ST3 website show the Midtown station still in place, as well as Int'l District/Chinatown station. That seems like convenient enough transfer, and can be built out with an underground passage with travelator for accessibility, not sky high expenses...
@pepperonish
Жыл бұрын
We have soil conditions in some places that make it impractical or impossible to build stations. It's the reason we have street cars. The street cars link two areas (First Hill and South Lake Union), the former of which isn't suitable for light rail. statiion.
@rossbleakney3575
Жыл бұрын
I'm not sure why you think the downtown tunnel (originally built for buses) skirts around the center of downtown. It runs right through the middle of it. For that matter, while it was built for buses, the stations are huge. It was designed so that it could be used for rail, as well have fare gates (it has proof-of-payment instead). There is really nothing wrong with the existing tunnel, and the stations in it are much better than any of the stations planned for the new tunnel. The only weakness is that the stations don't have a center platform, which means reverse direction transfers require going up and down escalators. There is a mezzanine though, and this isn't the worst thing in the world. It doesn't cover every place downtown, but no single tunnel could.
@metrofilmer8894
Жыл бұрын
I know right. Outside of SLU (which the tunnel predates), the tunnel as well as the new one both cover easily the densest part of the city
@deric8
Жыл бұрын
Speaking of the Downtown Tunnel, I think most of the issues that they are running into now is because of the lack of forward thinking by prematurely selling the site and below grade right of way Sound Transit once owned at the Convention Center station site which would have a been a perfect site to start the extension of the line to Ballard via Seattle Center. This would have enable through running in the existing tunnel that with simple capacity upgrades in signaling would have enable 90 second frequency for all three lines.
@Berubium
Жыл бұрын
You mentioned the Amtrak Cascades service when describing King St Station, but you forgot to mention the other two Amtrak services that use the station (Empire Builder & Coast Starlight). The last time I used the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, there were buses & light rail using it at the same time. I thought that was pretty cool. I didn’t know until your video that buses stopped using it. Great video as always Reece. Watched on Nebula, but came here to comment.
@EricaGamet
Жыл бұрын
Yeah, the buses stopped running there in late 2018 I think.
@Berubium
Жыл бұрын
@@EricaGamet I’m a fool. I guess it would have been the second to last time then haha. Last time (in 2020), I went through there transferring from the light rail to the Amtrak Cascades to go back to BC, but I must not have been paying attention to the lack of buses lol. The previous time I was through there I transferred from light rail to an articulated bus that went straight onto I-90 & out to Bellevue quite quickly. I was really impressed with the setup they had! I liked the efficiency of the entire place.
@EricaGamet
Жыл бұрын
@@Berubium I liked that the tunnel seemed much busier and lively with the buses running through. I don't think I ever took a bus from/into the tunnel... but I live right in Capitol Hill, and I think the buses tended to be the ones that went out to Bellvue and such. The other day I had a bunch of errands to run and was able to do it all with a bus ride to the Amazon campus, streetcar to downtown to my eye doctor, down to the light rail to get back to Capitol Hill, and a bus the last 8 blocks because I was wiped out (I walk with a cane, as of late)... all on my $2.75 or whatever the fare was (that is good for 2 hours).
@Berubium
Жыл бұрын
@@EricaGamet yeah that is pretty good to be able to do that all on one fare. I live about 4.5 hours north of you in BC so I don’t get on Seattle Transit that much. That said, it’s usually exceeded the (admittedly low) expectations that I have for transit in American cities.
@joeygardner88
Жыл бұрын
@@EricaGamet Actually, it was in 2019. I know this, because it was around the same time Community Transit opened the Swift Green Line here in Snohomish County.
@eduardoacosta6616
Жыл бұрын
Transit layout in the US doesn't make any sense and are completely inconvenient. Decision makers have never used transit in their lives and doesn't care that is actually useful or convenient.
@MarloSoBalJr
Жыл бұрын
The problem is the ones who are in the specific department to manage these decisions. No matter what, they are doing it in "our best interests" nonsense
@laurencefraser
Жыл бұрын
To be a little fair to them... the fact that it's not useful or convenient, or not even There, is a significant contributing factor to their not having used it. (not that not having used it is the biggest factor behind the decision making most of the time). Unfortunate feedback loop. Doesn't make their decisions any less bad, of course.
@stp8614
Жыл бұрын
Hi Reece, if you're going to make a video about weird/malfunctioning transit systems, take a look at Naples, Italy. This City deserves video of its own, for several reasons: many diverse lines and systems, rich history and interesting natural setting as well as multiple challenges and mistakes. Naples metro is really weird in shape, it's really deep and advertises itself as the prettiest in Europe/the world (famous art stations), however trains run every 30! Minutes sometimes. Problems with rolling stock make the offical schedule a joke. Besides, the whole artsy image of the metro is overrated af, and stations are poorly maintained, there are no functioning ticket machines etc. (I'm talking about Line 1, or Metropolitana collinare - the hill Subway). Line 2, branded as metro is just a commuter, old railway with couple underground stops. Line 6 is a joke. It opened from nowhere to nowhere, operated for couple of years and closed for over a decade, for renovation and extension. There's also linea Napoli - Aversa, which is a interprovincial, suburban Subway, and has just ONE train operating (it uses old Rome metro trains). There are many plans and extensions underway, there is also weird tram network and multiple suburban systems of their own, like circumvesuviana etc. So please please cover Napoli sometimes! Hugs
@josephtangredi6728
Жыл бұрын
Getting places on time is NOT a priority in Naples, so in a weird way it works!
@tavshedfjols
Жыл бұрын
the Seattle light rail really needs to run later. It supposedly runs until 12am but I've arrived at 11:00 to find station gates locked...
@mixi171
Жыл бұрын
Great video, as a Seattlite I'm certainly worried about the Pioneer Square station, it would be a disaster. But why do we even build a 2nd tunnel? We're not really adding much coverage as the Midtown station is pretty close to the University St station, not worth a transit if the new tunnel would provide 10min headways. Why not interline all three lines, then transfers can happen anywhere downtown providing much better rider experience, the line to Ballard could just be separate and connect at Westlake, could potentially get extended with a tunnel serving First Hill. Posts at the Urbanist and Seattle Transit Blog have suggested this as it provide much better rider experience.
@brianalexeu
Жыл бұрын
Those cross-platform transfers you mentioned could even be (relatively) easy to retrofit with the two tunnels running parallel and so close together. You could basically just build connections at each end of the downtown section and implement directional running through the tunnels (with two lines running parallel for a few stations).
@brownthunder999
Жыл бұрын
the tunnels will not be running a long each other. the new tunnel will be deep underground similar to sr99
@neolithictransitrevolution427
Жыл бұрын
Alongside the need for easy connections, transit hubs are important as location for TOD. They make it easy to take what the rest of a city might see as low quality transit connecting to a higher mode, and make it a high quality transit corridor with access to city wide service. This is something the GTA is (planning) on doing very well right now.
@RMTransit
Жыл бұрын
Yes! If you can put TOD at a hub it makes it so much more valuable and connected!
@SmallSpoonBrigade
3 күн бұрын
@@RMTransit TBH, a traditional transit hub is exactly the wrong direction for the system. For too long too much of the transit capacity has been subjected to a bottle neck downtown. I personally think that a horseshoe shaped route going from Queen Anne over to Magnolia with a section on the other side of I-5 would make a lot more sense in terms of the shape of the city. There's not a lot of space under downtown without having to go super deep and there needs to be some method of bypassing that area anyways as the 1-line gets extremely crowded before and after sporting events.
@rossbleakney3575
Жыл бұрын
I think you are misguided when it comes to the Midtown Station as well. It is not dramatically different than Pioneer Square or University Street stations. It is a very short walk from both, roughly midway between them. It is simply too close to the existing stations. Even if you had world class transfers, no one would bother to transfer to get to that station -- they would simply use one of the other two. The new downtown tunnel (between Westlake and Chinatown) is not being built so that we can serve a different part of downtown. It is being built because they worry that putting all the trains in the same tunnel would someday lead to train bunching. This is the crux of this particular problem, and it is why even the best station plans with the new tunnel will be worse for riders. The best approach is to just reuse the existing tunnels. There are plenty of systems all over the world that handle more train traffic. Furthermore, even the handful that are crowded (e. g. Boston Green Line) don't prioritize the issue. They build other things instead. Toronto, meanwhile, did not *just* build a relief line; they build a new line that will add a huge amount of coverage *and* relieve the crowding. The new downtown tunnel is just one of many misguided projects that Sound Transit is embarking on. It is laudable that they are spending so much money on transit (way more than any U. S. city per capita by a wide margin) but unfortunately, they will get very little out of it.
@NuclearRobotHamster
Жыл бұрын
I know that you're more of a metro dude, but what do you think of the recently announced delay to the UK's HS2 and the farcical claim that it will save money?
@KingFinnch
Жыл бұрын
start with a train station, then build the bus and tram connections that's how London has 334 train stations (not including 270 underground stations), each with a bus connection and every large one with an underground connection (with King's Cross - St Pancras being served by 6 separate underground lines and handling international trains as well as tens of mainline platforms)
@joelleerickson2642
Жыл бұрын
Lifelong Seattle resident here. I agree with a lot of your points, but I think you missed some color that could shed a bit more light on this issue. - Seattle has always been multi-hubbed, with the main shopping areas away from the ferries, which are away from the heavy rail trains. This has been true since the 1800s. Even today, many bus routes do not stop in the International District and you already need to backtrack 3-4 blocks to catch your bus route in Pioneer Square. - I think a lot of Seattleites don't consider International District/Chinatown Station and King Street Station to be connected. Yes, this may sound ridiculous, but once again since the 1800s there have been stations of differing names in the same area. "Union Station," which you mentioned in your video, is just an office building but even when it did operate as a terminus in the 19th and 20th centuries it competed with the King Street Station across the street. - If you can't build a station on 5th Ave S without uprooting a marginalized community, then the next best bet is 4th Ave S. The problem is that this is the jugular in and out of Downtown from the south, including for hundreds of buses per hour on the peak commute. A closure of 4th Ave S would have huge implications for Downtown access to the East (I-90) and South (I-5). I happen to believe that short-term pain is better for long-term gain, but many others don't feel the same. Great video as always!
@AricMiller89
Жыл бұрын
USA transit infrastructure logic goes something like “this thing would be nice but we don’t want to spend that much money or make NIMBYs upset so let’s half ass it for slightly less money. But of course it actually ends up costing way more and is less useful. And because it’s less useful, and thus has less riders, there’s little justification to spend more to do it right the next time, so they continue to repeat the same mistakes.
@MarloSoBalJr
Жыл бұрын
Sounds about right 😅
@rossbleakney3575
Жыл бұрын
Except in this case they are spending a fortune. It is by far the most expensive project per capita in the United States. It just won't be that good.
@ISpitHotFiyaa
Жыл бұрын
" we don’t want to spend that much money". Yeah right. American transit projects are ridiculously overpriced. We spend absurd amounts of money for what we get. The problem isn't lack of spending. We should have a first class system for what we pay for this stuff.
@AricMiller89
Жыл бұрын
@@ISpitHotFiyaa yeah that was exactly my point. American transit agencies half ass their projects in the name of cost cutting but they actually end up costing more anyway, and ultimately deliver an inferior service which attracts less riders. It’s similar to the whole transit death spiral concept. Declining service levels lead to lower ridership which in turn leads to further service cuts which lead to even lower ridership until the system collapses.
@gctypo2838
2 ай бұрын
@@ISpitHotFiyaa The irony is that "we don't want to spend that much money" can still result in "we spent way too much money for what we got".
@jbteal
Жыл бұрын
Seattlite here. So thankful to have a well-informed voice add well-spoken and thought out direction and advice to such an important topic to locals with such expediency. Your summation is better and more coherent than any ST Board presentation or campaign. I hope this is shared with every board member and Seattlite possible prior to the decision being made.
@edwardmiessner6502
Жыл бұрын
Maybe you could share it. Counting on someone else may result in it not getting shared. Just a thought. I live New Orleans so I'm not a Seattlite!
@Well_Earned_Siesta
Жыл бұрын
+1 to Edward’s suggestion, you should share this with the ST Board or try to draw their attention to it. … Just leave out the “British Columbia south” part 😅
@jacobdye4037
Жыл бұрын
Wasn’t a decision already made?
@johnkamot3237
Жыл бұрын
There are too many mistakes and inconsiderations in this video. Edward should have taken the time to do more research on the topic. i.e Chinatown residents dont want ST to condemn buildings to incentize developers to destroy historic buildings for profit.
@transitspace4366
Жыл бұрын
Most transit networks in Europe doesn’t have a main hub (With the notable exception of Paris), lines usually form a grid or a "triangle transfer", this is better for high density cities such as in Europe as it allows to have multiple well-connected places instead of a single one. (Usually trams form a grid while metros form a triangle transfer like in Prague, Vienna, Lyon, Milan…)
@truedarklander
Жыл бұрын
I mean you have hubs, but they are several, Lisbon has a few Metro/Suburban rail interchanges and those interchanges also tend to have bus terminals (except Entre Campos I think) and a few Metro/Bus interchanges as well (like in Campo Grande, which is also a Metro/Metro line interchange)
@transitspace4366
Жыл бұрын
@@truedarklander Absolutely, bus and tram terminals are often located at transfer stations to offer better connectivity, but they are not main hubs (like Châtelet-les-Halles in Paris where 8 lines cross each other and millions of users must transfer at this station). Lyon has 4 lines and 4 transfer stations, Prague has 3 lines and 3 transfer stations, not one station where all lines intersect.
@RMTransit
Жыл бұрын
That really depends on the city! Lots have central hubs, lots have triangle transfers!
@alexhaowenwong6122
Жыл бұрын
The San Diego Trolley has three main transfer hubs--Santa Fe, Old Town, and 12th and Imperial. Not a triangle, but does help disperse passenger loads and minimize backtracking.
@tim333y7
Жыл бұрын
Vienna does have one big hub, karlsplatz is the only station where three lines meet, I would consider that as the central hub
@HCMCDrives
Жыл бұрын
Why on earth does the city have a highway running through the middle of it???
@IndustrialParrot2816
Жыл бұрын
Every major city in the US had one built in the 50s and 60s before they realized it was stupid
@sea80vicvan
Жыл бұрын
Geography (two large bodies of water hemming in the city on both sides) and the car centered mentality of the 1950's and 1960's that demanded a freeway had to go there.
@KyurekiHana
Жыл бұрын
Also, they did create a bypass highway with I-405, but that too had cities spring up around it, creating similar traffic problems along it.
@IndustrialParrot2816
Жыл бұрын
@@KyurekiHana that created Bellevue and Redmond Right?
@KyurekiHana
Жыл бұрын
@@IndustrialParrot2816 not saying I-405 created the cities, as they already existed, but especially Bellevue and Renton grew their downtowns around the interstate. Traffic is similarly bad along both I-5 and I-405 at this point.
@SeanMather
Жыл бұрын
It’d be neat to see a series where you prescribe transit solutions for smaller growing cities.
@MaggieKeizai
Жыл бұрын
No it wouldn't. A simple glance at a map of the area he's talking about shows that a: he's lying, and b: a massive arterial through a bottlenecked part of the city sits DIRECTLY between the two stations he claims are co-located. I'd rather watch a series where planners of small cities chew this guy's ass until he learns to read maps and goes to school for city planning.
@shealupkes
11 ай бұрын
@@MaggieKeizai that arterial makes transfers between Intl-Dis/Chinatown and king street needlessly dangerous, simultaneously clogging traffic as a flood of people cross the street in either direction(sometimes both which makes things worse) the placing of the stations relative to each other is very odd so any amount of remedy for such transfers would be nice I'd be so bold as to suggest cutting off that section of 4th avenue to cars
@MaggieKeizai
11 ай бұрын
@@shealupkes Cutting off that section of 4th to cars just isn't realistic. None of this guy's idea is realistic. Yes, transfers are a pain, and maybe you could put a pedestrian tunnel underneath all of it, but blocking off the main arterial on the south end of downtown with no place for that traffic to reroute to isn't just unrealistic, it's a stupid suggestion. Again, there is a ton of space a few blocks south that could accommodate a central rail hub with multiple levels, no need for disruption of the chief way in and out on the south end of downtown, and serve as a much more convenient station to the stadia down there, reducing a lot of congestion elsewhere.
@DJ_BROBOT
Жыл бұрын
This is what infuriates me about Seattle...some of the smartest people in the world who can't plan transit worth sh**. Transit is often over budget, under funded or planned wrong...or just NiMBy-ed to death.
@ahnafj416
Жыл бұрын
What in the world is Seattle? Like I just looking around Seattle on Google maps and it's very confusing for me. I can't understand what these transit systems are. I saw the there actually is a lot of frequency on the transit routes and there is a lot of transit. I'm from New York City and we basically just have subway and bus. This is a lot of different types of transit and then the highway that goes through the middle is just uhhh like why is it there. Looks so sad and ugly from the Google maps satellite view. There are also more parking lots then I'm comfortable with seeing. The highway just looks too menacing. The city looks like it got beat up by car centrism and then is healing.
@ChrisGBusby
Жыл бұрын
London has no single hub. Tube/Underground, Busses, mainline rail, DLR even cable car all link up all over the place. The whole of London is one HUGE hub.
@VhenRaTheRaptor
Жыл бұрын
Well, when you have that many lines running across each other, it's a lot easier. Though, even then there is a few locations where many lines all collide into each other if I am remembering my map correctly. Places like monument-bank area and such, right?
@wraithcadmus
Жыл бұрын
"Hubs are great, it's why we have so many of them". The more web-like nature does mean I can get more-or-less anywhere with one change, and that's got value.
@RMTransit
Жыл бұрын
For sure, but Seattle has one (maybe two) electric rail line, London has dozens
@Chango_Malo
Жыл бұрын
Westlake is the far better hub. It's literally the center of everything in Seattle.
@RMTransit
Жыл бұрын
But it doesn't have mainline rail! Thus, multiple hubs!
@mixi171
Жыл бұрын
Westlake is another hub: street car, monorail but it's not a substitute for CID/KingSt where another street car and heavy rail station is.
@lincolnhaldorsen5649
Жыл бұрын
The metro area I live in Portland does have a central station for its metro light rail. It’s called Pioneer Square. The green, blue, red, yellow, and orange lines stop at it. Also, many bus lines running through the city center stop within a few blocks to create the “Portland Transit Mall.” We don’t have a commuter rail in our city center. There is only 1 commuter rail line and it moves between the various western suburbs so there’s no need for a central station for commuter rail and metro as there’s not even a single commuter rail service that exists in Portland City Center.
@Black_Forest_Julez
Жыл бұрын
1:35 that's the same issue with the S8-Line in Karlsruhe, Germany. The line is more than 100km long and a end-to-end ride takes nearly 3 hours.
@jdillon8360
5 ай бұрын
Yikes, this was a frustrating video to watch. Seems like Seattle are making multiple errors all at the same time. This is "how not to" build a transit system.
@MaJoRMJR
Жыл бұрын
This is one thing Manchester's Metrolink (UK) does get right to a degree, with two major hubs at the two train stations, with other connecting hubs with bus stations in the city centre. The biggest problem is too many lines merge to one line, with 5 lines merging into one but still operating a 6 minute service on the majority of them, creating a corridor that is the busiest in Europe for light rail.
@MarloSoBalJr
Жыл бұрын
The way I see it... Seattle & WSDOT could have very easily just built more freeways instead of the Link, but they didn't. We could drag on this back & forth of 'why didn't you go with light metro?' or 'high floor trains bring more capacity' yada-yada but, in the end, Sound Transit managed to build and CONTINUE to build upon their public transit unlike many US cities that have failed to do so this past decade.
@metrofilmer8894
Жыл бұрын
Very true. This is why I’ve generally found it quite counterproductive when urbanists are complaining about cities like Seattle, LA or San Francisco for not being car-free cities even though they are doing a ton of work to be car-free (considerably more than cities in Europe where some, like Prague have even gone backwards)
@EnronnSierra
Жыл бұрын
As a Seattle resident who depends on the light rail to get to and from work, I want it to get better and expand. Especially as King County becomes too expensive to live and I really don't want to own a car. Having light rail expand out to Everett will help with making easier decision where I eventually choose to settle down and buy a home in the next 5 years. Right now I am in the Udistrict, that East Link that they are building is not gonna make much sense for me if I want to visit Bellevue or Redmond from the Udistrict. Taking the 271 Metro over 520 bridge or 540 ST gets me there in 15 to 30 minutes. Light rail would likely increase that to well over an hour.
@2jzandys444
10 ай бұрын
Save 1000s/mo and live/work remotely. You'll be a millionaire by the time you retire.
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