It's not just us. Other voices on Link light rail's soaring costs:
“West Seattle is extremely well suited for an enhanced bus network — yet they never seriously considered it. Not only were the areas chosen for enhanced service arbitrary, but so too were the projects themselves.”
Better Busses in Seattle by Ross Bleakney | Seattle Transit Blog
“It’s clear that a future ballot measure or another revenue source is needed to finish what ST3 started, just like how ST3 finished ST2 projects, and ST2 finished Sound Move. However, voters will also expect to get something new; not just something they were promised in 2016.”
Build the Best Parts First by Nathan Dickey | Seattle Transit Blog
“Sound Transit is about to trade billions of dollars and a decade of delay for capacity we don’t need yet, while starving the rest of the region of the transit we need now.”
Op-Ed: Defer Seattle’s Second Downtown Rail Tunnel to Save ST3 by Scott Kubly | The Urbanist
“Preparing for this, I went and looked at the slide deck for the Enterprise Initiative and it is an eyeful. It really should be called: We’re dead in the water, what in the heck do we do now?” — Doug MacDonald, former secretary of the Washington State Dept. of Transportation
Future of Public Transportation Forum, minute 46:35
“I’m just saying there are a lot of questions and tradeoffs we have not delved into, and that’s, I think, unfortunate,” Balducci said.
Sound Transit Board Sets Aside Idea of Skipping Second Downtown Tunnel by Ryan Packer | The Urbanist
“It’s a bit too much of a coincidence that sum of all high end estimates at $21.4 billion magically match with the same cost as the original ST3 Ballard Link Extension at $21.4 billion.”
No New Tunnel Downtown? Sound Transit Explores Ballard Link Alternatives by Wesley Lin | Seattle Transit Blog
“It has been politically expedient for Sound Transit to assume that extending light rail lines will increase ridership and accommodate a meaningful share of travel demand in the region. However, ridership trends cast doubt about the effectiveness of rail projects to increase transit mode share.”