While Seattle has cycled through carshare startups, Vancouverâs Evo carshare program has grown into a big success, aided by strong transit and less competition from ridehailing in British Columbia.
A discussion on possible changes to Mayor Durkanâs proposed budget for the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) was dominated Friday by further relitigating of the case for finally connecting Seattleâs two existing streetcar lines. Effectively on pause since 2018, the Center City Connector has been in development since
Jason Slaughter of Not Just Bikes explains how carsharing can be a good supplement for people who occasionally need a car but otherwise rarely use a car. He also discusses his rule that people donât need a car if they donât drive to work.
After five months in the Seattle market, GIG Car Share is expanding the homearea for its vehicles. The expansion increases the homearea from 13 square miles to 23 square miles. New areas include Ballard, Columbia City, Green Lake, Mount Baker, Phinney Ridge, and parts of Madrona and Leschi. An additional
GIG Car Share has finally launched in Seattle with service starting on June 30th. The service includes an initial 250 cars and limited homearea centered on Central and North Seattle. GIG, a subsidiary of AAA of Northern California, announced in February that the company would start up a free-floating carshare
As one door closes, another opens. GIG Car Share will be entering the Seattle market in May, the company announced on Tuesday. This comes on the heels of news that long-time carsharing company Car2Go would end service in Seattle on February 29th. Other competitors such as LimePod and ReachNow folded
King County Metro has been dabbling in on-demand shuttle services to entice riders to transit centers, but some of those pilot projects are floundering. On Tuesday, Metro announced the worst performers are getting the ax. Ride2, which serves Eastgate and West Seattle, will not be renewed amid low ridership and
Ridehailing behemoth Uber released a study Wednesday looking at the effect that decongestion pricing would have on Downtown Seattle. Turns out it would decongest it. Peak car trips would drop 7%, and automobile travel times to and from downtown at peak times would drop 30% with dynamic tolling topping out
If you need space in front of the Capitol Hill light rail stationâand youâre not a bike or streetcarâcontact the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT). SDOT staff communicated to Seattle City Light that it could proceed with plans to install electric chargers. In emails and in-person, SDOT
To create more equitable outcomes, the needs of parents with school-age children must be better addressed in future transportation solutions. At 8am any given school day in King County, the cars snake around the elementary school, inching toward the drop off zone. The traffic spills out into the surrounding streets,
Most recently I have taken on a new venture in which I am dedicating my career to helping cities plan for autonomous vehicles (AVs) and other disruptive transportation technologies (e.g., drones, electric vehicles, and hyperloop). My startup is called Smash the Box Planning, where we smash the box instead
Sound Transit is riding high with incredibly healthy ridership growth for 2016, buoyed in large part to the opening of three new light rail stations in Seattle and one in SeaTac. Annual boardings rose by 8.02 million to 42.73 million, up from 34.71 million in 2015. That
Uber has been in the news lately for offering cities a smidgen of their data on traffic patterns. Like so many things with Uber, the company insists what itâs doing is truly and utterly revolutionary. Traffic data management seems to be another scheme in Uberâs overarching plot to
The battle for the carsharing market is ratcheting up in Seattle. Car2Go plans to roll out higher end vehicles as part of its Seattle fleet in an apparent bid to directly compete with BMWâs ReachNow offerings. Car2Go first entered the Seattle market in December 2012 as a one-way carsharing
In an announcement yesterday, BMWâs Reachnow carsharing service is expanding its service area to cover all of Seattle and adding 180 new vehicles to their fleet. The move puts the company on equal footing with its major incumbent competitor car2go, which expanded its reach to all of Seattle last
On Monday, the ridesharing company Uber unexpectedly voiced their public support for Regional Proposition 1, also known as Sound Transit 3. The measure would fund building 62 miles of new light rail lines and two bus rapid transit lines ultimately connecting more than 85% of jobs and 80% of homes
Not another day goes by without some transit detractor talking about how driverless vehicles will obviate the need for transit and big spending on capital projects. Such statements are based on an expected improvement in travel by personal car, but they fail to account for the vast improvement in transit
Seattle is seeing intense competition in the growing carsharing market. In a few short years, Car2Go has managed to top some 77,000 active members in the Seattle area. ReachNow, launching just two months ago with than fewer than 300 vehicles and a service area of barely half of the
Transit App pushed out an updated version of the app for iOS (Version 3.7) and Android (Version 3.7.1) users on Tuesday. The latest update focuses on optional alarms, bike lanes, and an improved trip planner. Users can now set alarms for specific transit trips or routes. Setting
As of today, Car2Go has expanded their âhome areaâ for Seattle. Back in January, the Seattle City Council approved new legislation regulating and permitting carsharing programs like Car2Go. The legislation did two key things for consumers and carshare operators alike: it increased the maximum free floating permit cap to 750
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray stood before community members and city staff in Ballard yesterday to launch his 10-year, citywide transportation investment plan. Move Seattle, as it is known, will be Seattleâs roadmap for near-term investments and tying together all of the big transportation plans that Seattle has. The plan
The Transit App just keeps getting better and better. Yesterday, software engineers behind the app enthusiastically announced the roll out of a new transportation service to the app with the introduction of Car2Go. As a carshare service, Car2Go has become wildly popular with over 59,000 registered users in the
On Tuesday, the Seattle City Council transportation committee voted to approve an increase in the number of free-floating carshare permits and operators. This would primarily benefit car2go, the German company whose blue-and-white mini cars are rented on a per minute basis. Up from 350 vehicles beginning in 2012, the company
Travel options just got better for users of The Transit App. On Monday, the app service was updated to integrate Uber, a ridesharing service, natively into the user interface. The Transit App supports Uber in 47 North American cities with more markets likely to come online as both The Transit