Sound Transit ST3 Light Rail Expansion Plan

Sound Transit lays out its phased expansion plan. Opening dates have been delayed from what's shown by the pandemic-triggered realignment process. More here: www.theurbanis.... (Map by Sound Transit.)

[@jasonmg99]

I like the full vision including the ST4. I hope to see it all become a reality

[@davidpoole409]

Seems like too little too late? 2040? The city has a massive housing problem how is this a response ?

[@FatherofNations]

My thoughts exactly

[@anthonysnyder1152]

Honestly it’s not too bad. I’d would kill for multiple lines to be in the works. San Francisco has a pretty bad housing problem too and there are 0 stations under construction since they completed the central subway last year. All we have planned is possibly an extension of the new line by a stop or two but I bet NIMBY’s will sue and delay that project once again…

[@andrewswanson4819]

My theory is while Seattle is politically liberal by US standards, it's just another case of the American "system" favoring car-based development in general (look at suburbs like Sammamish, Maple Valley, Lake Stevens) combined with some NIMBYism (because the long term value and immediate need for better regional transit doesn't compute for them), so we end up with delays and sometimes half-assed solutions that sometimes actually end up working really well (transit tunnel I see you)

[@walawala-fo7ds]

It is not for you. It is for people 40 years into the future 😂

[@andrewzheng4038]

⁠​⁠​⁠@@andrewswanson4819it’s exactly that. Just look at the comment sections of news videos about the 2Line, half of it is Eastsiders doomposting that it’s going to carry a flood of homeless people across the lake and into Redmond and Bellevue and that somehow druggies are going to be the only users, or the battles advocates have to fight to get ST to keep stations in the actually useful locations that everyone *already voted for*. I’m not strawmanning btw, these are near verbatim things that real people say. There’s a good chunk of residents in King County only capable of viewing things through the lens of how much they can resell their homes for, and it’s a miracle that we even have county-wide rapid bus transit in spite of these naysayers

[@kotaowens6978]

This is very helpful!

[@robertvanderpool8550]

What would be wonderful is if the State Capital was connected to Seattle.

[@the_forgxtten-8178]

AGRREED

[@metrofilmer8894]

Agree. All day frequent(ish) Seattle to Olympia rail service would be great for the region, If Sound Transit could find a work around the fact that they aren’t structurally set up to cover Thurston County, trains could start running fairly quickly and affordably

[@RoboJules]

Unless the Sounder is getting all-day frequent service (10-30 minute bidirectional headways), the 1, 2, and 3 lines have some of the dumbest alignments possible. Why is there a bunch of spaghetti that forces a transfer downtown if you want to get from Everett to Tacoma? Why are lines not in as straight an orientation as possible? More than anything, Seattle needs a solid transit spine that runs north to south, and another that runs East to West. This spaghetti makes no sense and it forces transfers we're they're not needed. Maybe having a twisting layout would make sense in a city that sprawls in all directions, but Seattle sprawls linearly - it should have a spine.

[@qlrxj]

Looks like it would only require one transfer anyway? But the silliest part seems to be the 2 line where getting from one end to the other looks like a pain. It reminds me of the L system in chicago where nearly every line converges in the loop in downtown for transfers.

[@AdaDenali]

Very few people will be riding all the way from Everett to Tacoma, that’s like nearly a 2 hour trip

[@godhimself1128]

The Sounder train wouldn't require a transfer from Everett to Tacoma.

[@RoboJules]

@@godhimself1128 Yeah, which is why it would be a great idea to electrify it, create more grade separations, and increase both speed and frequency. I'd love an 80mph top speed with 15 minute frequencies, longer station spacing (5-10 miles), and connections with LRT, BRT, and Streetcar. Combined with a great bus network and a metro quality light rail system, Greater Seattle would have the best transit system in Western NA - even better than Vancouver or San Francisco. Because cities on the West Coast are linear sprawls of distant urban centers, Regional Rail is key to the future growth of our transit systems. Regional Rail can become the true spine that ties a city's transit together.

[@realquadmoo]

The Sounder runs on BNSF tracks, it's really limited.

[@Noone-vn9bl]

Why so slow? Just as slow as the train itself

[@xxmajesticsailorjupiterxx7951]

I will actually riot if this shuts down the sounder

[@greasher926]

S Line has relatively healthy ridership. However the N Line is pretty bad, it only gets like 300 daily riders vs the S with 7,000. I think it’s very possible that the N line will be discontinued once the Link light rail makes it all the way up to Everett. They can use those resources to add more trains to the S line.