Today I learned (in a conversation with @staterepjuliareed.bsky.social about her new bill, HB 2095) that in Washington a driver is currently presumed liable for a collision if they strike a bridge, but not if they strike and harm someone walking on a sidewalk.

King County is dismantling its climate office and the Governor wants to divert hundreds of millions in climate funding. Nothing to see here.

Ferguson proposing $3 billion in bonds for highways and vehicle ferries and then proposing to divert hundreds of millions in Climate Commitment Act dollars a few days later is such an incredible one-two punch.

Bruce Harrell signed Seattle's Comprehensive Plan and the changes to Neighborhood Residential zoning today, without any fanfare. www.theurbanist.org/2025/12/17/s...

Photographic proof that the sun did in fact come out today.

Free light rail, bus, Sounder, water taxi, and streetcar rides in the Seattle area on New Year's Eve! 🚆🚌🛥️🎆 kingcountymetro.blog/2025/12/22/k...

The way big news outlets cover modest tax increases is such a wild contrast with the way they cover proposals to issue bonds that will take decades to pay back. Issuing debt isn't free!

Governor Bob Ferguson's big idea to save the state transportation system, exactly how we'e designed it: more debt. www.theurbanist.org/2025/12/22/f...

I always thought the Smith Tower could use a corporate logo

They're trying to squeak one more Harrell Administration priority through before the end of the year: allowing huge-ass corporate signs on skyscrapers in Downtown Seattle. services.seattle.gov/Portal/Cap/C...

support independent media. idk what else to say right now.

Seattle Fire is currently responding to a driver hitting someone walking at MLK Jr Way S and S Myrtle Street, at the north end of Othello Station.

Run for Edmonds Council Rick Steves

As of Sunday morning *THREE* troopers have been hit by drivers this weekend. Don't worry, the WSP spokesperson needs everyone to know that this third driver wasn't drunk. www.kiro7.com/news/local/s...

Feeling pretty okay right now about the fact that Waymo can't operate without a human driver in Washington without the legislature changing state law.

This is still up by the way.

Rail $395 million Public transit $753 million Debt $1.7 billion Highway upgrades $5.3 billion someone who is good at transportation planning please help me budget this. my state is dying

@seattletimes.com op-ed team is on vacation so they invited Nextdoor to help

I keep going back to Bob Ferguson's press conference yesterday. No mention of making safety investments to prevent wholly preventable road deaths. No mention of people who don't drive places, no mention of public transit. We've gone backwards. tvw.org/video/govern...

Refusing to do the necessary work to make our transportation system safe for everyone means continuing to put our first responders in harm's way. www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/a...

The author on this story took sixteen paragraphs to get to the fact that this would be paid for with debt. We are so cooked. komonews.com/news/local/g...

Taking the state further into debt just to maintain the existing highway infrastructure we have, all to avoid increasing the taxes we already raised to pay for highway expansion projects, is so wild. Ferguson's first transportation budget is even worse than I expected.

The Third Avenue transit cordidor has lovely new banners all along the street but this is clearly the best one.

In this Washington, access to transgender care is protected by state law and we will fight to preserve it for all the families who need these services. This administration needs to stop attacking families and put its energy into extending the ACA tax credits to help people afford health insurance.

Earlier this week, we discussed a hit-and-run in which a car killed a cyclist. That cyclist's name was Alley, and their friend reached out to let us know a GoFundMe has been created to support their family: www.gofundme.com/f/honoring-a...

A new episode of the Urbanist podcast is out! I spend some time talking about the new SPOG contract, as you'd expect.

Rep. Mark Klicker (R-Walla Walla), who you may know as the author of the state neighborhood cafe bill, is slamming Bob Ferguson for vetoing his bill creating a housing taskforce, and then turning around and creating a housing taskforce as part of an Exec. Order setting up a state Dept. of Housing.

North King absolutely does not pay 51% of the taxes that fund Sound Transit -- I'm watching to see how long this incredibly inaccurate statement stays up on KOMO's website. Strauss was talking about cost-sharing just on the new Ballard Link downtown tunnel itself. komonews.com/news/local/s...

Governor Bob Ferguson has proposed using the state's debt capacity to pay for new ferries, along with maintenance and preservation on the existing boats. Debt service is already 12% of the state transportation budget, more than WSF's entire budget, and 149% of the state public transit budget.

Affordable housing providers in King county are confronting a host of challenges, including vacancies and the evisceration of federal funding. My latest for @theurbanist.org: www.theurbanist.org/2025/12/19/h...

About 45 minutes ago, Seattle Fire responded to a driver hitting a child at Broadway and E Fir St in Yesler Terrace. No other details available right now except that the child was transported to the hospital and the driver stayed on the scene.

It's actually incredibly wild to be talking about the second tunnel outside of the context of other cost savings measures for Ballard Link, which Sound Transit's capital team is actively working on. The process around this discussion just plain stinks.

Governor Ferguson is rolling out his proposed state transportation budget tomorrow at a WSDOT headquarters in Lacey, and just for fun I looked up how long it would take for me to get there and back on public transit: at least six hours.

Crosslake light rail update: pre-revenue service trains will start running back and forth across I-90 starting NEXT MONDAY, CEO Dow Constantine just told the board.

Sound Transit CEO Dow Constantine tells the agency's board that 16,000 riders boarded trains at the three new stations built as part of the Federal Way Link Extension on its opening day on December 6.

Greetings from the final Sound Transit board meeting of 2025. While major decisions don't usually get made during this lame duck period, at today's meeting the board is expected to make a decision whether to pursue additional study of building Ballard Link without the downtown tunnel portion.

Confirmed this week that former Seattle Deputy Mayor Shefali Ranganathan has been consulting for Snohomish County Exec Dave Somers' office since April on transportation issues that include Sound Transit. The scope of work includes "recommendations on strategy, policy." The deals are happening now.

That Wall Street Journal story is the only thing I've ever read that made me really want to work in a newsroom.

SDOT has released a list of the six locations where the Downtown Seattle Association will be installing sidewalk ad kiosks first, after receiving approval by the city council earlier this year.

How to get outvoted on the Sound Transit board:

Former SDOT Director Scott Kubly weighs in on the issue of the second downtown light rail tunnel, which is set to be front-and-center at today's Sound Transit board meeting. www.theurbanist.org/2025/12/18/o...

This project was added to the transportation levy as a special line item in mid-2024, and the first time the public is being asked about it is nearly 2026

Your move, Bainbridge Island

I was on @citycastseattle.bsky.social today with @bretthamil.bsky.social and @janehu.bsky.social to talk about Sunday's 100% preventable tragedy on Beacon Avenue and the community response that shut down the street later that evening. megaphone.link/CC8975728969

Just give us access to the internal employee merch Sound Transit

Another elected leader, Port Commissioner Toshiko Grace Hasegawa has now also put out a statement about Allie's death. www.facebook.com/reel/1142385...

G Line bunching is back in a big way this evening.

NEWS: Katie Wilson will swap out current interim SDOT Director Adiam Emery for a new interim Director in Angela Brady, who currently serves as head of the Office of the Waterfront and Sound Transit. A search for a permanent Director is expected next year. www.theurbanist.org/2025/12/17/k...

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