Sound Transit

Sound Transit

Overview
Locale	Puget Sound region, Washington
Transit type	Regional express bus, commuter rail and light rail.
Number of lines	26 express bus 2 commuter rail 2 light rail
Daily ridership	96,000 (weekday, 2013)[1]
Annual ridership	30 million (estimated, 2013)[1]
Chief executive	Joni Earl
Headquarters	Union Station, 401 S Jackson St, Seattle
Website	www.soundtransit.org
Operation
Began operation	September 19, 1999[2]
Operator(s)	Community Transit, King County Metro, Pierce Transit, BNSF Railway
Number of vehicles	350[2]

Sound Transit has been the popular name of Washington state's Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority since September 19, 1999.^[2] It was formed in 1996^[3] 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.

Sound Transit Express bus

Sound Transit Express bus on route 550 between Bellevue and Seattle stopped at a station in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel.

Sound Transit Express is a network of regional express buses providing service to cities in all three counties, including Seattle, Redmond, Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, Issaquah, Lakewood, Bellevue, Auburn, Federal Way, Gig Harbor, Everett, Woodinville, and Tacoma. The bus fleet is owned by Sound Transit and buses are maintained and operated under contracts with local transit authorities (Community Transit, King County Metro, and Pierce Transit).

Sounder commuter rail

Sounder trains at Seattle's King Street Station.

Sounder, a commuter rail service between Everett and Seattle, and between Seattle, Tacoma and Lakewood is operated under contract by BNSF Railway. There are currently 7 peak-direction and 2 reverse commute round-trips daily between Lakewood, Tacoma and Seattle and 4 peak-direction round trips between Everett and Seattle. Sound Transit will eventually run up to 18 daily round-trips from Tacoma once all trackwork is completed by BNSF Railway. In 2012 service was extended to serve south Tacoma and Lakewood stations.

Current stations are:

Everett Station

• Everett Station
• Edmonds Station
• Mukilteo Station
• King Street Station (Downtown Seattle)
• Tukwila Station
• Kent Station
• Auburn Station
• Sumner Station
• Puyallup Station
• Tacoma Dome Station
• South Tacoma Station
• Lakewood Station

Link Light Rail

Current System

Tacoma Link train in front of the Tacoma Convention Center.

Sound Transit's light rail system consists of a 1.6-mile (2.6 km) line in Tacoma called Tacoma Link and a 14.6-mile (23.5 km) line in Seattle, Tukwila, and SeaTac called Central Link.

Tacoma Link connects the city's Theater District, Convention Center, Union Station (a former train station now serving as a federal courthouse), and Tacoma Dome area.

Central Link runs between downtown Seattle and the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The initial section opened on July 18, 2009.^[4] The initial section runs through the Seattle's SoDo neighborhood, Beacon Hill, Rainier Valley, and portions of Tukwila. On December 19, 2009, the line was extended to the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport through Tukwila and SeaTac.

From 1998 to 2009 Seattle artist Norie Sato was system artist for Sound Transit, contributing her own work and coordinating the work of the many other artists who helped design the nine stations of the light rail system.^[5]

Under Construction

Central Link train at Othello Station in Seattle's Rainier Valley neighborhood.

University Link is a 3.5-mile (5.6 km) extension of the Central Link Light Rail system that is currently under construction. Construction on the line began on March 6, 2009, and is scheduled to be complete by early 2016. The line will be underground for its entire route and will connect downtown Seattle to the University of Washington via Capitol Hill. The cost of the extension is about $1.9 billion with half of the funding expected to come from a grant from the Federal Transit Administration.

South Link^[6] is a 1.6-mile (2.6 km) extension of the Link Light Rail system that is currently under construction. Construction on the line began in May 2013, and is scheduled to be complete by 2018. The line will be aerial for its entire route, and will connect Seattle–Tacoma International Airport to the new Angle Lake station and park-and-ride garage at South 200th Street in SeaTac. The cost of the extension is about $383 million with funding expected coming from to come from a grant from the Federal Transit Administration, WSDOT, and Puget Sound Regional Council.

Plans

Northgate Link Extension, an expansion of the Link Light Rail system from the University of Washington to Northgate, was approved by voters in November 2008. Although Sound Transit is currently developing the schedule for final design and construction, it had already finished the North Link's Final Environmental Impact Statement as of April 2006. The light rail line will link the University of Washington station to Brooklyn and Roosevelt, finally terminating at the Northgate Transit Center. The Northgate station would further provide access to the Northgate Mall and Lynnwood, via the Lynnwood Link Extension Project. This line is expected to be completed by 2021, following the completion of the University Link in 2016.^[7]

The South Corridor HCT (High Capacity Transit) Project is expected to extend Link Light Rail from the planned S. 200th Street stop to Redondo/Star Lake, in a plan approved by the region's voters in November 2008. The project would add 4.8-mile (7.7 km) of track with stations at Highline Community College and Redondo/Star Lake. As the cost estimates have not yet been considered, the line is expected to be a primarily aerial line along SR 99. Final alignment and station designs are to be determined through the project level design and environmental review.^[8]

Similarly, the Lynnwood Link Extension Project is expected to extend the line from the future Nortgate stop to Lynnwood, via stations at NE 145th Street, NE 185th Street, and Mountlake Terrace. However the Lynnwood Link Extension Project will rely primarily on federal grant money, for which Sound Transit still will need to complete the Alternative Analysis stage to qualify. Although this also means that the stations can be changed to reflect a number of scenarios, the Link Light Rail line is expected to be elevated.^[9]

The Tacoma Link Expansion Project^[10] is currently under study to extend the current Tacoma Link light rail from the Theater District Station to St. Joseph Hospital, via Wright Park and Tacoma General Hospital along Stadium Way, Division Street, and Martin Luther King Jr Way.^[11]

Sound Transit 2

2007 Vote

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.^[12] These changes included almost 50 miles (80 km) 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.^[13] The ballot measure was defeated by voters.^[14]

2008 Vote

The Sound Transit Board on July 24, 2008 voted to put a reduced Sound Transit 2 plan before voters. It passed by large margins (58% to 42%) on November 4, 2008.^[15][16] The financial plan for the measure shows $17.8 billion expenditure over 15 years, funded with a 5-10% rise in the regional general sales tax, which essentially doubles Sound Transit's revenue. Central Link Light Rail will be extended from the currently funded northern terminus at Husky Stadium north to Lynnwood. To the south, the tracks will continue from the current southern terminus at Sea-Tac Airport to the northern edge of Federal Way. The proposed East Link Light Rail will depart from Downtown Seattle and end in Overlake via Bellevue. A First Hill Connector (streetcar) is proposed from Central Link's Capitol Hill Station to the Jackson Street terminus of the former Waterfront Streetcar. In total, 36 miles (58 km) of new two-way light rail track were approved by this measure.^[17]

Sounder Commuter Rail will receive longer and more frequent trains, for a 30% increase in service. Express Bus service will be immediately boosted (17% increase in service; 25 additional buses) and Washington State Route 520 will receive a Bus Rapid Transit line. A new commuter rail line is proposed to run from North Renton to Snohomish if additional funding beyond the Sound Transit taxes is secured.^[18]

Police

King County Sheriff's Office patrol car in Sound Transit Police livery.

Sound Transit contracts with the King County Sheriff's Office for police services. Deputies assigned to Sound Transit wear Sound Transit uniforms and drive patrol cars marked with the Sound Transit logo. There is currently one chief, one captain, five sergeants, four detectives, 23 patrol officers, and a crime analyst^[19] assigned full-time to Sound Transit.

Sound Transit officers patrol Sound Transit property around Puget Sound including vehicles (trains & buses) and stations.

Board of Directors

Sound Transit is governed by an 18-member Board of Directors, which sets policies and provides direction to the CEO and staff.^[20] By state law, the board includes the Washington State Secretary of Transportation and the King, Pierce, and Snohomish County Executives. These three executives also appoint other elected officials from their counties to the remaining seats on the board.^[21] For 2014, the board members are:^[22]

See also

• List of rapid transit systems
• List of rail transit systems in the United States

Notes

External links

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