The 2000 Intermediate Capacity Transit Study already identified those corridors as needing better transit than buses. That study informed the Seattle Monorail Project, and they were largely sound in their alignment choice. Their failures were in limiting their technology choices (and therefore number of bidders) - they wrote in inflexibilities that doomed their project.

Sound Transit was able to adapt because they remained flexible. Build a flexible agency with the same overall goals as the Seattle Monorail Project. Use tried and true technology with well-understood costs, and use federal models to identify station locations and predict ridership before announcing a grand plan. Look ahead to changes in the cost of materials and labor, and plan for significant cost increases due to a lack of construction contract competition.

Hire project managers with experience, not politicians - or at the very least, leave technical decisions out of the politicians' hands. For now, though, help Sound Transit 2 pass so you have a system to connect to - with the spine built, any new system that connects to it will attract dramatically higher ridership, making it more likely to receive federal funding and more likely to win at the polls.

Ben Schiendelman

Seattle