Orphan Road

Apparently, I'm the first to post this article. Crosscut's David Brewster has a good article on what the dangers of Prop 1 failing this year might be.

There's a good chance the Proposition 1 ballot measure to expand light rail will fail, stalling for years comprehensive transportation planning in metro Puget Sound.

It's a scary thought that this really may be our last chance!

I did have to laugh to myself about the first comment: the poster in opposition to the measure wants to sound like he knows completely what he's talking about, but he references "Sound Move?!"

[via Crosscut]

Jim Horn edition:

State Treasurer Mike Murphy has said both the 520 and I-90 bridges should be tolled in order to keep financing viable for a new 520 Bridge, but one transportation activist predicted a backlash if tolls are charged for both bridges and imposed before the new 520 Bridge is completed as some propose.

"I just think the public reaction to that is going to be very bad," said Jim Horn, former state senator and president of the Eastside Transportation Association, a pro-highway and bus group.

If the ETA is indeed a "pro-bus group," it should be thrilled about charging tolls on both bridges and before the new 520 span is completed. After all, tolls are the only plausible way to keep buses moving during rush hour. Especially on the existing 520, where there's no dedicated HOV lane.

But, of course, ETA just says it's "pro-bus" and we're supposed to take them at their word.

I'm glad that the STB dudes are meeting to talk about how to pass the new ST ballot measture that's coming this November. I can't make the meeting, but I thought I'd share a thought or two.

Sound Transit can't actually campaign. So we need other groups to form -- like last fall's "Yes on Roads and Transit" -- to do the legwork. That campaign was relentlessly positive, and I think that was a perfectly reasonable tactic to use.

However, while I was away, I caught a few radio and TV ads promoting Honolulu's proposed light rail system. And I thought they were very effective. Here's one:

The radio ads are even more aggressive. They basically call out the anti-rail folks for being full of it. They're made by a 501(c)4 called "Support Rail Transit."

Of course, negative ads are risky. They repeat the negative. Why give the anti-rail zealots a platform for their arguments? That's why negative ads are generally accepted as a sign of weakness (c.f. Microsoft's new anti-Apple ads, or any of John McCain's recent anti-Obama ads).

But maybe it's time to get more aggressive. Mayor Nickels' recent op-ed is effective because it openly mocks the anti-transit folks' arguments as absurd on their face. The Honolulu ads use a similar tactic.

With all the misinformation floating around in the public about what Sound Transit is and isn't planning, it might be time to shoot down some of these arguments publicly. Our major local media outlets have generally been loathe to call B.S. on these guys, maybe someone else needs to.

It's true, the small cabal of anti-transit die-hards that manage to get themselves quoted in every single article or news story on Sound Transit are a weird bunch.

They're a lot like global warming deniers: nobody intelligent takes them seriously, yet the media gives them a platform because of a misguided notion of "balance."

Nearly every major city in every developed nation on planet Earth has some kind of rail network, and they all seem to be quite happy with them. But Seattle is apparently soooo different and sooooo special that rail transit can't possibly work here.

Transportation Policy (Or Lack Thereof) Edition (don't click if you're easily offended).

It's really interesting watching the mainstream media start covering mass transit.

I think the NBC clip is pretty good. If I'd written it I probably would have added a line or two about how Americans have chosen to subsidize auto-centric land use patterns for so long. But overall, not bad.

I'm not sure what they put in the water in Seoul, South Korea, but it seems to be doing wonders for the Seattle Times' James Vesely:

With about 70,000 workers, day and night, 24/7, the people of Korea tore down their old viaduct and installed an ancient river, pushing about 120,000 tons of water a day through miles of the city.

Gone are the slums, back are the ducks. Gone is the rule of traffic above the shops and in its place, the riverwalk of all riverwalks, miles and miles in a straight line to the sea — a grand canal called Cheong Gye Cheon.

How did they do it?

In-ken Lee, director-general of urban planning, led the project under the mayor's supervision. Lee remembers the time as a coming together of the city, with notorious negotiations with some 4,000 shopkeepers who wanted the viaduct to remain.

"We met every week with the mayor to discuss progress," Lee said in an interview this past Tuesday. "Every Sunday morning, 8 a.m. to 10 a.m."

I'm thinking: Smokes, that's a serious commitment.

Indeed. Commitment means sticking to a vision and executing on it. Interesting, then, that just weeks ago a glum, dejected Vesely was calling for a retrofit of the Seattle viaduct on the grounds that he was tired of all the bickering and cajoling (you know, the stuff they call "politics").

Maybe the Seoul smog did him some good, and he'll return to Seattle with a renewed sense of commitment.

I was going to put a lot of thought and energy into critiquing this anti-rail Crosscut article, but really, why bother? It's abundantly clear that David Brewster has developed some sort of computer program that churns out the same article over and over again under different bylines. I mean, "Ross Anderson?" Really? Like that's actually a human name.

Let's see: cherry-picked statistics to support the author's argumet? Check. Obligatory quote from local anti-transit crank John Niles? Check. Nonsensical reference to rail as a "19th-century technology"? Check. (Eyeglasses are far older, but many people still find them rather indespensible!).

It's like anti-rail mad libs. And this is what passes for political discourse in our city...

Update: it looks like Erica Barnett has a similar reaction.

The Washington Post's Metro section does a piece on DC's transit bloggers...

I'm sure KCM and ST thank the Times for this backhanded complement:

Skyrocketing gasoline prices, more transit options and a customer-service sensibility gave King County Metro Transit and Sound Transit a glorious 2007.

So here is a message of support for two agencies starting to click: Don't blow it. Complacency is a killer. Every new rider is a quality-assurance pop quiz. Buses and trains long available are newly appreciated as the cost of commuting soars and transit agencies get smarter about the options they provide.

Sound Transit's light rail plan will likely be up for a re-vote this fall, and the Seattle Times will have a chance to support them with an endorsement.

So here's a message of support for the Times: Don't blow it.