Holiday Travel Unfazed By Gas Cost

This weekend is predicted to provide still more evidence that while people may complain loudly about high gas prices, they're not likely to actually change their actions as a result.

If the high gas prices keep some from traveling this Fourth of July holiday, the good weather and long weekend will lure others out, enough that Puget Sound-area travelers can expect record numbers of people on the roads along with the high temperatures.

Record numbers of travelers are expected nationwide this holiday weekend, according to the Washington AAA, as people regain confidence about traveling in a post-9/11 environment.

"It was a trend that we saw for a long time prewar, but with 9/11 and the (Iraq) war people got a bit nervous about traveling," AAA spokeswoman Jennifer Harbison said. "We've seen the confidence build gradually and now we're seeing the confidence level as (high as) it was before the war. The gas prices are certainly not keeping people home."

Okay I don't know what that mumbo-jumbo is all about that allegedly the Iraq war makes people "nervous about traveling," but I certainly wouldn't be surprised to see the prediction of "record numbers of travelers" come true. When it comes to gas prices, 99% of people are all bark and no bite. It's as if they think they deserve cheap gasoline or something. Okay, I'm done ranting for now.

(P-I Staff, Seattle P-I, 06.30.2006)

The Tim Is On Non-Vacation

I'm flying out to California this morning, and I shan't return until Sunday night. So please feel free to use this post as an open discussion to discuss any stories I miss while I'm gone. If I somehow manage to find a usable computer connected to a descent internet connection I may try to make a post or two, but don't bet on it.

Tacoma's "main downtown street is sinking"

If not for the hojillions of dollars it will likely cost to fix—oh, and the nasty traffic inconvenience it will cause—this would actually be pretty funny: Street near light rail could 'sink into a goo'

The city's main downtown street is sinking alongside the Link light rail line that went in four years ago.

It's not clear why, though city officials note the street is very old and the soil beneath it is weak.

Sound Transit says its light rail line is not the issue.

"We built a foundation for the light rail line that's having no problem," transit spokesman Geoff Patrick said. "That track is not sinking. It's the road on each side of the track that there are some issues with."
...
"The city doesn't believe that it's solely the fault of the light rail construction, but the slumping is probably somehow related to the overall project," he said.

No one tested the soil beneath Pacific Avenue before construction of the light rail line. If they had, they would have discovered that the subsurface is weak, substandard clay, Steve Shanafelt, Tacoma public works engineering division manager, told The News Tribune.

The light rail tracks and concrete intersections are in fine shape, Shanafelt said. But the asphalt roadway needs to be fixed within five years.

"If we don't get a grant, the street will sink into a goo," he said.

Whoops.

(Associated Press, Seattle P-I, 06.19.2006)

Toll Talk: Lake Washington Bridges

More and more every day it sounds like tolls will make a comeback in our area sooner rather than later. Likely initial candidates? I-90 and 520 across Lake Washington.

Imagine free-flowing traffic across both Lake Washington floating bridges at all hours of the day.

Now imagine paying more than $5 every time you drive across the lake — because that's what it would take.

That's according to the preliminary findings of a state Transportation Commission report that will be presented to the public at open houses across the state this week, including one in Mercer Island.

Using tolls on the State Route 520 and Interstate 90 bridges was one of several hypothetical scenarios the commission considered in its study of the potential benefits of tolling.

According to the study, a relatively high toll price to cross the bridges would improve traffic flow across the lake — by influencing people to shift their commuting habits — but could have a negative impact on overall traffic on the Eastside and in Seattle.

As I have said before, I learned long ago that it's just a bad idea to live across the water from where you work. If the choice is between nasty traffic or a $3-$5 per day toll, you've put yourself in a pretty crummy spot.

Then again, as a commenter on yesterday's post pointed out, the neighborhoods around the edge of the bridges (Medina, Mercer Island, Madison Park, etc.) are some of Seattle's richest. They would probably be happy to pay $5 a day to reduce the traffic (by eliminating the cars of all those pesky commoners).

(Jamie Swift, King County Journal, 06.19.2006)

520 Bridge Not Long For This World

This wasn't intended to be a one-post-per-week kind of blog, but I guess that's what it has been the last few weeks. Oh well, I can't change the past. But I will try to make updates more frequently from this point forward (not counting this coming Thursday-Sunday, when I will be out of town).

Moving on to the latest big traffic news... As I'm sure you've heard, it turns out that the 520 bridge is a bit worse off than we may have previously thought.

The aging Evergreen Point floating bridge across Lake Washington needs to be replaced soon, officials said after a weekend inspection of the span.

"This bridge is in jeopardy. This bridge is aging. This bridge needs to be replaced," said Dave Dye, urban corridors administrator with the Washington state Department of Transportation, in a tour with politicians, media and community members.

More than 6,000 feet of cracks in the walls of the bridge were the most obvious signs that the structure, now in its fifth decade, is reaching the end of its useful life.

If the Viaduct is any indication, now that we know that 520 has a serious problem, it will only take approximately five years of committee meetings, focused studies, and "consensus building" before we actually start on a real solution. Given the Puget Sound's stellar reputation when it comes to bridges, I think your best bet would be to just avoid the bridge if at all possible.

(Associated Press, Seattle P-I, 06.19.2006)

Locke + Carlson = RTID FTW?

Obviously I can't ignore yesterday's big news. Gary Locke and John Carlson team up to form a transportation tax-advocating super team. Gary Locke and John Carlson? Yeah.

Former Democratic Gov. Gary Locke has joined conservative radio host John Carlson in leading a campaign to put a hefty package of regional transportation taxes on the November 2007 ballot.

Locke says he hopes other leaders in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties will help him educate voters about the need to invest more in roads, buses and rail. The tax package could total $13 billion to $16 billion, the amount Sound Transit and the Regional Transportation Investment District plan to put on the November 2007 ballot.

I'm still not convinced that the RTID is a good idea. The state hasn't shown me that they can be trusted to effectively spend the dollars they already have. So why should we give them billions more, especially when they admit up front that they'll be pouring a good portion of it into "solutions" that only a tiny percentage of people will use?

Maybe Carlson can convince me otherwise. Given his most recent political activity (to repeal the 9.5 cent gas tax hike), I'm quite surprised to see him pushing this (and I'm not alone). What's going on, have we entered bizarro world? Stefan Sharkansky over at Sound Politics did a little digging and sheds a little light on the situation:

This is an attempt to forge a consensus on transportation solutions in order to shape the 2007 ballot measures. The three co-chairs, Locke, Carlson and Jessyn Schor (from public transit advocacy group, Transportation Choices) will bring in a broad range of people across the political spectrum to help formulate the package, including conservatives and transit skeptics as well as transit advocates.

They've got their work cut out for them, building "consensus" across such a diverse political group. It's no wonder they're starting 17 months before the election.

P.S. (FTW = "for the win.")

(Associated Press, Seattle P-I, 06.12.2006)
(Stefan Sharkansky, Sound Politics, 06.11.2006)

Rubber Roads Coming To Lynnwood

This is interesting. Remember the story a few weeks ago about I-405 neighbors wanting the state to use rubber road to reduce the noise? If you recall, the rubber road plan had a bit of a problem: "But the problem for us is it doesn't wear like normal and it comes out in chunks." Something I didn't see mentioned in the article at all however was the fact that the state is already planning to test a new version of rubber roadway on a stretch of I-5 in Everett:

In August, the state will begin testing quieter asphalt, with the test material to be used on southbound I-5 in Lynnwood while the state repaves that section of the freeway.
...
According to the state's plan, two miles of that stretch, between Interstate 405 and 44th Avenue West, should be noticeably quieter for those who live nearby and even for people driving on it.
...
The problem is past versions of the quieter asphalt haven't held up to Washington state's wet weather, cold temperatures, and, worst of all, drivers using studded tires.

[Mia] Waters [acoustics program manager for Transportation Department] said the hope is that the newer, improved surfaces will hold together longer.

I still don't have any pity for people who chose to live next to a freeway but then complain about its noise. But if some fancy new polymer rubber can lower the volume, that would of course be a good thing. Just be careful driving I-5 south through Lynnwood in a few years in case that "coming out in chunks" thing is still a problem.

(Associated Press, Seattle P-I, 06.13.2006)

City Streets Too Expensive?

Did you catch the argument between the Seattle P-I and Mayor Nickels? The debate is whether city streets are too expensive to maintain without increased taxes, or the city government is spending too much money on concerns that should be secondary to roads. On May 24, the P-I "Editorial Board" laid the smack down on the Mayor's grand tax scheme:

Seattle government has for decades neglected its fundamental obligation to maintain the city's streets, bridges and sidewalks. The correction for this neglect, however, does not lie in Mayor Greg Nickels' grandiose $1.8 billion package of new taxes and tax increases.

A better solution was proposed six years ago by a business coalition alarmed at the condition of our streets. The bottom line then remains the bottom line now: Get the money from the city's general fund.

Certain functions and services are basic to municipal government, things taxpayers expect the city to provide. Safe and passable streets are among them. If general taxes must be increased to deliver those fundamentals, then do it or spend less on matters of lower priority.

While I rarely agree with editorials in the P-I, I have to admit that this one makes a lot of sense. When you think of the purposes of city government, what are the first things that come to mind? For me its police, fire, and roads. Everything else should be secondary.

Of course, the Mayor doesn't quite see things that way, and today the P-I gave him a chance to defend himself.

Like it or not, Seattle faces a growing $500 million backlog of repairs and maintenance just to bring our city transportation system back to a decent and safe condition.

With a challenge this big, half-measures aren't going to cut it. Neither is wishful thinking by the Seattle P-I Editorial Board.

The paper has suggested Seattle simply "get the money from the city's general fund" to magically wipe away this enormous problem. Sufficient funds could be found by cutting money for "matters of lower priority," the paper argued.

What lower priorities would the Editorial Board suggest?
...
Ending the growing backlog with the existing budget could require a 10 percent across-the-board reduction to other city departments. Imagine the outrage if we followed the P-I's advice and cut:

• 19 million from the police department, which is equivalent to losing about 200 officers.
• $12 million from the fire department, which is equivalent to closing about six engine companies in neighbor stations.
• [etc...]

The people of Seattle want a real solution to our transportation woes, not a false choice between money for safe streets and money for public safety or human needs.

Speaking of false choices, I love how the mayor's idea of finding matters of lower priority is "a 10 percent across-the-board reduction." Way to make your case, Mayor. Appeal to emotion by claiming that the only way to fix roads without raising taxes would be to fire 200 police officers.

(P-I Editorial Board, Seattle P-I, 05.24.2006)
(Greg Nickels, Seattle P-I, 06.08.2006)

Lawyers Increasingly Beat Traffic Citations

Here's an interesting article that highlights the apparently growing trend of hiring legal council to contest traffic infractions.

More people in Washington are fighting — and beating — traffic tickets than ever before. More than 158,000 traffic charges were dismissed last year, twice as many as a decade ago.

Factoring in the growth in tickets issued, the dismissal rate grew over 10 years from fewer than nine out of every 100 traffic charges in 1996 to more than 13 out of every 100 last year.

There are a lot of reasons for it, but one is the emergence of a cottage industry of sorts: Attorneys like Jeannie Mucklestone and her lawyer brothers, James and John Mucklestone, have created niche practices in the art of getting people out of their tickets.

I heard Ms. Mucklestone on the radio yesterday on my way home. Interestingly, her main point was that most of the time the state does not have enough evidence to uphold traffic citations, and therefore must dismiss them. Gee, that sounds like a familiar argument, where have I heard it before?

Callers to the talk radio show yesterday were fairly evenly split between "you're providing a great service" and "you're making our roads more dangerous." Personally, I say more power to her. This is still America, where we are presumed innocent until proven guilty. If there's not proof of guilt, innocence must be assumed. I wish I had thought to call someone like that. It just didn't even cross my mind that I would have to, since I was innocent, and the only "evidence" the state had to the contrary was an assumption of cause based on outcome.

(Jim Davis, Seattle Times, 06.01.2006)

Cut Costs By Cutting The Car

Here's another interesting tale of a family that has no car at all. Only this family doesn't live close to everything in Ballard , and they've gone a lot longer than a year with no car. This Issaquah family has been car-free for almost 20 years .

The Petersons don't drive. They haven't since 1987. No one in the family has a driver's license. At 17 and 20 years old, the Peterson kids have never been behind the wheel.

As the rest of the country frets over the highest gas prices in history, the Petersons carry on as usual, biking, walking and riding the bus wherever they need to go.

"We're not anti-car," said Kent Peterson, 47. "We've just figured out that we don't need one."

I have to say, that's pretty awesome. Cars cost a heck of a lot of money. My ideal solution would be to live within five miles of work so I can ride my bicycle every day. I'd still have cars, but they would be 100% electric. I'm not so much anti-car as I am anti-internal combustion engine.

When you read about a family like this, you can't help but realize that 99% of people that insist they just need their cars are really just unwilling to kick the habit.

(Sonia Krishnan, Seattle Times, 05.28.2006)