Your bus route may be getting replaced by a sexier, more streamlined route. Are you OK with that? If not, it's time to speak up. more ›

We sure wish the monorail was a viable transit option for more people. This price increase does not help make that so. more ›

Image by Paul Pepera from the Seattlest Flickr pool. more ›

One of our own is going to be in charge of BART, cops may no longer ride on horses, a win for the Mariners and a daring river rescue, in this morning's headlines. more ›

If you only know one way to get to West Seattle (and it involves the Viaduct), you may want to start planning an alternate route. Read up on what's closed, what's under construction and what is critical to avoid this weekend. more ›

While King County's proposed $20-a-year licensing fee has been a very, very public debate topic this election cycle, another, larger licensing fee has been brewing in the city of Seattle. The City Council is considering putting a city car tab fee on the ballot to support transit improvements through the Seattle Transportation Benefit District, and this one is much larger: anywhere from $60-$80. $40 was proposed, but apparently will not raise enough money and is off the table. An $60-80 fee would double, or more than double, what drivers currently pay yearly when you factor in the $20 Seattle drivers just started paying, but would go to fund much-needed transit improvements. But living in a state with one of the most regressive tax structures in the nation, a lot of concern has been raised as to whether a fee this high goes too far. This is a pretty complicated issue. Good thing there's a public meeting tomorrow! more ›

We didn't truck it out to Burien last night--and neither did 2 County Councilmembers. But hundreds did, driving home the point that Metro riders want the congestion reduction fee to pass. more ›

For those not up to speed: King County Metro is in crisis. Our county's bus service is subject to a 17% cut to the entire system -- 600,000 hours of transit service over two years, affecting up to 80% of bus drivers. We're pretty mad. more ›

If you read this article, you'll be smarter than Wikipedia. more ›

Plan ahead, commuters: The King County Department of Transportation has announced that the West Seattle Water Taxi has suspended service starting this afternoon, and will not be running at all until Monday, March 28. more ›

In response to Seattle's 2008 snowpocalypse (which had everyone in the Midwest laughing at us -- three to five inches!), Metro has released its new snow plan, which, in the event of a dangerous level of snow, will reduce service to the "Emergency Service Network"--70 routes that follow main arterials that are the top priority for snowplows, Publicola reported last week. more ›

Crusty Capitol Hill month continues with a streetcar vignette. Capitol Hill lost streetcar service in September 1940. More than 70 years later, Sound Transit approved the budget last week to make a new streetcar linking light rail with the International District Station. The big news is that the City Council is looking to extend the streetcar and link it to the South Lake Union line. Here's some historic context. Maybe it will convince them to repeat history. more ›

We admit it--some of us here at Seattlest are unabashed transit nerds. Hence we keep craning our necks with no regard to safety as we hurtle beneath the new smart highway signs that went up on I-5 in south Seattle and other major highways around the city. more ›

The plan includes an "adverse weather map," and improved transit alerts via email. A text message option would be a lot more useful for riders, though, at least until they start installing laptops at every bus stop. more ›

Accompanied by music we swear we've heard in an acupuncturist's lobby, these depict the new bridge options as efficient, utopian dream. more ›

"Looking down the light rail tunnel" by Wendi Dunlap, from our Flickr pool more ›

The default screen is a location-based map with nearby stops highlighted, which can be crucial when you're in a hurry and on the verge of powerwalking. Bookmark your frequently used stops and find out how many minutes you have with 2 taps. more ›

There's a feature in the Seattle Times today about the #7 bus that seems to be celebrating it as a "colorful" part of Seattle history, but also makes the claim that "most" and "many" #7 riders prefer it to the light rail. Try as we might, we can't find any numbers in the story to back up that assertion. We emailed reporter Phillip Lucas, but it bounced back undeliverable, user unknown. We've also called Metro's community relations line three times this morning, but no one's picking up. We'll update if it's the rapture and no one else is at work this morning. UPDATE: It's not the rapture. But here's Publicola's ECB, an actual #7 rider, going off on exactly how colorful the route is. more ›

• Hey, Seattle--you gave Northwest Film Forum $44,000 just because they asked. That's short of the $70K they need to forestall any cuts, but still far better than a poke in the eye with a sharp film gate.
• As of October 14, you'll have a whole new Whole Foods to boycott on health care principles. Queen Anne View says the anchor tenant at the Interbay Urban Center "will feature an interactive healthy eating center, cooking classes and demonstrations, [and] a coffee shop."

Reading through Lucas from Neighborlogs' coverage of a King County Metro budget meeting, we're left with the uncomfortable feeling that we read the phrase "deferred maintenance" one too many times. Besides fare increases (to $2.25) and bus service suspensions, Metro's Kevin Desmond says "Metro will greatly reduce the number of buses it purchases, and speed, reliability and asset maintenance programs will be cut." [Emphasis added] We know! Reads like a line cut from Drag Me to Hell, doesn't it? more ›

There is good eating to be found near the station, even if you have to dodge a few cars to find it. Thai Recipe is located in the same strip mall as Domino’s on McClellan, and it is the only Thai restaurant we know of that even borders on North Beacon Hill. The very friendly staff serves good, reliable, and tasty Thai food, available for take out or to eat in the small dining room. more ›

Damon Agnos at the Weekly reports on the the coalition suing to prevent I-90 light rail from happening, a weird last-ditch attempt to keep Seattle from driving its train deep into the Eastside, again and oh god again, via tunnel. The suit--claiming light rail can't use I-90 because that would besmirch its use by upstanding automobile drivers--is ridiculous, as are most of Kemper Freeman's suits. Personally, we can't wait to pull on our flip-flops and stained wife-beater, hit the light rail, and terrorize the hell out of Bell Square while drinking our Volvic out of a brown paper bag. more ›

Sound Transit says weekday ridership is at estimated at 12,000 per day--with 15,000-17,000 on the weekend, so suck it, Seattle Times. ST is aiming for 21,000 riders per day by the end of this year, with another 5,000 daily stragglers due to board after the final leg to SeaTac opens end of December. Events like last weekend's Sounders FC and Seattle Mariners games, and the Seattle Seafair Torchlight Parade have boosted ridership--coming up, ST will be running free shuttles from the Othello light rail station to Seafair's hydroplanes and air show on Lake Washington on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. more ›

The ORCA card is, of course, the new, handy way to pay fares for many kinds of transit including the new Link light rail. Like all good Seattle things (e.g., a trendy restaurant, your friend's house, or the Fremont Troll), the youth ORCA card is not that easy to find unless you know where to go already. more ›

Link light rail is again visiting the Westlake station in the bus tunnel. Sound Transit got the "signal system" problem under control at about 11 p.m. last night. For riders complaining about the lack of information, set yourself up with a subscription to ST alerts. And then be nice and tell everyone else without a smart phone what's going on. more ›

Says Sound Transit: "Central Link light rail service has been temporarily suspended in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel due to a loss of power at one of the stations and associated impacts to systems for controlling tunnel equipment. Crews are working to address the issue and expect to restore service soon. Bus service in the tunnel is continuing at this time. Northbound light rail trains are stopping and turning south at Stadium Station. Bus service northward into downtown Seattle is available just to the west of Stadium Station at the intersection of the Busway and Royal Brougham Way. Light rail service between Stadium Station and Tukwila International Boulevard Station remains in operation." [UPDATE: As of a 10:57 a.m. email, they're rolling in the tunnel once more! WHOOPS! As of an 11:25 a.m. email, they're not rolling. Buses are still rolling in the tunnel, but light rail is not. Crews working feverishly, etc.] more ›

Earlier today, we were smiling over the Seattle Times trying to use the first day of light rail ridership as a benchmark. "What was the Times headline on February 4, 1965?" we asked, thinking of the opening of I-5. Then we really wanted to know, so we looked it up. more ›

From the Times: "On the first day of regular light-rail service, ridership on Sound Transit's new Link train system is rather light. Midway through the morning commute, trains were arriving at Tukwila from downtown Seattle with fewer than 10 passengers aboard." And: "Normal use is projected at 26,600 per weekday next year—far more than today's trend." One morning is a trend? This makes us curious. What was the Times headline on February 4, 1965? "I-5 Looks Awfully Open"? Times commenters are through waiting for ridership to increase--they sound about ready to rush out and pull up the tracks. more ›

Over the weekend and again this morning, a bug has been affecting Link light rail's ticketing system, telling aggrieved would-be riders no soup for you "transaction canceled." Bummer. more ›

Starting today, the Sound Transit Link Light Rail line from Westlake to Tukwila is officially open. This weekend, everyone rides for free. (As of noon, that's been about 13,000 people.) Paid service starts on Monday. Transit officials said yesterday that the system is ready to go. Fourteen two-car trains are operating all weekend. On Monday, 14 trains will be operating during peak hours and 12 trains at all other times. more ›