Why Regional Transit?The Original 1996 Sound Move Plan (continued)
The Benefits - Investing in Mobility
Transit today carries 40 percent of the trips through our region's most congested areas at the most congested times. If all of the people currently using transit switched to driving alone they would create a line of bumper-to-bumper cars almost 700 miles long (enough cars to completely fill all the lanes of the Interstate 5 and Interstate 90 within the region).
Sound Move will expand on existing local transit services with a convenient, reliable, easy-to-use regional system that is less susceptible to congestion than current services. By year 2010, Sound Move will increase transit system ridership to a level that equals a line of cars more than 950 miles long (a line of cars that could easily stretch to San Francisco, and then some).
Sound Move can make public transportation a viable and attractive alternative to driving alone by offering fast, frequent service and a wide array of transportation options with regionwide connections. And Sound Move includes a single-fare system allowing people to travel around the region using a variety of transit services with a single ticket or pass.
The Benefits - Investing in Regional Connections
Sound Move creates more and better regionwide connections providing access to job sites, schools, shops, museums, parks, theaters and sports arenas to everyone regardless of whether they have access to an automobile.
Sound Move can help attract large special events to the region. Atlanta was selected to host the 1996 Summer Olympics in part because it had a rapid transit system capable of handling large numbers of people.
Sound Move can provide direct connections to the Kingdome, the new baseball stadium, Husky Stadium, the Tacoma Dome, Meydenbauer Center and the Washington State Convention and Trade Center. Those connections will provide the capacity to handle large crowds and ridership surges. |
