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Transportation: Western Washington’s No. 1 challenge Sound Transit is back on track Light rail: Checking out the ride (and more) on Central Link ORCA: One Regional Card for All
 
Transportation: Western Washington’s No. 1 challenge

Transportation: Western Washington’s No. 1 challenge

To even the least jaded of commuters, the transportation system in the central Puget Sound region is a jumble of acronyms and staggering numbers. It is confusing on any scale. Why do we need to pay more to ride a Sound Transit bus rather than Metro? We see WSDOT signs along I-405 and SR-167, yet wonder who sets and collects those HOT lane tolls.

Sound Transit is back on track

Sound Transit is back on track

Joni Earl has a simple motto: Under promise and over deliver. Failure to follow that recipe for success is what got her agency, Sound Transit, in trouble before she took over as executive director in 2001. Earl found an agency with a billion-dollar cost overrun because it had no way to track its finances and was promising projects it couldn't deliver. Earl brought to bear her expertise in finance and local government in reshaping the culture of an agency that was pretty good at managing and designing bus and commuter rail projects, but derailed when it came to running its basic business operations.

Light rail: Checking out the ride (and more) on Central Link

Light rail: Checking out the ride (and more) on Central Link

The sights of Seattle flash by the windows of the Central Link light rail during the 13.9-mile stretch from the Westlake Station to Tukwila International Boulevard Station. Central Link runs with two-car trains that hold a maximum of 400 people and eight bikes. A 1.7-mile extension to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport will open in December 2009.

ORCA: One Regional Card for All

ORCA: One Regional Card for All

Gone are the days of fumbling with paper tickets and juggling different passes to get from one place to another on mass transit. The launch of the new ORCA-One Regional Card for All (ORCA) pass program has made traveling around the Puget Sound easier than ever.

Dave Ross tackles regional transportation

29 September 2009

Dave Ross, of KIRO 97.3FM, invited WSDOT Secretary Paula Hammond, Developer Kemper Freeman, and Larry Phillips of Sound Transit on his show Sept. 28 to discuss regional transportation. Listen to the entire show here.

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520 widening project should bring relief to Redmond

520 widening project should bring relief to Redmond

22 September 2009

While construction zones can be noisy and messy, most drivers recognize that the end result, an easier commute, will make the hassle worthwhile. That's certainly the case for the SR 520 widening project in Redmond, between West Lake Sammamish Parkway and SR 202.

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Improving Rainier Avenue is a top priority for Renton

Improving Rainier Avenue is a top priority for Renton

22 September 2009

Rainier Avenue through the heart of Renton is a work in progress. It’s the city’s transportation workhorse, handling about 50,000 vehicle trips a day. That rivals the traffic load of such major commercial thoroughfares as Aurora Avenue in north Seattle.

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Kent Valley commuters face increasingly long drive time

Kent Valley commuters face increasingly long drive time

22 September 2009

Rodney Watkins fights heavy traffic every weekday driving between his home on Kent's East Hill and his job in South Seattle. When Watkins leaves home as early as 5 a.m., he can cover the 21-mile drive to his job as a garbage hauler at Cleanscapes in about 30 minutes. But when he tries to return home at about 4 p.m. or so, the drive can take twice as long.

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Kent is epicenter of county shipping, but traffic snarls costly

Kent is epicenter of county shipping, but traffic snarls costly

22 September 2009

While commuters may lose time and their cool while sitting in traffic, for manufacturers and freight haulers, time spent stuck in traffic has a direct effect on the bottom line. The Green River Valley manufacturing district, running from Renton to Sumner, accounts for more than 80,000 jobs in the region and helps make the Puget Sound area the second-largest freight and wholesale distribution center on the West Coast, behind only the Los Angeles-Long Beach area. And at the center of it all is the city of Kent.

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Kent: former farm town living through transportation growth pains

Kent: former farm town living through transportation growth pains

22 September 2009

Kent is a thriving city of neighborhoods, retail and warehouses - and nowhere is that growth more apparent than a weekday rush hour. Lines of commuters crawl along with caravans of freight trucks, while trains close down crossings across the city on two sets of tracks.

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Steve Cotton: He sees Kent freight issues up close and personal

Steve Cotton: He sees Kent freight issues up close and personal

22 September 2009

Steve Cotton, operations manager for KGM Motorcycle Transport in Kent, has the same complaints as most drivers in the Kent Valley: traffic and trains. But for Cotton and his business, which does the storage, transportation and final assembly for all of the motorcycle dealers in Washington, time is money.

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Commuters and Kent: Lots of people, shrinking capacity

Commuters and Kent: Lots of people, shrinking capacity

22 September 2009

Drivers who head east, west north or south through Kent all run into the same problem – heavy traffic. There is no quick way to drive through the city because of thick traffic, especially at morning and evening rush hours. Kent city officials know drivers struggle to go north or south through the valley as well as between the valley and the East Hill and West Hill.

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Sound Transit, King County Metro and others deal with more growth, less money

Sound Transit, King County Metro and others deal with more growth, less money

22 September 2009

While in healthier economic times, service providers and transit officials could be looking at expanding ridership, upgrading facilities, and adopting new technology, right now King County Metro is just trying to maintain the services they have. Falling sales tax revenue has left Metro trying to find $213 million worth of cuts in the next two years, and an estimated $500 million over the next four.

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Federal Way police key on transit safety

Federal Way police key on transit safety

22 September 2009

Security upgrades and added police presence are the backbone of an effort to increase public safety at the Federal Way Transit Center. The transit center, 31621 23rd Ave. S., is owned by Sound Transit, but patrolled by hired guards and local police. The city of Federal Way, police and Sound Transit are working in collaboration to install cameras with higher resolution as well as a direct video feed from the transportation facility to the police station.

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