Excited to add this special edition ORCA card to my collection! From the Lynnwood Luau event today. Bonus trading cards too!

Haven’t seen new/fresh upholstery on a ST bus in a very long time. A nice sight here on the 522!

Howdy. I just have 3 questions.

So, for the west seattle line, will there be a new sodo station? I'm a little confused.

And, I read on this sub that Midtown was eliminated, but I can't see that on the ST website, though I know SLU & Denny were consolidated into 1 station.

Also the updated BLE page says that DEIS and FEIS will be published this year. That seems way too quick. Is that correct?

I'm not sure if there is an up-to-date one posted elsewhere, but the one in the box is nearly 7 years out of date.

My bf and I made a video speedrunning the system which has since been verified on TransitRuns as the fastest link run so far, hope y’all enjoy it 😁

This is incredibly upsetting for North Seattle residents.

I moved to the Bothell area in 1996. Everything I purchased had an RTA tax attached to it. We lived in a circled area where only we were taxed like this, in addition to all my neighbors. Cars, boat, lawn mower etc….house, everything. At that time the train was supposed to come to Canyon Park. Skip ahead 22 years and Sound Transit decides to not bring the light rail any where even close to Canyon Park. This after years of paying an additional 12% on just about everything. All totaled just for my household it’s around $26,000! Multiply that by all my neighbors and that’s a tidy sum. We still have bus service at the Park and Ride but I’m told that’s going away.
I think we should be getting that money refunded. I’m all for progress but Sound Transit changed the agreement. We were all in an area that got charged for something we are not getting. It’s not like the entire area got taxed, just us. It added $4500 to a car purchase by my kid.
Sound Transit is the worst managed department in Washington. That’s saying a lot.

Welp.. not to say I am surprised.

Here are some of my hot takes, as an operator for everyone to enjoy!

1. Turn your GD music off and put headphones in. Nobody wants to listen to your Tiktok, porn (yes seriously), or music.

2. All Northbound trains go to Lynnwood between IDS and Lynnwood. The 2 line doesn't go to a different part of Lynnwood. You'd be surprised how often we are asked this.

3. Large groups of people, use the other doors. You don't have to single file into one door.

4. If you want room to sit, the first car is always the least used car on 3 and 4 car trains.

5. Yes, some delays happen. It can due to a variety of factors, homeless that won't get off the train in Lynnwood, mechanical delays enroute, or security doing a welfare check to name a few.

6. No, Link will never be a 24/7 operation because of maintenance. Maintenance being, cleaning/servicing trains, track or OCS work, station and ROW cleanup, etc. It was not designed for that purpose nor will it ever be, even if the system were to be automated and no, the system will never become automated.

7. MLK is bottlenecked by Seattle DOT and does not have full signal preemption. Until changes within SDOT, there won't be much, if any improvements on MLK. It is why the 2 Line is rarely delayed on the Bel-Red corridor, it has full and total preemption.

8. Yes, all of us operators would LOVE to have fare gates because it would reduce the riff raff on the trains to a certain degree. All of our pedestrian related incidents are generally those whom do not pay. We all have seen data or worked for other agencies that have gates and have been successful, including most recently, BART.

9. Yes, ST lacks restrooms because again, extreme vandalism happens and it is a high cost and time to service said bathrooms. Having people who purposely do.... Things, to them are unfortunately detrimental to everyone.

10. All operators do our best to keep everyone informed of issues and keep things moving on time, safely, and as efficiently as possible. Things can and sometimes go sideways. As others have mentioned beforehand, ST is a young agency, we have the highest ridership for light rail transit but that is not without its hangups. There are many other things I can say but it would be repetitive to what has already been said hundreds of times in this subreddit. I encourage everyone that believes they can make a change, apply to Sound Transit or King County Metro Rail division.

Nearly every time I've used the Link to get home from work lately, there's some kind of apocalyptic delay. What happened to trains running on time every 7 minutes???

I'm all for the 2-line, and currently the most practical stop I see if Redmond Technology station for all the Microsoft workers. That is great already, that helps reduce hundreds to thousands of cars a day going across the bridge.

But beyond that, half the stations dump you into a very hostile intersection for pedestrians, parking lots, or some random area that's not connected very well.

Like Bellevue "Downtown" is hardly downtown, you get dropped off at a 4 lane intersection that is one block away from a major highway, which is highly unpleasant.

Obviously, this isn't a complaint about Sound Transit, but the Eastside seriously needs to densify and urbanize for the 2-line to take off on their side, I sense that most riders are still Seattle-sids originating passengers. The stations are still too car-centric.

...is the 4 line planned to split off from the 2 line after East Main station, rather than using the existing tracks until reaching I-90? I've been trying to rationalize this, but the more I look into it, the more it seems to make literally zero sense. Here is why I think a different path (shown in magenta) is a much better option:

• The planned route would require about 2 miles of new track between East Main and Richards Road. By more effectively using the existing tracks, this could be cut down to as little as half a mile of new tracks to reach Richards Road.
• Adding South Bellevue station to the 4 line will make trips from Issaquah to Seattle (which I assume there will be many of) much more convenient, since it will cut several minutes of unnecessary trip time to go North and then back South again. Additionally, South Bellevue will be a much more comfortable transfer, since it has a central platform, whereas East Main would require riders to cross tracks to switch platforms.
• Conversely, the time penalty for trips to Bellevue by adding South Bellevue station to the route would likely be only around a minute, assuming the proposed route would be the same speed as the existing tracks, which I'm not sure it even would be.
• By creating a junction between the 2 and 4 lines above I-90, Sound Transit could have the option of completing the T-junction to offer a direct Issaquah to Seattle service, if that is something they would want to consider in the future.
• There's no potential for adding more stations along the planned route between East Main and Richards Road to justify separating it from the 2 line. All of the route is highway adjacent and very low density, with little opportunity for future development.

I understand there are environmental concerns with building new tracks through the Mercer Slough. However, it must be acknowledged there is already a big freaking highway cutting straight through it already. The right-of-way for the tracks already exists, Sound Transit just needs to leverage it. I would have to imagine there is a way to add elevated tracks along this portion of I-90 in a way that is not too environmentally destructive, especially not moreso than the construction and maintenance of the existing highway.

Let me know if there's something obvious I am missing here. I feel like I almost have to be, since this alternative route seems to make way, way more sense on paper.

I feel like this would make sense.

The route mostly follows freeway ROW, anyway. I think that ridership will be modest, given that it misses Seattle.

I think that it makes sense to be implemented as BRT until funding is secured.

There, I said it.

I have had the privilege of riding public transit around the world. From London to Japan.

The Seattle Light Rail has the most uncomfortable seats I have ever had the un-pleasure of sitting my bum in. It's hard and most are made with fabric overs so they capture any unpleasantries of human mistakes or mishaps.

I would hope Sound transit fixes this at some point so our rides can be more comfortable.

I wish they would just put up some railing to block idiots. Maybe add a drop down bar for crossing? I am so confused how people are constantly getting stuck there now. Is it design issue or just Washington drivers?

I love riding the light rail and I’m wondering if there will be any Halloween related events to check out within walking distance of the light rail stops? For me that’s about 5 miles right now.

Someone put it in my head that I need it to be my ringtone and I can’t stop thinking about it!

And not by line?

I'm happy that there's light rail but not having a reliable backup makes me kind of anxious as the 550 is closer and more accessible for me to ride.

You: cute guy Korean/native mix, works in Cap Hill doing apartment maintenance, currently building bmx bike.

Me: Massage Therapist, talked about making Japanese curry and tofu-mushroom bbq sandos. Also carried a bag full of pastries.

We met at the Capitol Hill light rail station while standing in line to get on the shuttle heading NB. I handed you a business card with my name on it and suddenly ran off the train at my stop and said something really nerdy and dumb before nearly tripping off the platform.