They started taking down the big blue wall around the light rail construction site today! They removed a few segments at 17th and Lander — right where Lander St. used to go through.
The end of the seemingly endless Beacon Hill Station construction project is in sight!
Sound Transit wants feedback from you on proposed fares for the Link light rail line, which will open in July this year. The current proposal is for a distance-based fare, starting with a base fee and then increasing the fare the further you go.
An unofficial version of the proposed fare charts can be seen in this post at the Seattle Transit Blog. The two pricing plans are as follows: one plan keeps the current Ride Free Area downtown for the trains (so you could ride the train from Westlake to the International District for free) with a $2 base fare and a 5 cent charge per mile, rounded to the nearest quarter. The maximum fare in this plan for a ride from downtown to the airport would be $2.75. The other plan does not have a Ride Free Area for the trains, but starts with a $1.75 base fare, and a 5 cent charge per mile (rounded as in the other plan). The maximum fare in this plan would be $2.50.
For trips from Beacon Hill, we are looking at $2.25 from the Hill to Westlake and $2.50 to the airport under the first (Free Ride Zone) plan, or $2.00 from the Hill to Westlake and $2.25 to the airport under the second (no Free Ride Zone) plan.
Sound Transit will be presenting these plans and listening to your feedback at a series of public meetings:
If these dates and locations sound familiar, it’s because these are also the dates and locations of the SDOT meetings we posted about on December 22, to discuss parking changes in the light rail station areas. Looks like there will be a lot to discuss at those meetings.
Can’t make the meetings? You can also express your opinion on the light rail fares by emailing linkfares@soundtransit.org, phoning Project Manager Sarah Lovell at 206-398-5405, or writing to:
Sarah Lovell
Sound Transit Office of Policy and Planning
410 S Jackson St
Seattle, WA 98104
Want to get an up-close look at the SODO, Stadium, and Mount Baker light rail stations, peek at the Beacon Hill Station area, tour the changes on Martin Luther King Jr. Way South, and view the new trackway in Tukwila and near the airport? Sound Transit is hosting another “Lunch Bus” on January 16. It’s a guided tour of the light rail project areas, with a stop for lunch at Thai Recipe Restaurant. The cost of lunch is $10. Details and RSVP here.
An information meeting about the variance extension is on Tuesday, December 16, 6:00 – 8:00 pm at the Beacon Hill Library, 2821 Beacon Avenue South.
I was excited to see this time-lapse video of a trip from Othello Station almost all the way to the Tukwila light rail station:
I can’t wait for the train to open to the public — I just wish we would get more train lines, and faster! But this one will be great for getting from Beacon Hill to the airport, downtown, the stadiums, and just about anywhere in between. Next summer can’t get here quickly enough, as far as I’m concerned.
Via Seattle Transit Blog — thanks!