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Link Light Rail is a Negative for “Regional” Transit
By James W. MacIsaac, P.E.
December 8, 2000
On top of its cost problems and its minimal effect on general traffic congestion, Link Light Rail would increase travel times forimpose a significant negative impact on existing “regional” transit users forced to use the train in addition to their bus ride, services as well as potentially ffor the local Seattle transit patronsusers who will be the majority of light rail users. This observation is based upon an intensive review of the Sound Transit rider estimates for Phase 1 of its Link Light Rail program.Link Light Rail will also cause slower trips for regional express bus riders currently enjoying the fast ride through the downtown Seattle transit tunnel. For the vast majority of patrons, Link causes longer travel times due to the elimination of one-seat rides offered by current bus service.
These conclusions are based upon an intensive review of the Sound Transit rider estimates for Phase 1 of its Link Light Rail program. The review is summarized in this paper. The negative impacts would result with any of the alternative track alignments described in the Environmental Impact Statement.
Primarily a Local Seattle Transit Service
Link light rail as planned, evenand assuming Phase 1 can be funded all the way its extension to Northgate, would be primarily a local Seattle transit service. Figure 1 illustrates the ST 2020 average weekday trip (AWDT)riderforecasts and rider patterns for those riders travelling through the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (DSTT). Of the ST estimate of 157,000 boardings by 2020 (an estimate that is considered as overly optimistic as the system costs were underestimated), 80% would have both origins and destinations within the City of Seattle. The average user trip on rail would be only five miles in length. Existing reST estimate of 157,000 boardings by 2020, 80% would have both origins and destinations within the City of Seattle. The average user trip on rail would be only five miles in length. Existing regional bus services now using the DSTT would be displaced to surface streets.
About 36% of the replacement rail tunnel users would have a trip of only about 2 miles between First/Capitol Hill and downtown Seattle. This presumes forced transfers from bus to rail at the First/Capitol Hill stations that will be located up to 200 feet below the surface. The transfer time
for this short rail ride with standing-only room at these stations would likelyis expected to more than offset the current travel time to downtown Seattle for the existing bus routes.
Of the estimated 57,000 boardings in the University area, 5,800 would have a short ride to/from the Northgate station, 17,000 would have a short ride to First/Capitol Hill stations, and 34,000 would have a 5-mile ride to downtown Seattle. A large majority of these rides would encounter a bus/rail transfer, whereas today they enjoy a direct one-seat ride. Total door-to-door transit travel time would likely be increased for theis majority of riders.
Similar conditions can be anticipated for over 70% of the Seattle rail riders to/from the south portal of the DSTT – time consuming bus/rail transfers and standing room only for those boarding at the McClellan station and northward. Beacon Hill residents may avoid this public transit turmoil since that station has been deferred to Phase 2 – if ST can generate the needed additional tax funding. We must also remember that three other stations have been deferred to Phase 2.
Even though Link Light rail Phase 1 will predominantly serve Seattle transit travel, Seattle residents are advised to consider carefully whether rail with its required bus/rail transfers will better or worsen their current transit service.
Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel
The Metro Transit website describes the DSTT as
“One of Seattle's landmarks and the nation's first tunnel designed for dual-power buses.…. ” “In the heart of downtown, the tunnel is 1.3 miles long and serves thousands of commuters each day.…. ” “As an additional street through downtown Seattle, the tunnel helps relieve traffic and pedestrian bottlenecks aboveground by removing many buses and bus riders from streets and sidewalks.….”“Metro has also installed rails in the tunnel so light-rail vehicles can use it in the future.”
Unfortunately, these rails will need to be ripped out, the Convention Place station eliminated, and the tunnel significantly rebuilt to accommodate the electric the trains ofto be used by Sound Transit under its Preferred Plan now on hold.
“Tunnel buses go through downtown almost three times faster than buses do on surface streets. With fewer buses on surface streets, all Metro bus trips though downtown are faster and safer whether or not the buses use the tunnel. About 25 percent of all rush-hour bus trips through downtown Seattle use the tunnel. By the year 2000, more than 40 percent of all downtown bus trips could go through the tunnel during peak hours.”
This original planned use of the DSTT would be totally eliminated by Link Light Rail, even though Sane Transit calculations demonstrate that the tunnel can accommodate more seated passengers on buses than it can carry on crammed trains operating at maximum capacity.
Metro Transit currently routes 27 “regional” express bus routes through the DSTT (see Figure 2). These routes would be removed to surface streets through downtown Seattle by the rail project –
increasing travel time for these riders and adding to downtown Seattle surface street congestion. These routes originate from points throughout King County outside of Seattle, and carry This original planned use of the DSTT would be totally eliminated by the Link Light Rail plan. Sane Transit experts have demonstrated that the DSTT can accommodate more seated passengers on buses that it can carry on crammed trains operating at maximum capacity through the tunnel.
Metro Transit currently routes 27 “regional” express bus routes through the DSTT (see Figure 2). These routes would be removed to surface streets through downtown Seattle by the rail project – greatly increasing travel time for these riders and adding to downtown Seattle surface street congestion. These routes originate from points throughout King County outside of Seattle, and carry riders with trip lengths ranging from 10 to 25 miles in length. This would be a very negative impact on the “regional” transit travel that the planned “regional” rail system is supposed to improve.
It is painfully apparent that the proposed “regional” rail system would be predominantly a local service for the City of Seattle. It would cause a major hardship on the users of existing regional express bus riders currently enjoying the fast trip through downtown Seattle in the DSTT that was purchased with Metro King County transit tax dollars. Sadly for the vast majority of Seattle transit riders, it would result in longer transit travel times due to the elimination of one-seat rides offered by current bus transit services.
Degradation of Regional Transit Service
FewerLess than 20% of the 157,000 rail riders per the Sound Transit 2020 estimates, which assume the rail extension to Northgate, would originate from outside of Seattle. These estimates assume that all existing Seattle-oriented express bus routes from Snohomish County, northeast King County, south King County and Pierce County would be truncated at rail stations with forced transfers to rail. This will result in a backward step in the high-speed, one-seat regional express bus services that our transit service providers have been moving toward over the past 25 years.
During the 1970s “MetroTransition” began a major effort to revitalize regional transit services. Its plan was to develop a regional network of suburban transit centers and park-ride lots, interconnected with express bus services operating on a system of priority freeway HOV lanes. When the Pierce and Community (Snohomish) Transit systems came into existence, they both were quick to adopt this same high-speed regional transit service philosophy.
Today the region iswe are well along the way toward achieving these plans, including the King County core of freeway HOV lanes. By 2010 (if highway funding allows) we will have most of the three-county freeway HOV lane system completed. The Phase 1 and longer-range rail system plans totally discard the progress we have made over the past 20 years toward a high-speed regional public transit system, and embark on the development of a redundant system on new guideways.
Today the economic backbone of Community Transit services is its express bus services to the University District and downtown Seattle. CT is reluctant to allow its express services truncated at a Northgate (and certainly not at a U-District) terminal rail station. The diversion off of I-5 to a rail station, plus transfer time, plus the additional rail stops could add 15 minutes or more to the travel times of its riders. Some transit riders may be lost to the auto modes as a result of increased transit travel times.
Pierce Transit currently operates a “Seattle Express” package of express routes providing one bus every 3 minutes from the Tacoma Dome to and through downtown Seattle during peak periods. This service is under contract by Sound Transit, and is the economic “bread and butter” service supporting Pierce Transit. The new ST Sounder commuter rail service is cutting into that market, adding about 10 minutes of travel time for users. If and when Link should reach SeaTac, ST would require all of the Seattle Express services truncated at the terminal rail station adding up to 20 minutes of travel time over the current express bus service.
Metro Transit express bus services between Federal Way and downtown Seattle would suffer similar increases in travel time for its users. Low-speed surface light rail is not an appropriate approach to high-speed regional transit services. Even ST’s former director of the light rail system admitted to that fact when he served on a white paper committee of the Institute of Transportation Engineers prior to the 1996 vote on the ST regional transit plan.