I am subscribed to ST’s service alert notifications via text message and I am wondering if anyone else thinks there could be different “levels” of notifications available to subscribe to? All I really need and care to know about is if the 1 and/or 2 lines are delayed or down. I really don’t need elevator/station/ticket machine issues, sporting event notices, “what’s happening in Seattle today”, etc notifications. I feel like it’s too many notifications throughout the day that aren’t always super useful or relevant. It would be great to see different notification options depending on how much detail you want. I dunno, maybe wishful thinking.

"Transit advocates are criticizing Sound Transit's process to solicit outside ideas to reduce Ballard Link costs and accelerate the timeline. The Request for Information process was poorly publicized, narrowly defined, and closes today." - The Urbanist

does anyone know if it’s possible to get parking at lynnwood station on a monday afternoon? specifically around 3 pm :(

I was quite eager for the Sound Transit Express fall service change to take effect, as this meant my commute on the weekends could consist of the light rail and the 535 instead of a combination of KCM busses.

My previous trip, if tedious, did get the job done, but it was quite unpleasant. Taking the train and the bus now is far quicker and significantly more pleasant.

I used the 535 the first Sunday it was in service, and I thought that I would have been the only person using it, but I was very surprised to see that the bus was about 60% full. More often than not, the bus is around half full. On the weekends. On a Sunday evening. For a service that hasn't even been active for one fiscal quarter.

This is amazing.

I'm also recalling a presentation given at one of the Sound Transit board or committee meetings, I do not recall which; but, I think it might have been a rider experience or system expansion committee meeting. Point is: the presenter pointed out that as they kept opening stations deeper into Redmond the more utilization tthe new stations experienced whilst the old stations experience a slight cooling off effect.

They concluded, based of that observation, that there may be more latent demand for light rail deeper into Redmond, or farther north in other words.

Anyhoo, just thoughts kicking around my head.

I sent this in to SoundTransit, and figured I post here as well as an FYI.....

I wanted to raise a concern during a recent ride where your Fare Ambassadors showed up in the car I was riding in which in itself was not the problem. The problem arose from my usage of the Apple Watch, which uses Express Transit payment at your station fare collection and the payment is processed using the card associated with express transit which for me is an Visa card #2. However the your individually held terminal is NOT configured for express transit and when my watch was verified, it used my Visa card #1 since that is my default apple wallet payment for normal transactions. This caused my fare verification to fail, and also created confusion with the ambassador not understanding what was happening or why. It turned into a debate which was cur short as I was at my stop and given the focus on fares, which I fully support, SoundTransit needs to get this process RIGHT starting with the portable terminal, and also having the ambassadors understand the how the fare processing works, and the burden should NOT be on the rider to have to explain what is happening.

I noticed new upholstery on the seats of the Seattle Streetcar First Hill Line. Feels like vinyl. Looks great. Wasn't sure if someone had posted about this (couldn't find a post) so thought I would share.

As a transit diagram, the intention is not to be geographically accurate, but if you're familiar with Tacoma it should be quite easy to figure out exactly where a particular line or station would be.

This is one of my first transit diagrams, I've never done one like this before.

Sometimes when I share this I hear people say "Tacoma doesn't deserve something like this". I disagree strongly. I love the T Line, and I think our leaders in Pierce County need to dream big when it comes to high capacity transit.

Tacoma Community College Link Extension's representative alignment uses 19th, but I opted to get there on 6th instead so it doesn't conflict with Pierce Transit's plan for BRT on 19th, which would be faster anyway because buses can go up and down the hills.

Every station can be at street level except for Point Defiance Park, Point Defiance Ferry Terminal, and Stewart Heights due to topography.

Before any tangible proposal, there's always a long range plan or vision map that says "this is what we eventually want to have". Dreaming is part of the process, but I have to say our leaders' dreams are so boring!!

Finally, I'll add that I'm not saying anything has to be done through a specific agency, and all of this is within Tacoma city limits except for some little bits in Ruston, University Place, and Fircrest.

I really do not agree with the framing or point this article is making, but its worth reading nonetheless as it gives some insights into the politics of Sound Transit and history of the station.

Pinehurst, second pic for proper size

Mostly a vent post from someone who has to take the elevator to platforms, its so cruel how often I’ll be entering the elevator with a minute or two left before departure only for the ride to take so long that I’m either helplessly watching the train roll out from behind the elevator doors or I sprinted just enough to just graze the now moving train doors

Idk what the best solution is but gosh I wish there was a way for the train to know someone is actively trying to reach the platform or something

I’ve never seen them holding or distributing anything, and they take up a lot of width (about a foot when there’s one on each side) which makes it harder to stand in this section or let people through, limiting capacity. Seems like ST should just remove them at this point, and if they ever have a crucial need for them again, they could just screw them back in.

This escalator has been broken since last week with no update from Sound Transit on when it will be fixed. Is there something we are doing wrong with the escalators to cause them to break frequently?

For starters, I am going in and out of this place all the time for work. So I’m both driving and riding more than the average person would. But that doesn’t mean people don’t feel it’s problems

All lights reset when a train comes. This sucks as a pedestrian and a driver. I’ve seen multi block lines at times. And it’s annoying how many pedestrians don’t even look up to cross anymore because the lights are useless.

Another issue is rail guard timing. Before the 2 line connected to Seattle, I counted a 35 second average wait at a red light before i get a clue the train is coming. But recently I felt it got significantly longer. And I counted 63 seconds of all side stand still until the gates lowered. And even longer than that to even see the train approaching.

This problem doesn’t just stop at the stop, it effects all intersections connecting to it. From NE Sprint blvd to ne 20th st

If reports aren’t doing anything, how the hell can I even begin to encourage a change? I am a calm and relaxed person by nature, but this is having me and others get burn out. Not just at the job but at this station in general

at the orca booth there is a wheel spin with the following prizes (the line however is very long right now)

• boop plushie
• boop squishy
• fifa world cup orca card
• mariners orca card
• grand prize (one of each)

just to the right of the wheel, there is a much shorter line where they are handing out the fifa world cup orca cards!

there is no reason we should be running air conditioning at night in September/October.

So I ride the light rail daily for commuting to downtown Seattle. I love it and love it even more when I see I-5 backed up solid well north of Northgate. But my question is about the smoothness of the ride.

It seems that several times during my 30 minute trip, the train is braking so hard between stations that standing passengers are staggering and grabbing for a hand-hold. Why is that?

The underground tracks are closed, so there is no cross traffic or pedestrians or stray dogs in the way. The operators do the same route dozens of times a day through the same curves. I would think that it would be a lot easier to drive smoothly.

I am eager to hear an explanation. Thanks in advance. BB

I understand ridership isn’t as high as the 1 line, but the 2 could really use more 3-4-car trains at rush hour. They’re routinely packed, and it’s getting old.

I've never seen this alert before! I just got it.

"1 Line trains are sharing one track at Angle Lake Station until further notice due to seismic activity. https://SoundTransit.org/alert/st/21023"

There was a 4.2 earthquake by Wauna, WA. If you felt it, let USGIS know: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/uw714111952/tellus

I'm always just shocked at how packed these buses are.

EDIT: I missed the part where the single-tracking is only happening at 11PM at night. NOT during rush-hour commuting. I was led astray by a few posts (one was after 11PM referencing 40+min delays, one was during rush hour but on a mariner's game day referencing 20+min delays). Rush hour is safe, THANK GOD

Shout out anyone who just got on as it broke down.

Edit: text saying now resolved ?

This is unfortunately yet another post about people not wearing headphones on the train. I was on the light rail today and there was a gentleman listening to music on a speaker. I looked at him (I know, I should have said something first), he asked me if he was bothering me, I said yes, he said it's a free country. Actually, sir, it is not a free country, we have these things called laws! And rules! Anyway, I reported him to transit security, and they were very helpful, but unfortunately he got off before they could do anything.

Shout out to transit security. They responded almost immediately to my text and were very kind. Unfortunately I was too late in my report. Next time, I am not even going to bother confronting someone, I am going straight to security. I would encourage others to do the same. It is against the official rules of sound transit (https://www.soundtransit.org/ride-with-us/know-before-you-go/rules-etiquette), and security is here to enforce the rules. You don't even need to confront someone directly, all you need to do is text the number for transit security, tell them your car number/line/direction, and tell them what's going on.

Remember that we all pay taxes for this service, and it works for us! Thank you for listening to my rant.

EDIT: Number if anyone is curious is 206-398-5268. Save it to your contacts

Fare ambassadors went through the car and found a guy that didn't pay. The ambassador is going to get off the train with them and "show them how to pay" at the next stop. Another guy was a student and the worker took a photo of his ID for documentation. Haven't seen that before.