Sound Transit elects new officers: Edmonds City Councilmember Dave Earling as new board chair, Pierce County Executive Doug Southerland and King County Councilmember Greg Nickels tapped as vice-chairs

The Sound Transit Board today unanimously elected Edmonds City Councilmember Dave Earling as its new chair and Pierce County Executive Doug Sutherland and King County Councilmember Greg Nickels as vice-chairs.

An active regional leader on transportation issues, Edmonds City Councilmember Dave Earling has served on the Sound Transit Board since its creation in Sept. 1993 as the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority. Earling has served as the board's vice-chair since Aug. 1998 and he has chaired several committees including public and government affairs and public involvement. Earling succeeds Tacoma City Councilmember Paul Miller who is also a charter member of the Sound Transit Board. Miller is leaving elective office due to locally imposed term limits.

Filling Earling's vice-chair seat is Pierce County Executive Doug Sutherland who has served on the Sound Transit board since June 1994. A strong supporter of regional transportation solutions, Sutherland serves on Sound Transit's executive and public and government affairs committees.

A long-time advocate for rapid transit, King County Councilmember and current Sound Transit vice-chair Greg Nickels was re-elected to his vice-chair position. Nickels is also an original member of the Sound Transit/Regional Transit Authority board, serves as chair of the finance committee and he's a member of the executive committee. In 1988, Nickels led the successful advisory vote in King County supporting regional rail transit that helped lead to the eventual creation of Sound Transit.

Approved by voters in 1996, Sound Transit is on track to implement a three-county regional transit system plan known as Sound Move. Sound Move is a seamless blend of three transportation systems: Sounder commuter rail, running 81 miles from Everett to Tacoma/Lakewood; Link light rail, a 24-mile system connecting the cities of Seattle, Tukwila and SeaTac and a 1.6 mile system in Tacoma; and Regional Express, featuring 18 new ST Express regional limited stop, long-haul bus routes and numerous improvements to transit centers, park-and-ride lots and HOV lanes throughout the region.

For more information on Sound Move, please visit the Sound Transit website at www.soundtransit.org/, or call or write for more information at Sound Transit, Union Station, 401 S. Jackson St., Seattle, WA 98104, (206) 398-5000 or 1-800-201-4900.

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Sound Transit plans, builds and operates regional transit systems and services to improve mobility for Central Puget Sound.