Seattle Gets It!

Seattle voters approved a Transportation Benefit District in 2014. The first year’s Performance Report contains the statement “… the City of Seattle is working … to identify projects, like One Center City, that will improve the quantity and quality of non-automobile transportation options and accommodate this projected growth in travel demand through non-SOV [Single-Occupant Vehicle] travel.” By adding bus service, Seattle has succeeded in changing the trend of Single-Occupant Vehicle use. In this graph from the Performance Report, solo driving has already declined, and is projected to drop even more in the future. MTC has failed to do this for the Bay Area.

Strikingly, they are doing this by increasing bus service, rather than flashy and expensive rail projects.

Seattle’s 10-year mobility goals include (but are not limited to):

• Provide 72% of Seattle households with a bus that comes every 10 minutes or better within a 10-minute walk of their homes (compared to 25% in 2015). Progress toward goal is identified on page 22.

• Provide RapidRide service on seven new corridors (for a total of 10 overall).

• Increase transit service and improve our streets to make transit more reliable.

In the Bay Area, MTC projects the same percentage of Single-Occupant Vehicles in 2040 as now. That’s a total failure to undertake its planning responsibility to make the region’s future better.

Comments are closed.