At a Glance Upcoming events and deals
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Today, Sound Transit marks the first birthday of Central Link light rail, which during its inaugural year of operations attracted an estimated six million riders, adding up to major environmental savings and better quality of life. Had those six million riders driven cars instead of climbing aboard Link, Sound Transit estimates they would have consumed 93,000 barrels of oil to make 1.8 million gallons of gasoline.
Quick facts about Link’s 1st year of service:
Total light rail train miles travelled: 1.2 million
Estimated ridership for the first year: 6 million
Average rider trip length: 7.1 miles
Passenger miles travelled: 43 million
Light rail trains run every 7.5 minutes during peak hours and every 10 or 15 minutes at other hours of the day, offering a fast and convenient way to move around. Light rail stations offer easy connections to buses that serve other destinations throughout the region. Commuters can secure bicycles at Link stations or bring them onboard the trains.
“This is a great achievement for a region that has embraced light rail after years of waiting,” said Sound Transit Board Chair and Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon. “Thanks to light rail, the people of this region have saved time, money and precious natural resources. We’ll only see those savings grow as we expand the system to the north, east and south.”
Related posts:
$4-5 round-trip transportation to Sea-Tac airport begins Dec 19, 2009 aboard Link light rail
Wiith the City of Seattle committed to becoming the most bicycle-friendly city in the country, the Seattle Department of Transportation has launched BikeSmart. BikeSmart has two primary goals:
to encourage more people to ride their bicycle
to improve bicycle safety
To request a Bike Smart Seattle kit complete with a Seattle bike map, coupons, calendar of events, and more, fill out the online order form at Bike Smart Seattle.
Win a Family Trip to Victoria offered by Cascadia Kids. The trip includes a two-night stay at the Royal Scot Hotel & Suites and round-trip tickets for four (two adults, two children) from Seattle, aboard the Clipper.
This contest begins at 9:00 p.m., April 12, 2010 and ends at 11:59 pm Pacific Standard Time on Monday, April 19, 2010.
For contest rules or to enter, see http://www.cascadiakids.com/win-a-family-trip-to-victoria-bc/
The Draft Transportation 2040 Plan is now available for review and comment. The comment period runs through March 9, 2010. Comments received will be summarized for the Transportation Policy Board on March 11, 2010. The Executive Summary of the plan is 16 pages and provides an overview of the plan. The complete Draft Transportation 2040 Plan is 144 pages.
The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) is the regional planning organization for the four-county (King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish) central Puget Sound region of Washington state. PSRC is tasked to create a sustainable transportation system through planning for regional transportation under authority provided by state and federal laws. As the state-required Regional Transportation Plan, Transportation 2040 meets substantive and procedural requirements of Section 47.80.030 of the Revised Code of Washington.
The central Puget Sound region, one of the principal metropolitan regions in the Pacific Northwest, includes 82 cities and towns and covers an area of nearly 6,300 square miles. The region’s geography and topography is diverse, including urban, rural, and resource lands, plus hills, mountains, and lakes from sea level at Puget Sound to over 14,000 feet at Mount Rainier.
Transportation 2040 outlines how this region should invest in transportation to accommodate rising population and travel demands, while remaining flexible and responsive to the ways in which the region and the world will change over the next 30 years. The goal is to provide a sustainable transportation system that meets the needs of those who live and work in this region.
The Draft Transportation 2040 Plan document, all supporting materials, and a link to submit comments, can be found on the PSRC web page at www.psrc.org
Beginning December 19th, 2009, at 10 am, Link light rail service will extend from Tukwila all the way to SeaTac Airport. Link includes stops in Downtown Seattle, SODO, Beacon Hill, Rainier Valley neighborhoods and Tukwila. A round trip fare will cost just $5 from downtown stations, Beacon Hill, and Mt. Baker to Sea-Tac. Riding to Sea-Tac from light link stations in the Rainier Valley south of (and including) Columbia City is just $4.
The extension of the popular light rail service means holiday travelers will have a fast, reliable, one-seat ride between downtown Seattle and the airport.
“With the opening of the airport line in December, Sound Transit is giving a gift to holiday travelers by providing a fast and easy connection to downtown Seattle,” says Senator Patty Murray.
Passenger service at Sea Tac / Airport Station begins at 10 a.m. on Dec. 19th. Normal Link operating hours are from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Saturday and 6 a.m. to midnight on Sundays. Sea Tac / Airport Station connects to the airport garage via a pedestrian walkway. Airport passengers will follow a separated guideway through the garage to the main terminal. Luggage carts will be available at the station.
Construction of light rail between downtown and the University of Washington is underway, with a scheduled opening in 2016. With the passage of the Sound Transit 2 ballot measure in November 2008. light rail is scheduled to reach all the way to Lynnwood, Redmond’s Overlake area and the Star Lake/Redondo area near Federal Way by 2023.
This year’s hot holiday gift item is the ORCA card, good for rides on buses, trains and ferries throughout King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties. For a limited time, get a card with no card fee that’s ready to ride and save you money on transit trips in 2010.
This holiday season is the perfect time to get started with ORCA. You can load between $5 and $300 on the card’s “E-purse” for trip-by-trip deduction, or load a monthly unlimited ride pass. Cards are still available this holiday season with no card fee. Starting Feb. 1, a standard adult or youth ORCA card will cost $5.
There are lots of options for getting an ORCA card in time for the holidays. The most convenient option for ordering or adding value to an ORCA card is online 24 hours a day, seven days a week at www.orcacard.com. Cards are also available by phone, by mail, or at 19 outlets or vending machines at 22 rail stations located throughout the region.
Your ORCA card works like cash or a pass, automatically tracking the value of different fares and transfers so you don’t have to. You can’t lose with ORCA. If you create a My ORCA account and register your card, you can protect your balance and automatically re-load the card.
Save on Seattle Metro bus transportation by purchasing an ORCA card and loading it with one of the following passes:
A one-month Puget Pass (value based upon your specific Metro bus trip).
A monthly pass purchased through payroll deduction provided by your employer.
From 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. daily in downtown Seattle, the Ride Free Area (RFA) extends from the north at Battery St. to S. Jackson St. on the south, and east at 6th Avenue to the waterfront on the west. Metro routes 116, 118 and 119 are not included in the Ride Free area. During RFA hours, loading and unloading bikes is restricted to a route’s first and last ride free stop. Map: http://transit.metrokc.gov/tops/bus/area_maps/m_seattle-rfa.html
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