The Pierce Transit Board is considering a ballot measure in November 2026 that would boost funding in order to expand bus service, make routes more frequent, and create new transit connections to light rail. Two transit advocacy leaders make the case for this sorely needed measure.
Pierce County is facing financial challenges that are straining budgets, leading to health department layoffs and lagging transit service levels. Federal chaos could make the problem worse in years ahead.
Tacoma’s new impact fee regime, which goes into effect next summer, will charge developers based on expected generation of car trips. Despite work to delicately calibrate the new fees, the proposal still drew criticism when it comes to adding costs to needed housing development.
The Pierce County Council recently greenlit a set of awards for affordable housing projects using a relatively new funding source: the Maureen Howard Affordable Housing Act. Over its short life, the sales tax has raised more than $31 million, which will contribute to the creation of 1,700 affordable
At first glance, the deal appears to be heavily lopsided in favor of Sound Transit, which will trade aging Skoda streetcars for ones that are essentially brand new. But the Brookville cars leaving Portland experienced significant issues that could follow them to Tacoma.
Tacoma’s recent election elevated two urbanist-backed progressives, which could buoy efforts to expand housing, roll out street safety upgrades, and improve transit. The Urbanist chatted with Tacoma Mayor-Elect Anders Ibsen and incoming Councilmember Latasha Palmer about their plans.
On the whole, there were bright spots for urbanist candidates all around the region, with major gains seen in Burien, Redmond, and Tacoma. There was also some backsliding in places like Sammamish and Bainbridge Island.
The changes will impact riders throughout King, Snohomish, and Pierce Counties as Sound Transit eliminates routes where travel times are competitive with new light rail options. The agency is also planning to launch a new overnight bus network to improve regional access.
Federal Way Link will open on December 6, ahead of the previous plan for an early 2026 opening, Sound Transit announced today.
The progressives running for the four Burien City Council seats up this year have the upper hand based on primary results. Sam Méndez, Hugo Garcia, Sarah Moore, and Rocco DeVito will have to close the deal in November to flip the council.
Tacoma faces a pivotal August 5 primary in which voters will narrow field for mayor and city council seats. Housing, gun violence, and pedestrian safety have emerged as pressing issues in the Grit City.
After navigating through a number of major issues that added years of delay, the Sound Transit board is poised to adopt a new preferred alternative for Tacoma Dome Link. The project isn’t slated to reach full design until 2027 and to open until 2035.
The fully completed plan, intended to provide an array of strategies that would advance Pierce County toward a goal of eliminating deaths and serious injuries by 2035, was only approved by a 4-3 vote last week.
Tacoma voters balked at the price tag of the Streets Initiative II levy. That leaves Tacoma officials scrambling to come up with plan B to grapple with street safety and maintenance needs.
A longtime councilmember from the small city of Fircrest, George brings a regional perspective on behalf of the South Sound area and an acknowledgement of the strong headwinds that Sound Transit faces, particularly in Pierce County.
The permanent renewal of Tacoma’s Streets Initiative would enable the city to make significant progress on overhauling its most dangerous streets, and significantly expand safe bicycle infrastructure. The ballot measure goes to voters in an April 22 special election.
The $174 million RapidRide I Line between Renton, Kent, and Auburn is poised to start construction soon after Metro’s receipt of a FTA grant in the final days of the Biden Administration. The enhanced bus line is slated to open in 2027.
Greening neighborhoods, boosting Pierce Transit funding by 50%, and embracing housing growth are the top three goals Rubén Casas has laid out for Pierce County under Ryan Mello’s progressive leadership.
A robust public transit network for Mount Rainier National Park could unlock trailheads and attractions to more visitors, while improving environmental sustainability. Rather than grousing about the park’s timed-entry system, let’s improve access for all.
The area around a future light rail station in South Federal Way could see a significant amount of new housing and retail uses under the plan approved earlier this month. It is currently dominated by big box stores and industry.
Tacoma’s $900,000 budget for Vision Zero is set to be slashed to $90,000 as the City prioritizes other areas for funding, leaving the Grit City without a dedicated revenue source for safety upgrades.
Home in Tacoma will get a public hearing on Tuesday, which will close the comment period for the Final Environmental Impact Statement. Soon the Tacoma City Council will debate and approve a final zoning plan using the options outlined in the study.
Tacoma’s Green Blocks program is expanding into the Lincoln International District in October and looking for residents looking to help plant and care for trees.
The Urbanist Elections Committee is proud to unveil our 2024 Primary endorsements, headlined by Ryan Mello’s exciting bid for Pierce County Executive. This slate of urbanists is poised to make a difference.
South Sounder riders could see more midday and weekday trips under a program reset. Sound Transit staff are recommending postponing pre-pandemic priorities for longer platforms and trains and accelerating investments in more trips and extended span of service.
A long-vacant Target store is set to become home to around 1600 homes by the early 2040s under an agreement moving forward in Federal Way.
April 1 is the launch date for Pierce Transit’s newest offering, the Stream Community Line. A peak-hour service that will shadow existing service on the Route 1 between Tacoma Dome Station and Spanaway, the Community Line will run every 20 minutes from 5:30am to 7:30am and from 4pm to 7pm, only stop
If implemented, the new framework would make many of the types of buildings that already exist in abundance in Tacoma neighborhoods like Stadium and Proctor legal again to build across the city, with costly parking requirements in place reduced around current and planned transit.
A vocal critic of highway expansion, Mello’s urbanist vision includes “parks and open space trails, a good transportation network, safe places to walk and bike.” He’s running for County Executive to seek to implement that vision.
Renton voters have until February 13 to vote in a special election on the measure putting the city’s minimum wage in line with Tukwila and SeaTac.
The stalling out of major downtown redevelopment offers a chance to finetune goals. The Tacoma Town Center, a $300-million project that is to be developed on a 6.4-acre parcel of land near the University of Washington Tacoma campus, is stalled once again. The reasons are typical: Developers have not
With maintenance base costs rising as much as $1 billion, Tacoma Dome Link could be at risk of further delay. Sound Transit has unearthed meteoric cost increases for the agency’s Operations and Maintenance Facility (OMF) South in Federal Way. Agency staff shared the news on Thursday at a committee
Scuttling bus rapid transit plans, Pierce Transit is moving ahead with a scaled back express bus shadowing Route 1. Bus rapid transit (BRT) along Pacific Avenue/State Route 7 in Pierce County is no longer feasible, according to Pierce Transit. The agency’s board met on August 14th and voted
Hopes for the first high-quality Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line in Pierce County were formally dashed this week when Pierce Transit told its board of commissioners that it could no longer move forward with plans to create any dedicated space for buses along Pacific Avenue between downtown Tacoma and Spanaway.
A hot summer day in Seattle may be scorching in the Central District, a historically Black neighborhood, while North Capitol Hill, home to many affluent White residents, catches a reprieve. Land use patterns across the city vary significantly, resulting in unequal access to climate adaptive resources such as large trees
The Duwamish River Valley hosts three freeways, two international airports, an international seaport, and a river so polluted it was declared a federal Superfund site, with over 300 industries lining the banks. Seattle’s only majority people of color and immigrant neighborhoods are also the most vulnerable; with more families,
Have you ever dreamt of owning a business in a walkable urban neighborhood? You might find that opportunity awaits you in Renton, where the Downtown Renton Partnership is hosting the Main Street Entrepreneur Workshop and Pitch Competition, which kicks off next Tuesday, February 21st from 6-8pm. Over six sessions, participants
In this installment of Housing Notes, we focus on Seattle where there’s a bevy of housing news to report on, and then make a visit north to Ferndale where the City is banking on residents’ love of heavy metal music to promote ADUs (accessory dwelling units). Social Housing Initiative
Hot off the coattails of a resounding electoral victory to raise the minimum wage in Tukwila, a new coalition has formed to launch a similar ballot initiative campaign in Renton. Dubbed “Raise the Wage Renton,” chief organizer Guillermo Zazueta announced the campaign’s launch alongside students, workers, and elected officials
On Thursday, Urban Institute released a new report focused on the Seattle metropolitan region that is sure to be of interest to urbanists and housing advocates. The Urbanist published a preview of this research this fall, after talking to lead researcher Yonah Freemark. The full report goes into much more
A lot of transit buzz in the Northwest recently has been about our regional light rail system, Line 1 and Line 2, being expanded and built out. It is an incredible undertaking, with the potential to unify the entire region and make it easier to skip sitting traffic on I-5.
Pierce Transit is advancing its new bus rapid transit (BRT) program, Stream, with a first line planned from Tacoma to Spanaway that the agency hopes will encourage further expansions. In June, the Pierce Transit board of commissioners approved a study that could bring four more Stream lines into service by
Data reveals a 5% increase in people living on the streets from 2019. In the earliest hours of the morning on January 24th, 2020, volunteers set out to conduct King County’s annual Point-in-Time count. For the first time in three years, it rained heavily as the volunteers counted people
Last week, the Pierce Transit Board of Directors formally took the step to decide the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) for an upgraded transit corridor between Downtown Tacoma and Spanaway. The board of directors chose the preferred route and technology to be used, the latter mostly just being a formality as
To date, the pace of local transit service restoration in Tacoma-Pierce County following the Great Recession has been a slow crawl, expanding at roughly 15,000 service hours a year. Much of Pierce Transit’s current network, with some notable exceptions, operates at hourly headways and only runs until 7pm.