Mass Transit Now Coalition Launches Campaign to Pass Sound Transit 3 Ballot Measure this November
Thu, 06/23/2016
As the Sound Transit Board completed its final vote on a major new light rail, commuter rail and bus rapid transit expansion package, the growing Mass Transit Now coalition today announced the launch of the campaign to pass the Sound Transit 3 transit expansion measure on the November ballot.
“The extension of reliable, predictable light rail service from Federal Way to Tacoma, additional Sounder commuter rail service, and the extension to Tacoma Community College means that Tacoma and Pierce County will now be reliably connected to SeaTac, Seattle, and our entire central Puget Sound region. That is going to be a huge plus for the South Sound economy and for the quality of life of Pierce County residents, and that is why I am enthusiastically backing the Mass Transit Now campaign,” said Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy, who sits on the Sound Transit board.
Overall, the completed system will include 116 miles of light rail capable of moving more than one million people every day, rivaling Washington, D.C.’s rail system. Moreover, Sound Transit 3 will add new bus rapid transit, commuter buses, and extensions and improvements of commuter rail. With the region’s population growing by more than one million people over the next 20 years, Sound Transit 3 is a critical investment that will keep our region moving for decades to come.
The newly passed package includes major transit improvements specifically designed to benefit South King County and Pierce County residents. Pierce County will get more than 13 miles of light rail connecting Federal Way to the Tacoma Dome, while extending Tacoma link light rail to connect downtown Tacoma to Tacoma Community College. It also extends South Sounder commuter rail from Lakewood to DuPont and makes important station improvements, including adding additional parking around stations.
“South King County is going to benefit tremendously from the improvements in the Sound Transit 3 package,” said Mayor Nancy Backus of Auburn. “We need and want more light rail, and we will get that with new stations across South King County, as well as additional parking around stations. We’ll get better commuter rail and improved bus-to-rail connections too.”
Four new light rail stations will be added in South King County, including a new station near the Boeing Access Road in Tukwila. It will connect the Kent-Des Moines area to Federal Way and Tacoma via light rail, will improve Sounder commuter rail, and will make a bus rapid transit connection with 10-minute headways from Burien to SeaTac Airport, Renton, Bellevue and Lynnwood via I-405.
Voters see up close every day that as the region grows, increasing transportation gridlock is threatening our economic health and our quality of life. In 2016 congestion will cost our region $2.9 billion, or about $750 per resident. Our road network is bumping up against capacity and we need an integrated regional mass transit system that will move thousands of people every day reliably and efficiently.