SOUND TRANSIT BOARD WORKSHOP 6/14/01
Staff presentations
Joni Earl: [Board consensus is that] we need to get something "up and running" by 2009 or earlier. Cost estimates in Board Workbook are still order-of magnitude numbers, [but will be more accurate before decisions are made].
Tuck Wilson: [First decision] Board has to make is location of north and south termini. North either CPS or Capitol Hill. Also need to address question of going beyond the north terminus -- requires an SEIS and a new LPA. [Current 45th-to-Northgate SEIS will be folded into general North SEIS.] Q: do [new] riders come from autos or buses? TW: most new riders are [walk-ons?] in U District, Capitol Hill, First Hill.
Mike Williams re joint ops in DSTT: [Expect to use hybrid, diesel-electric buses for joint use, dispense with poles if possible.] So far no fatal flaw in joint ops. Anticipated bus volumes are now 50 plus buses/hour each direction. Aiming for a joint report with Metro out in August. Q: wouldn't platooning increase bus throughput? MW: Yes, up to 150 buses/hr each direction. Joint ops effectively forces platooning.
McKenna [?]: Metro is already moving to hybrid technology -- cleaner buses.
Brian ?? re financial matters: [JD: I'm paging through financial assumptions in workbook, and notice that no federal support beyond $500 M from TEA-21 is considered.] Q: Who's paying for the $50 M community development fund for Rainier Valley? ST, City, County? [ST staffperson]: agreement was to get City and County to reimburse ST, but ST is ultimately responsible.
Comments by Board members
Schell: It's time to get moving. Board should decide on 6/28 to go forward with CPS to Henderson. Willing to keep Capitol Hill terminus as alternative, but need to also study Eastlake alignment which has a lot of support. Need plan for getting to Northgate, and do the entire Phase I plan Northgate to Sea-Tac. Recognize that commuter rail is not a substitute for Link, but can be delivered sooner. Look at adding commuter rail stations at Ballard and Broad St. with good bus connections.
Enslow: would like to see a station in Ballard.
Paul Price, Sounder staff: Broad St., Ballard and Shoreline stations unfunded since 100 percent of North King goes to Link. Seattle stations currently cost out as expensive. If these stations are studied further costs may come down -- one Sounder station is only [$700K ?].
Enslow: Capitol Hill and First Hill stations are important, adding them increases ridership from 27K to 60K. Montlake cut alignment looks promising -- it must be better than Portage Bay. Should do some borings in Montlake area.
Phelps: Is Southcenter alignment still being considered? [Ans: some people in Tukwila still interested in it.]
Earl: Not sure staff can get all this work done by Sept. Example is whether staff will be able to determine if Southcenter is viable. It may be that some decisions will have to be deferred.
McIver: Is original MOS-1 [45th to Lander] still on the table? JE: Yes. McI: CPS to Henderson has only 27K riders per day -- what are cost per rider and cost per new rider? Are these competative compared to other systems [now in the pipeline]? [JE: staff will provide these comparisons.] McI: how does current 3-month workplan fit in with earlier 3-month and 6-month workplans? JE: some [or most?] of earlier planned work is being carried into the new workplan.
McIver: What is the role of the Project Review Committee? Board should be responsible for setting its program [and not allow it to go off independently]. What is timeline for decisions? Will some decisions be made on 8/9 in advance of those on 9/28? JE: some interim decisions may be made on 8/9. [McI?]: would CPS to Capitol Hill still be design-build? JE: no, it would be changed to design-bid-build.
White: have we firmly established a drop-dead date [for decision on MOS-1]? JE: other considerations such as federal deadlines make 9/28 a desirable target date.
McDonald: may be a false precision in ridership estimates -- aren't we justified in inflating CPS to Henderson [27K] ridership [because of growth potential in Rainier Valley]? Would like to see task-based workplan. Cut back work north of CPS until decision is made.
McKenna: is Henderson to South Boeing Access really only $70-90 M? TW: Yes.
McKenna: what could we get with a bus-only system? Los Angeles and San Diego are rapidly implementing BRT. In LA Wilshire and and Ventura BRT corridors are carrying 100K riders per day. $15 M capital cost, $18 M per year for ops and maintenance. SD is looking at busways. Here Link ridership south of Henderson would be very poor. Want to look again at [all?] bus system.
Sullivan: north Seattle strongly supports Scenario 4. If we do a thumbnail study of Eastlake, then we also need to study Montlake.
Schell: need to get to Airport (200th) in the earliest phase. Should explore tunnelling on Eastlake. Shouldn't be overly concerned about getting federal money [sic! that's what I understood him to say -- JD].
Earling: newspapers still misrepresenting Board's intentions. PI article this morning indicated that CPS to Henderson is a "done deal" -- [totally] not true. [Many believe that] existing MOS-1 is not viable -- [again not true], it can be built [with money currently in hand]. Should look at Montlake as well as Eastlake. How to solve the "burn rate" is still an issue [for many people].
McDonald: workplan doesn't mention the 6/20 forum -- this is a Board forum and is important to us. Premature to say that Board is close to a consensus.
McIver: Board members are invited to tour of possible southern termini tomorrow 6/15, sponsored by the C-Link task force.
SOUND TRANSIT BOARD MEETING 6/14
Earling: Jared Smith is leaving his position at the City. [He has made a valuable contribution to the Link project.] [Applause for Jared.]
McIver: [evenso,] the ship is not sinking ...
Earling: This is McIver's 60th birthday. [People sing "happy birthday", followed by applause for McIver.]
Public Comment
Three magi (Dan Evans, Mike Vaska, and Aaron Ostrom).
Vaska: joint letter [to ST Board] re possible S. Lake Union alignment. Supported Capitol Hill alignment in elections. Many people in S. Lake Union would welcome Link service. But still need to keep Capitol Hill on the table.
Evans: already involved in Link issues as a UW regent. Should take the long view, 30, 40, 50 years out. Been too much arguing over best mode, need all modes -- buses, light rail, even monorail. S. Lake Union has potential, "build it and they will come". Reduce conflict between UW and ST needs. [Shallower alignment would be] less expensive. UW very successful in getting research grants, may expand to S. Lake Union and would need quick connection.
Ostrom: wants light rail to succeed. Capitol Hill is best in theory, but is it affordable? S. Lake Union is an intreguing option and should be investigated.
Sitzoff [sp?] for City's Light Rail Review Panel: LRRP has been reviewing Link for the past 3 [?] years, considering aspects of arts, design and planning. Reaffirms LRRP's support for Link. LRRP's core beliefs:
- Link is an absolutely necessary component in regional transportation
- Project should be started with an affordable segment
- Transit system should form a network, connections are important
- First segment [should be done well], since it will serve as an "ambassador" for building the rest of the system
- Evaluate [alternatives] considering impact to riders as well as cost
- Good design is important
Hans Aschenbach: [represents NEDC, but ad libs instead of reading NEDC's recent resolution on Link alignment.] Former Mayor Rice's strategy of concentrating growth in urban centers is working. NEDC supports Scenario 4. Ballot measure passed in 1996 specified that First Hill, Capitol Hill and University will be served by light rail. If not done, north Seattle might not support ST in next election. Don't follow Miami's example of freeway alignment for rail line through urban areas -- it doesn't serve [population centers] and has low ridership.
Greg Hill: Capitol Hill voted 77 percent in favor of ST in 1996. Scenario 4 is best possible initial segment -- highest ridership, best chance for federal support. Project needs more State support -- in California rail projects are getting up to $3:$1 ratio of State to local money. At miminum, State must rebate sales tax revenue. Keep Capitol Hill in MOS-1.
Sea-Tac City representative: Sea-Tac has coordinated with ST in planning Link, and wants fastest possible service [to Seattle]. Sea-Tac would oppose any plan that failed to bring light rail to Sea-Tac in Phase I. Need to remain within [South King] budget, and stay faithful to original plan [approved by voters]. Budget does not allow Southcenter [alignment]. Sea-Tac insists on Airport alignment and 200th St. terminus in Phase I.
[The Board handled several fairly routine matters at around this point in the meeting, and then returned to public comment at the end.]
Phil Grega: trains should stop at IDS to allow full use of DSTT for buses. Capitol Hill terminus would prevent tunneling further north [sic].
George Curtis: Board should hear public comments more fully. At previous Board meeting, public comment was cancelled altogether. At this meeting, some public comment was delayed to the end, and few Board members and ST staff are still present.
Mark Dublin: agrees with GC [on Board not listening to public comment]. Invokes race to south pole as an example of good versus poor leadership. ST shouldn't be scared to ask people [electorate?] for more money for an essential project. Tunnel in north end is essential -- either Capitol Hill or Eastlake. [Tunnel would survive a major earthquake even when bridges collapse.] Joint ops in DSTT are feasible, but need good coaches, good training, good operating plan for it to work.
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John Deeter
bj556@scn.org
