Powering progress

How are we powering progress? Let's count the ways.

Progress never stands still, and neither do we.

We’re building the country's most ambitious transit expansion, connecting more people to more places — and more opportunities — across the Central Puget Sound region. "Powering Progress" isn’t just a catchphrase, but a promise we made 27 years ago. It’s our motivation to keep moving forward every day.

Major milestones

A person holds a teal blue banner that reads 'Tacoma Link opening 2023'

Transit-oriented development

A streetcar stop with a passenger exiting the streetcar.
Transit-oriented development supports vibrant neighborhoods with direct access to transit.

Construction and expansion

A group of people cut a blue ribbon outside the new parking garage at the Puyallup Sounder Station
The new Puyallup garage and surface parking opened on Monday, March 27, adding 680 more stalls for transit passengers.

State of good repair

  • Crews finished a comprehensive deep-clean of our four downtown Seattle Link stations—a big step forward in Sound Transit’s plan to establish new cleaning baselines after taking over maintenance in the transit tunnel in 2021. (February 2024)
  • To limit passenger disruptions in the future, we replaced 500 feet of worn light rail track and upgraded 58 damaged signal boxes in downtown Seattle’s aging transit tunnel, and plus five other repair and maintenance projects in one three-week period this winter. (January-February 2024)
  • We completed track reconstruction at Royal Brougham Way. (August/September 2023)
  • At Othello and Rainier Beach light rail stations, we completed concrete substructure replacement. (August/September 2023)

Federal funding

  • The federal government awarded Sound Transit $15.7 million in grants over the course of 2023.
  • The agency was also awarded $326 million in federal loans over the course of 2023.

 

Community engagement

A Sound Transit employee speaks at a community outreach event.

Public safety

A Sound Transit Security Officer boards a 1 Line train
  • We launched a new “Report it to stop it” campaign onboard buses and trains to call out sexual misconduct on public transit and encourage passengers to report these crimes to law enforcement. (November 2023)
  • We contracted with new security providers, increasing the amount of security personnel at facilities and onboard trains. The number of security officers went from about 128 to approximately 402 between January 2022 and November 2023—a 202% increase in hours of coverage.
  • University of Washington released a fentanyl and methamphetamine study commissioned by ST and other Pacific Northwest transit agencies, finding no health threat to riders. (September 2023)
  • For station cleanliness, the Board approved deep cleaning for stations, elevators, and escalators, plus more bird control. We also installed new trash cans on the platforms in downtown Seattle stations.
  • We implemented more visible “fare paid zones” to remind passengers where fare-checking may occur. (June 2023)

More progress

Ruby stands with her guitar at Westlake Station next to a sign that says 'brought to you by Sound Transit.'