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One of five shared Renton bus stops used by Sound Transit busses
I’m going to begin a series of blog entries covering an important topic for Renton transit riders and taxpayers. Renton taxpayers have so far given Sound Transit over a BILLION dollars toward the Sound Transit System, a lot of money from a city that has had a population between 60,000 and 100,000 during Sound Transit’s life. To date the only Sound Transit infrastructure you can find in Renton is five shared bus stops. Even worse, Metro transit (a different agency we also fund) paid for the bus shelters; Sound Transit just put up the shared signage. The 560 and 566 ST bus lines go through our city and stop five places in downtown Renton on their trips between Bellevue and Seatac (560), and Auburn (566).
Renton taxpayers are currently being taxed over $50 Million a year for this bus service.
Five bus stops in Renton are shared by Metro Buses (listed on the left) and Sound Transit Buses (listed on the right). No other Sound Transit branded infrastructure appears in Renton.
In the mid 2000’s Sound Transit did give Renton about $19 million toward widening Rainier Avenue, but it was only about 20% of the money promised to Renton under ST 1, and it only happened because former Renton Mayor Jesse Tanner sued to get the money.
Many of Renton’s leaders, me included, have toiled to get Renton a more fair share of Sound Transit service, and have struggled against organizational obstacles that favored certain cities above others for light rail service and capital improvements. Sound Transit is its own agency, chartered by the legislature, and is not subordinate to every city leader. As Seattle is looking at adding more Light Rail Stations, and Bellevue is adding several of their own, Cities as far flung as Everett, Redmond, Issaquah, Federal Way and Tacoma are all designing their light rail stations. Renton taxpayers will be subsidizing these stations.
Meanwhile, Renton’s only hopes for near-term rapid connectivity to the light rail system, the I-405 Bus Rapid Transit System (BRT), branded as Stride, has been dealt a serious blow by the Sound Transit Board of Directors.
The BRT Stride system that was scheduled to be in place in 2024 with frequent express buses every ten to fifteen minutes has been delayed two years until 2026. Even more aggravating, the system was going to have parking for 700 cars at its Main and Grady station, and 200 cars at its Seahawks Station– but that parking has been delayed until 2034. Yes, you read that right. For eight years Renton’s Bus Rapid Transit will have no dedicated parking at its stations.
And one of the most important elements of Sound Transit Phase 3 for Renton, a possible design concept for a Renton light rail connection if there ever is a Sound Transit 4, is also appearing to stall out.
There are too many details to discuss in one blog entry, but I’ll go into all of them over the next month or so. It’s my hope that readers will understand where we are on Sound Transit, how we got to the current point of inequality, and how we can work our way into a more fair position in the future.
I promise this won’t be just a finger-pointing series– it will instead be a call to meaningful actions which can make things somewhat better for Renton transit riders and taxpayers in the future.
Please check back frequently for more entries. And share your thoughts and ideas for where you would like me to focus in the comments.
Many cities in the Sound Transit taxing district have or will be getting light rail stations like the new Northgate Station that opened a couple years ago. None are currently planned for Renton.
It is my understanding that Sound Transit along with ignoring Renton is now having troubles with getting tracks across the Lake Washington floating bridge, maybe it would have been cheaper and faster to build the Link Rail through Renton on the way to Bellevue.
Yes, this is so true Dave! I always felt the system should go around the north end and south end of the lake.
My opinion: the legacy of Marcie Maxwell screwing us over on the state level. She ensured the train was there for her friends and that it didn’t go next to her investment property. Bet it was a win in her book.
We were owed this from way back from ST1? Do we have any say on the ST board?
Here’s who is on the Sound Transit Board:
https://www.soundtransit.org/get-to-know-us/board-directors/board-members
We have someone on the board of ST? You wouldn’t know if from how they’ve ignore Renton.
It’s understandable that Renton’s chattering class wants to make an issue of Sound Transit services and funding just for political gain.
It’s important to recognize that Sound Transit can’t serve all people especially in small towns with low ridership because it’s designed to be holistic by providing a comprehensive regional transit system that serves the transportation needs of the Puget Sound region, rather than focusing solely on individual cities or towns.
Sound Transit’s planning and decision-making processes involve extensive community engagement and input, with a focus on ensuring that the system serves the needs of all members of the community.
SummerBoi, you are implying that Renton is a small town with low ridership. What is your definition of small town? What do you think contributes to low ridership? Could it be lack of busses and lack of parking near transit centers?
This gives me a good idea for tomorrow’s blog entry. I’ll show exactly how the Sound Transit board justified taking our parking away until 2034. That is sure to generate interest and discussion.
Summerboi, that is a little short sighted considering many if not the majority of people working in large commercial areas come from outside of Seattle, from little “towns” like Renton and southwest King County.
What’s it going to take to fix this? This is blatantly unfair that Renton (with two world-class factories) is subsidizing Mercer Island.
My opinion: we need to pay attention to who we vote for.
Have you seen the Seattle Socialists demanding to copy and paste Tukwilas’s stupid minimum wage act onto Renton? Go track down a photo; it’s quite funny.
I will bet that many of them have never been on either side of a business/employee relationship. Given that Mom’s basement is so comfy and she makes incredible snickerdoodles.