Culture: Opposing Transit

BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON - Walking around this mostly-affluent suburb of Seattle today, I was surprised to see a substantial number of "No Trains in Our Neighborhoods" signs. What was especially strange was that many of these signs were located more than a fifteen minute walk away from the closest proposed light rail alignment. I can understand some opposition to light rail, but the flavor in Bellevue is really hard to explain.

Sound Transit plans to build the East Link light rail line from the current north-south Central Link near downtown Seattle to Bellevue and Overlake. Based on the timetable voted for by the public in November 2008, construction would begin in 2013 and the first segment of the line to Bellevue would open by 2020. One of the first steps in the planning process was to determine the design and alignment of the line.

The alignment preferred by Sound Transit would stop at South Bellevue Park and Ride and then head north roughly along Bellevue Way and 112th Ave SE to downtown Bellevue. As urban rapid transit systems go, the route has relatively low residential density. However, it's still higher than an alternate alignment (B7) that would avoid South Bellevue Park and Ride, head east to I-405, and then north along the currently-dormant railway right-of-way toward downtown Bellevue. While it could serve a Wilburton Park and Ride lot, there are almost no residences within walking distance of stop(s) on that route, and it adds trip time over the preferred alternative.

The opposition to the preferred alignment comes from an anticipated decline in property values as a result of the line construction, because of increased noise and crime. As far as I know, such a decline in property value has never occurred after the construction of a modern transit line. Instead, property always increases in value, especially near the station locations. I haven't seen statistics yet, but I would be pretty surprised if crime rates have increased in the Rainier Valley or near the Tukwila station as the result of the arrival of light rail. As a result of gentrification (driven by the rise in property values), it would actually be expected to go down. Beyond these arguments, it starts to get really absurd, like an actual web site comment claiming that light rail advocates did not understand the damage that would be done by taking the space for two tennis courts away from the Bellevue Club (an institution whose membership rates are so high they don't release the rates publicly).

Even if any of these fears were justified, they only would affect residents within at most a radius of a few blocks of the tracks, if that. The anti-light rail signs appear throughout essentially all of the South Bellevue, including households a substantial distance from the preferred alignment. There's no way a house along 108th Ave SE south of Bellevue is going to be affected by a light rail line running on an elevated right-of-way more than a block and a steep hill away, more than a half-mile away from the nearest station.

There are some reasons to oppose transit systems. The arguments being observed in southern Bellevue have to be amongst the most pathetic I have ever observed.

Transport: Riding Central Link

A Sound Transit Central Link light rail vehicle manufactured by Kinki-Sharyo arrived at the International District station in Seattle, Washington on 23-December-2009

KENNEWICK, WASHINGTON - On 19-December-2009, Sound Transit's Central Link light rail extension south to Sea-Tac International Airport opened. With no free preview on the first day and holiday crowds expected, I waited until 23-December-2009 to take my first ride ever on Seattle's first true rapid transit system in the modern era. Sound Transit had opened Central Link between downtown Seattle, Washington and Tukwila on 18-July-2009.


A Central Link train passed underneath the tower at Sea-Tac International Airport as seen from the airport station on 23-December-2009

The new airport station has been somewhat controversial since it is located across the parking garage from the terminal. While certainly the mean distance to airline ticket counters is higher than at the bus stop, the station is actually closer to the airlines at the north end of the terminal, and Sound Transit's estimate of four minutes walking time to the building seems about right. Furthermore, the position of the station allows for a planned straight-forward extension to the south, eventually all the way to the Tacoma Dome.


An interesting mural along the transitway in the SoDo neighborhood of Seattle, Washington was noted on 23-December-2009

As Sound Transit has adopted a "1% for Art" policy, the line includes some interesting artwork, including reflecting sculptures at the airport station, a stylized magnifying glass at Columbia City, and the underground Beacon Hill station has been described as the "$1 billion underground art gallery." Yet, some of the best art visible from the trains actually came from the Urban ArtWorks project, which created the SoDo Urban Arts Corridor on buildings along the former 5th Avenue, now a transit corridor through the SoDo neighborhood.


Note the "mountain" symbol for the Mount Baker station in Seattle, Washington, part of the accessibility signage of the Central Link light rail noted on 23-December-2009

Amongst the things that impressed me about the system was the use of a pictogram in addition to the station name in system signage. For non-native speakers of English, this can be a big help--but some of the symbols did seem a bit strange. A mountain for Mount Baker and even an anvil for SoDo (once a heavy industrial era) make sense, but a deer for Othello and a dove for Columbia City (especially when a heron for Rainier Beach is just two stops away)? There had to be better choices for some stops; Sound Transit's explanations don't strike me as terribly convincing.


This gate prevented buses from entering the Transit Tunnel in front of an approaching Central Link train on 23-December-2009

The most operationally interesting aspect of Central Link is that it runs in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel along with buses. Interesting gates ensure that buses do not enter the corridor in front of approaching trains, and the signaling system ensures that buses move in groups on a schedule through the tunnel so that everything can run on time. It's quite a sight at rush hour to see the choreography underground--and having used both, it's a much smoother ride on the rails than on rubber tires in the tunnel.


The Central Link tracks were elevated around the International Boulevard station in Tukwila, Washington, with a view of the hills all around on 23-December-2009

The Transit Tunnel is a key element in making Central Link a rapid transit system. Even the section along Martin Luther King Junior Way that is not grade-separated seemed to have transit priority signals, as the trains hustled right along. The contrast with Portland's MAX light rail system, which sometimes feels painfully slow in the downtown core, is striking. Central Link may be a much more expensive system per mile and may be taking much longer to build, but it will offer clear advantages over other transportation alternatives. The Puget Sound region is finally doing something impressive in public transit.