Sound Transit

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Sound Transit
Locale Puget Sound, Washington
Transit type Bus, Regional rail, light rail
Began operation 1993
No. of lines 27
Operator(s) Community Transit, Metro Transit, Pierce Transit

Sound Transit has been the popular name of Washington state's Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority since 1996. It was formed in 1993 by the Snohomish, King, and Pierce County Councils. It operates express bus, commuter rail, and light rail service in the region and constructs capital projects in support and expansion of those services.

Contents

[edit] Express Bus

A Redmond-bound Sound Transit New Flyer hybrid bus in Seattle.
A Redmond-bound Sound Transit New Flyer hybrid bus in Seattle.

Sound Transit's express bus fleet is operated by local transit authorities Community Transit, Metro Transit, and Pierce Transit. Its Regional Express Bus Service provides service to cities in all three counties, including Seattle, Redmond, Issaquah, Lakewood, Bellevue, Auburn, Federal Way, Gig Harbor, Everett and Tacoma.

[edit] Light Rail

Main article: Link Light Rail

Sound Transit's light rail system consists of a 1.6-mile line known as the Tacoma Link, in Tacoma connecting the city's Theater District, Convention Center, train station, and Tacoma Dome arena.

[edit] Future plans

The Central Link, a 15.7 mile light rail line running between downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac Airport via the Rainier Valley, is currently under construction, scheduled to open in 2009.

The University Link is a 3.15 mile extension of the Link Light Rail system that is currently in the final design process. Construction on the line is expected to begin in 2009 with completion in 2016. The line will connect downtown Seattle to the University of Washington via Capitol Hill. The line will be underground for its entire route and cost about $1.5 billion with half of the funding expected to come from a grant from the Federal Transit Administration.

[edit] Sound Transit 2

Sound Transit 2 (ST2) was part of a joint ballot measure with the Regional Transportation Investment District entitled Roads and Transit, which was presented to Snohomish, King, and Pierce county voters on November 6, 2007. Sound Transit 2 would have made a number of mass transit related improvements.[1] These changes included almost 50 miles in new light rail lines, four new parking garages, two new Sounder stations, a streetcar line connecting First Hill, Capitol Hill, and the International District, a transit center in Bothell, and two expansion studies, one for studying rapid transit across the SR-520 floating bridge and the other studying the use of the Woodinville Subdivision between Renton and Woodinville.[2] The ballot measure was defeated by voters.[3]

Currently, the Sound Transit board is considering an update to ST2. On January 31, 2007, the board met to propose one option to the update, including: a shorter extension of the Link Light Rail system, a new commuter rail corridor on the Eastside, 2 new street car systems, and rapid bus transit. The proposed East Link Light Rail would depart from Downtown Seattle and end in Overlake via Bellevue. Tacoma Link would be extended to Fife from the current terminus at Tacoma Dome Station and be extended from the Theatre District/South 9th to Tacoma Community College. Central Link is proposed to be extended from Seatac to Kent/Des Moines and the UW to Northgate. A First Hill Streetcar is proposed from Central Link's Capitol Hill Station to the Jackson Street terminus of the current Waterfront Streetcar. No explicit details on the proposed Everett Streetcar have been provided aside from the connection at Everett Station. A new commuter rail line is proposed to run from North Renton to Snohomish. The Sound Transit board will vote on a final update in May and whether the proposal should go to voters in November 2008 or in November 2010.[4]

[edit] Commuter Rail

Main article: Sounder Commuter Rail

Sound Transit operates the Sounder Commuter Rail, a commuter rail service between Everett and Seattle, and between Seattle and Tacoma. There are currently 4 daily round-trips between Tacoma and Seattle and 2 between Everett and Seattle. Sound Transit will eventually run up to 18 daily round-trips from Tacoma and 4 from Everett to Seattle once all trackwork is completed by BNSF Railway. They also plan on extending service to South Tacoma and Lakewood by 2010.

Current and soon-to-open stations are:

[edit] Fleet

Sounder Commuter Rail
Mfg Model Length Passengers Purchased Retired Qty.* Fleet Numbers
GM Electro Diesel F59PH1, 3000 horsepower 58'-7" NA 1999 in service 11 900-910[5]
2000 in service
2001 in service
Bombardier Cab Car 85' 136 (seated) 1999 in service 18  ???-???[5]
2000 in service
2001 in service
Bombardier BiLevel Coach 85' 140 (seated) 1999 in service 40  ???-???[5]
2000 in service
2001 in service
Link Light Rail
Mfg Motor Length Passengers Purchased Retired Qty.* Fleet Numbers
Kinkisharyo Mitsui 1500V-DC Electric Traction 95' 200 (74/126) 2007 testing 35 101-135[6]
Skoda 750V-DC Electric Traction 66' 56 (30/26) 2001 in service 3 1001-1003[7]
ST Express Busses
Model Motor Length Passengers Purchased Retired Qty.* Fleet Numbers
New Flyer DE60LF Cat C9/GMHybrid[8] 60' 57 (seated) 2005 in service 22 9600-9621[9]
New Flyer D60LF Detroit Diesel Engines Series 50[10] 60.7' 60 (seated) 1999 in service 25 9500-9524, 9525-9536, 9537-9552[10]
Detroit Diesel Engines Series 50[10] 2000 12
CAT (Caterpillar) C9 engine[10] 2004 16
New Flyer DE40LF Cummins ISL 40' 37 (seated) 2003 in service 1 9200[11]
New Flyer C40LF Cummins ISL C-Gas+ 250/280 HP?[12] 40.8' 39 (seated) 2001 in service 20 9400-9419[12]
Gillig PHANTOM Cummins ISM Engine[13] 40' 45 (seated) 1999 in service 92 9000-9069, 9070-9089, 9090-9091[14]
Cummins ISM Engine[13] 2001
Cummins ISL Engine[15] 2005
Motor Coach Industries D4500 Low emission Detroit Diesel EGR Series 60 NOx 2.5 45' 57 (seated) 2005 in service 13 9700-9712[16]
Orion V Cummins L10 260G[17] 40' 45 (seated) 1994 in service 27 800-827[18]
1995 2

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Larry Lange. "Sound Transit expansion ballot-bound", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 2007-04-26. Retrieved on 2007-04-27. 
  2. ^ Sound Transit completes major transit expansion package for November Roads & Transit vote. Sound Transit (2007-04-26). Retrieved on 2007-04-27.
  3. ^ Larry Lange. "Proposition 1: Voters hit the brakes", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 2007-11-07. Retrieved on 2007-11-07. 
  4. ^ Mike Lindblom. "ST 2 Update: Preliminary Service Corridor Concepts", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 2008-01-31. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. 
  5. ^ a b c Sounder Commuter Rail Train Specifications. Sound Transit. Retrieved on 2007-06-28.
  6. ^ Link Light Rail Train Specifications. Sound Transit. Retrieved on 2007-06-28.
  7. ^ Tacoma Link Light Rail Train Specifications. Sound Transit. Retrieved on 2007-06-28.
  8. ^ Hybrid Vehicle Specifications. New Flyer Industries, Inc.. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  9. ^ New Flyer Articulated Hybrid Diesel-Electric Bus. Sound Transit. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  10. ^ a b c d ST Express 60-foot Diesel Low Floor Bus Specifications (New Flyer). Sound Transit. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  11. ^ ST Express 40-foot Diesel-Electric Hybrid Bus Specifications (New Flyer). Sound Transit. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  12. ^ a b ST Express 40-foot CNG Bus Specifications (New Flyer). Sound Transit. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  13. ^ a b Cummins Southern Plains - ISM Engine
  14. ^ ST Express 40-foot Diesel Bus Specifications (Gillig). Sound Transit. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  15. ^ Cummins Every Time - Motorhome - ISL
  16. ^ a b ST Express 45-foot Long-Haul Bus Specifications (MCI). Sound Transit. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  17. ^ http://www.eere.energy.gov/cleancities/conference/2003/pdfs/monroe_pierce.pdf
  18. ^ ST Express 40-foot CNG Bus Specifications (Orion). Sound Transit. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.

[edit] External links

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Mass transit in the Puget Sound area
Transit agencies
Light rail
Bus rapid transit
Commuter rail
Monorail
Other
Italics denote proposed or under construction lines