Light Rail Is Coming, Maybe

Light rail is about to be in the news in a big way again. Shortly after announcing an increase in ridership of 12.5 percent on Sound Transit and 7 percent on King County Metro last year, it's looking like light rail will be back on the ballot in '08. The Seattle Transit Blog, The Stranger and others are all predicting that the Sound Transit Board is coming back to voters with another light rail expansion package this year, as we fervently hoped.

Details of the package have yet to be worked out entirely, but it is likely to include light rail expansions east to Bellevue and then north to Overlake (but not as far as Microsoft), north to Northgate and south to just past the airport. It's also looking like there will be some new Sounder stations in the North and South, some Bus Rapid Transit (STB has clarification of BRT really means), more express bus routes, and a streetcar linking Capitol Hill with First Hill.

We know that ST has to cut way back on time lines and costs in order to create a package that voters will be likely to accept, because they can't afford to lose twice in a row (this plan will raise taxes about .4 percent to raise $6 billion, according to The Stranger, and will take just 12 years to complete), but it seems stupid for ST not to go a bit further to reach Microsoft. We also really wish it would reach all the way down to Tacoma.

The editorial board of Tacoma's News-Tribune agrees. In an editorial yesterday, they pointed out that commuter rail ridership (between Tacoma and Everett) rose almost 30 percent while bus ridership from the South Hill to Overlake and Tacoma to Seattle rose 22 percent. Light rail should go to Tacoma now, they say, not in 2027. They're right.

One last bit of idiocy. While tracking down some of the links for this post, we read an article in this week's Stranger about how no one is sure if The Sierra Club will support more light rail because it could lead to sprawl, thanks to spending money on parking spots at stations. After they killed last year's Prop. 1 because of the roads package it was tied to, we will go batshit crazy if they kill this much better package only because it includes money for park and rides. We understand their concern and agree that people need to live in denser communities without cars, but revolution is not an event, it’s a process. At some point, you have to compromise or it could mean you get no change at all.

We've said it before, and we'll say it again: You cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good.