OVERVIEW

The Sound Transit 3 Plan adds 62 new miles of light rail with stations serving 37 additional areas for a regional system reaching 116 miles. The plan also establishes BRT on I-405/SR 518 and SR 522/NE 145th; expands capacity and service of the Sounder south rail line; includes ST Express bus service; improves access to stations for bicyclists, pedestrians, drivers, and pick-up and drop-off services, and expands parking at stations.

62 NEW MILES OF LIGHT RAIL

With 62 new miles of light rail, ST3 completes a 116-mile regional system, five times larger than it is today, reaching Everett, Tacoma, Seattle neighborhoods of Ballard and West Seattle, and new Eastside destinations of Redmond, south Kirkland, Bellevue, and central Issaquah.
Builds on extensions now being planned and constructed to Angle Lake, Northgate, Lynnwood, Mercer Island, Bellevue, Overlake.
Extends Tacoma Link west to Tacoma Community College with six stations.
Provides service 20 hours each day, every 6 minutes in peak and every 10 minutes in non-peak hours.
Light rail is fast, travelling in its own right-of-way separated from traffic to reach destinations at the same time every day, regardless of weather or traffic congestion.
Under ST3, light rail is projected to serve about 600,000 riders every day.

BUS RAPID TRANSIT (BRT)

BRT provides fast, reliable bus service every 10 minutes in peak hours along I-405, SR 518, SR 522 and NE 145th Street, connecting to light rail service in Bellevue, Tukwila, Shoreline and Lynnwood.
BRT operates in the Express Toll lanes between Totem Lake and south Renton and mainly on exclusive right-of-way between Tukwila and Burien Transit Center, allowing users to take advantage of higher speeds.
Builds inline freeway stations that allow buses to stop within the freeway right-of-way to pick up/unload riders at NE 85th Street in Kirkland and NE 44th Street in Renton, and a new transit center and parking garage in south Renton.
Provides new or expanded parking at Totem Lake, NE 44th in Renton, South Renton, North Sammamish, Lake Forest Park, Kenmore and Bothell.

SOUNDER TRAIN SERVICE

ST3 responds to fast-growing south line ridership (15 percent growth in the last year) by increasing capacity with extended platforms that could serve trains up to 10 cars in length and approximately 40% more passengers at Lakewood, Tacoma, Puyallup, Sumner, Auburn, Kent and Tukwila.
In addition to expanding train capacity, ST3 provides the potential to run more trains during the day.
Two stations added to the south line, one at Tillicum to serve Joint Base Lewis-McChord and a second at DuPont.
New parking built at the north line stations at Edmonds and Mukilteo, and access improvements are made to both the north and south lines.

ST EXPRESS BUS & OTHER IMPROVEMENTS

ST Express continues serving key long distance corridors.
Capital contributions improve bus speed and reliability along Pacific Avenue in Tacoma, between cities in East Pierce County and the Sumner Sounder station, and frequent bus service between Lakewood and Tacoma.
The Bus-on-Shoulder program provides opportunities for buses to use shoulders on freeways and state highways to bypass congestion where feasible.
A capped contribution to Madison Street BRT along with improvements to RapidRide C and D lines speeds service to Ballard and West Seattle while light rail to those communities is under construction.

IMPROVED ACCESS TO STATIONS

Includes funding at stations to improve walking and cycling routes, transfers from partner transit services, and pick-up and drop-off areas.
Parking additions at:
- New light rail stations: Everett Station, Mariner Park-and-Ride, South Boeing Access Road, South 272nd, Federal Way Transit Center, South Federal Way, Fife, Southeast Redmond and Central Issaquah
- Sounder stations: Everett, Mukilteo, Edmonds, Tillicum, DuPont
- BRT stations: Totem Lake, NE 44th, South Renton, Lake Forest Park, Kenmore and Bothell
- North Sammamish Park-and-Ride

RESPONDING TO POPULATION GROWTH

The ST3 Plan responds to the region’s rising population. Congestion on the region's highways increased 95% from 2010 to 2015. (WSDOT) As a result, the average peak hour commuter in the Seattle area spent 63 hours stuck in traffic in 2014. (Texas A&M Transportation Institute Urban Mobility Report).
Last year the region grew by 52,000 people, that’s 1,000 new residents every week. Population is projected to continue growing by 800,000 by 2040.
ST3 enables more people to access fast and reliable transit that can meet demand many decades into the future.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS

Regionally, transportation is the largest source of the air pollution that causes global warming.
With ST3, annual vehicle miles driven in the region by 2040 are projected to reduce by 314-411 million miles as people shift from driving to transit.
As a result of previously approved and ST3 projects, an estimated 793,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions will be saved annually by 2040. That’s the equivalent of burning more than 4,224 railcars of coal.
ST3 is consistent with regional land use and transportation plans, encouraging development of vibrant, walkable communities, that can help contain sprawl

ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS

ST3 is projected to create more than 78,000 direct jobs and more than 144,000 indirect jobs over the 25-year period of construction, for a total of over 223,000 jobs. A job is defined as full-time employment of one person for one year. (Sound Transit 3 Plan, Appendix C)
Businesses consider transportation system performance as a factor influencing decisions about where to locate and expand.
With ST3 approximately 84% of Sound Transit District residents and 93% of district workers have convenient access to the region’s high-reliability rail and BRT system by 2040.

ST3 FUNDING

The estimated cost to implement ST3 is $53.8 billion in year-of-expenditure dollars, of which $27.7 billion would be financed with new local taxes. ST3 would increase these local taxes: Sales tax increase of 0.5 percent, or 50 cents on a $100 purchase; License tabs (MVET) increase of 0.8%, or $80 annually on a $10,000 vehicle; Property tax increase of 25 cents for each $1,000 of assessed valuation, or $100 annually for a house assessed at $400,000.
Other funding sources include:
- Federal grants: $4.7 billion
- Existing Sound Transit taxes: $8.6 billion
- Fares and other revenues: $1.5 billion
- Bond proceeds: $11 billion
- Interest earnings: $.33 billion
The Sound Transit 3 Plan obligates the Board to roll back taxes to the level required for permanent operations and maintenance following completion of transit projects, unless a future ballot measure directs otherwise. Within seven years of completing ST3, Sound Transit and an independent advisor, Piper Jaffray & Co., have calculated that the entire ST3 tax increase could be eliminated, along with approximately 11 percent of the sales taxes currently supporting ST2 and Sound Move. This or an alternate mix of tax reductions could cut total agency tax collections in half.

USING TAX DOLLARS WISELY

Rigorous independent oversight along with demanding internal cost and project controls helps ensure that Sound Transit spends taxpayer dollars wisely. This includes:

Oversight by a 15-member Citizen Oversight Panel and locally-elected Sound Transit Board members.
Since 1994 Sound Transit has undergone 171 audits which puts it among the most heavily-audited agencies in the state.
These audits were conducted by:

State and federal government agencies
Independent private-sector firms, including Deloitte, KPMG, Moss Adams, Booz Allen Hamilton and others.

This discipline, which has helped Sound Transit deliver major projects such as University Link and Angle Lake extension on or ahead of schedule and on or below budget, will continue through ST3.