On Nov. 4, 2008, voters of the Central Puget Sound region approved a historic Sound Transit 2 ballot. Sound Transit will deliver this program between 2009 and 2023.
ST Express expansion summary
Recognizing the recent high growth in ridership experienced by Sound Transit and all our partner transit agencies in the Central Puget Sound region, the ST2 Plan rapidly improves ST Express bus service in the highest-need corridors. Specifically, ST2 provides annual operating and fleet expansion funds to increase service levels in the following corridors – I-5 (Everett to Seattle and Tacoma to Seattle); I-90 (Issaquah to Bellevue and Seattle); I-405 (Everett to Bellevue and Renton to Bellevue); SR 167 (Puyallup, Sumner, Auburn, Kent, Tukwila and Renton to Bellevue); and SR 522 (Woodinville and Bothell to Seattle) – by improving service frequency, expanding hours of operation and adding trips to relieve overloads. It also includes new routes in the SR 520 corridor to further develop bus rapid transit (BRT) connecting Redmond, Bellevue, the University of Washington and Downtown Seattle, taking advantage of transit speed and reliability improvements programmed as part of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) SR 520 Bridge Replacement and HOV Project.
Sound Transit will work with WSDOT, Community Transit, Everett Transit, King County Metro and Pierce Transit to find solutions to rising congestion on HOV facilities in an effort to improve bus speed and reliability. The ST2 Plan will provide bus rapid transit service on the SR 520 corridor. In conjunction with King County Metro Transit bus services in the SR 520 corridor, Sound Transit will restructure ST Express services to improve overall service reliability and frequencies to at least every 15 minutes in both directions all day long on weekdays. Sound Transit will also seek to provide improved passenger amenities such as real-time next bus arrival information at stations. High service levels, streamlined transit facilities and congestion management will result in a fast, reliable and highcapacity BRT system in the corridor.
Beginning in 2009, ST2 includes a sufficient number of buses and the operating funds to provide a total of 100,000 annual platform hours above Sound Move planned levels. ST2 continues this service hour expansion on I-5, I-405, SR 520, SR 522, SR 167 and I-90 through the 15-year life of the plan. In cooperation with Community Transit in Snohomish County, ST2 provides significant investment in expanding ST Express service levels by 30 percent in the I-5 and I-405 corridors from Everett to Seattle and Bellevue respectively.
Throughout implementation, Sound Transit will work with WSDOT, Community Transit, Everett Transit, King County Metro and Pierce Transit to find solutions to rising congestion on HOV facilities in an effort to improve bus speed and reliability.
As bus maintenance capacity and fleet become available, Sound Transit will implement additional service as quickly as possible. Total annual ST Express service hours across the region will be increased by about 17 percent by 2020. ST2 also includes contributions from Sound Transit to help fund new or improved transit centers in Burien and Bothell in partnership with others.
When light rail opens in the various corridors, the majority of ST Express service in those corridors will be redeployed, resulting in a net overall increase in transit service.
While Sound Move included high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) access projects that make it easier for buses to merge into freeway HOV lanes, no new such projects are included in ST2. Park-and-ride expansion, HOV direct access ramps and other system access improvement projects are a high priority in Snohomish County. Such projects at regional system access facilities in Snohomish County may be built if sufficient additional funding and/or cost savings are identified in the ST2 program. Sound Transit continues to assume that WSDOT will fund and complete construction of the core HOV lane system in accordance with its freeway HOV policy. Funding is in place for Sound Transit's share of HOV projects underway on I-90 across Lake Washington and in Renton. These are Sound Move projects being implemented in partnership with WSDOT.
