From Newsgroup: alt.law-enforcement
Insults about being late keep coming,
a key - frequent tardyness caused rider to be marked down - her
manager manager marked me as unreliable in my recent performance
evaluation, citing my rCydecision to get to work by Light RailrCO,
Mike Lindblom By Mike Lindblom
Seattle Times transportation reporter
Traffic Lab is a Seattle Times project that digs into the regionrCOs transportation issues to explore the policies and politics that
determine how we get around and how billions of dollars in public money
are spent.
A commuter wrote to Sound Transit this month that light rail disruptions
made her late four times to morning meetings, at a solar power business
near Rainier Beach Station.
rCLAs a result my manager marked me as unreliable in my recent performance evaluation, citing my rCydecision to get to work by Light RailrCO,rCY she wrote elected officials in charge of the agency. She also found trouble
on a weekend, caught in a stall Sept. 27 inside the Capitol Hill tunnel
that plunged Sounders and Mariners fans into darkness for a minute.
rCLPlease help our Light Rail system and improve rider experiences rCo and trust,rCY she wrote.
Service disruptions, generically labeled in rider alerts as power,
mechanical or switch problems, have tarnished light rail service
frequently since spring 2024, as new lines started and middle-aged
equipment declined.
They donrCOt occur every day, and most of Sound TransitrCOs nearly 130,000 daily passengers hit delays less often than drivers do. But when light
rail is obstructed, itrCOs hard for riders to adjust, especially since
local governments are putting more eggs in the rail basket these days,
and reducing express buses.
When being on time really matters, like for a job interview or a flight
at Sea-Tac, what do Sound Transit officials think people should do?
Build in extra trip time? Hire a taxi, or just drive?
Sound Transit CEO Dow Constantine wonrCOt give specific advice, such as
allow an extra 30 minutes.
rCLI donrCOt think I would go that far. There have been a number of notable disruptions, but most days for most trips, everything is moving on the prescribed headways and on the prescribed schedule,rCY he said in a short interview.
Riders should check for service alerts at www.soundtransit.org, he said,
and know that shuttle buses will be sent during any lengthy stoppage. (Nonetheless, there was a 24-minute stoppage in the U District
mid-month, that people mostly waited out.)
rCLObviously I was always cautioned by my mother to leave a little bit
early for things, so I could make sure I was on time,rCY Constantine said. rCLBut if yourCOre going to choose between different modes of
transportation, light rail is going to probably be the most dependable,
to get you where you need to be on time.rCY
Board Chair Dave Somers suggests allowing extra minutes, since even on
the best days, you might walk into the station just as a train leaves,
so thatrCOs already 10 minutes of waiting. rCLAnd maybe have a backup plan.rCY
rCLAllow a little extra time and be patient. WerCOre working on it. We know reliability is extremely important,rCY said Somers, the Snohomish County executive.
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A closed gate is seen at the entrance of Roosevelt Station on Aug. 15,
when light rail service between Capitol Hill and Northgate stations was
shut down. (Ken Lambert / The Seattle Times)
A closed gate is seen at the entrance of Roosevelt Station on Aug. 15,
when light rail service between Capitol Hill and Northgate stations was
shut down. (Ken Lambert / The Seattle Times)
A closed gate is seen at the entrance of Roosevelt Station on Aug. 15,
when light rail service between Capitol Hill and Northgate stations was
shut down. (Ken Lambert / The Seattle Times)
So far in October, there have been three surprise train stoppages and
three surprise delays along the 1 Line between Lynnwood, Seattle and
SeaTac. These ranged from a brief pause for a medical incident at U
District Station, to a 5 p.m. outage between UW and Northgate stations
Oct. 16, to single-tracking and closures in Rainier Valley, to repair a damaged rail switch last Friday morning.
Performance dashboards show 82% of light rail trains on time during July
and August, shy of the 90% goal. Staffers blamed Sodo event crowds, one electrical fire, police activity and mechanical glitches. A mere 92% of
1 Line trains completed their scheduled trips in July, missing the 98.5%
goal. Some problems, they can or should control, others they donrCOt, such
as car crashes blocking a track.
However, rail is becoming more reliable, Constantine said. Last year,
there were 36 average hours of disruptions per month, down to 15 hours
monthly in 2025. Sound TransitrCOs goal is fewer than 10 hours next year,
he said.
Constantine said $16 million is budgeted for projects in 2026 to make
service more reliable, such as replacing old power lines, substations
and dispatch gear, during a multiyear $80 million program. His new
service delivery director, Ed Cobean, formerly at San Francisco Muni,
will close stations early sometimes, to enable more rail and wire
maintenance.
Those kicked off three nights last week, when service ended at 11 p.m.
between Rainier Beach and Angle Lake stations, followed by a scheduled
all-day shutdown of the Beacon Hill tunnel Sunday, to replace old ventilation-fan switches.
rCLThis is one of the ways werCOre going to ensure werCOre going to have fewer and fewer [surprise] interruptions,rCY Constantine told the board last week.
The EastsiderCOs 2 Line, less than two years old, has been afflicted with power losses that closed some stations. Constantine said thatrCOs largely
a growing pain with new wires, as crews learn how to maintain them at
proper tightness. (Slack downtown Seattle wires, about 17 years old,
were re-examined and adjusted in recent months.) Theft of copper
electric wires caused a 2 Line shutdown in June.
To be sure, highway trips can suddenly be thwarted by a crash, rain, or unexpectedly bad snarls caused by roadwork.
The Washington State Department of Transportation publishes rCLreliable
95th percentile travel timesrCY that help commuters plan. For instance, if
an average 29-mile commute on I-5 from Everett to Seattle takes 51
minutes, you should allow 79 minutes to arrive on time 19 out of 20
trips, or 95% of commute trips.
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Seattle homicide suspect mistakenly released from jail in California
rCLJust like anyone who would be driving, IrCOm planning ahead and thinking ahead, but I donrCOt think of transit as a less reliable system than a
car,rCY said Tacoma Councilmember Kristina Walker, who chairs the boardrCOs ridership and operations committee, and rides ST Express buses.
Train reliability is a challenge elsewhere, notably Bay Area Rapid
Transit, where an equipment problem on the underwater rail tunnel Monday caused 20-minute delays in several directions and a temporary two-line blockage. BART averaged 85% on-time trips in June, and lost several
hours systemwide the morning of Sept 5, due to computer problems.
Minneapolis-St. Paul METRO launched a reliability initiative and says
its two lines ran 91% and 87% on time earlier this month. Besides fixing
rail defects and signals, officials discourage passengers from holding
open train doors, which prevents trains from leaving. In polite
Minneapolis, more than half the train delays, or 80 hours a week, are
caused by people holding doors.
Portland MAX light rail, hamstrung by downtown surface tracks, operated
81% on time in September, worse than buses at 84%. Vancouver SkyTrain,
an automated line, reported 94% on-time arrivals first quarter 2025.
Walker said a national comparison would be interesting but not
essential. rCLWerCOre trying to stay focused on our system, right? It doesnrCOt help a rider, if we say werCOre better than all the other systems
in the country. We want to make the system work for our riders.rCY
Constantine brought up downtown escalators, that used to fail half the
time in 2020. After Sound Transit invested tens of millions of dollars
and changed maintenance contractors, escalators are working 94% of the
time downtown, and 97% systemwide as of this week, rCLwhich I think shows
the agency when presented with these challenges, will respond with
energy and resources to fix it,rCY he said.
When the 2 LinerCOs overdue I-90 train crossing opens, sometime next year, that should help. Trains from Bellevue will cross Lake Washington and
turn north at International District/Chinatown, toward UW and Lynnwood.
Once that happens, a steady flow of 2 Line trains can serve the north
end, even if some collision or outage stymies the 1 Line between Sodo
and Federal Way.
Mike Lindblom: 206-515-5631 or
mlindblom@seattletimes.com. Mike Lindblom
is a transportation reporter at The Seattle Times.
View 177 Comments / 177 New
from Seattle Times
Light rail disruptions persist. Should you still ride a train to Sea-Tac?
Oct. 29, 2025 at 6:00 am Updated Oct. 29, 2025 at 6:00 am
A light rail train crosses I-5 and heads north after stopping at the
Mountlake Terrace station. Service disruptions are leading some riders
to question the systemrCOs reliability. (Nick Wagner / The Seattle Times)
Mike Lindblom By Mike Lindblom
Seattle Times transportation reporter
Traffic Lab is a Seattle Times project that digs into the regionrCOs transportation issues to explore the policies and politics that
determine how we get around and how billions of dollars in public money
are spent.
A commuter wrote to Sound Transit this month that light rail disruptions
made her late four times to morning meetings, at a solar power business
near Rainier Beach Station.
rCLAs a result my manager marked me as unreliable in my recent performance evaluation, citing my rCydecision to get to work by Light RailrCO,rCY she wrote elected officials in charge of the agency. She also found trouble
on a weekend, caught in a stall Sept. 27 inside the Capitol Hill tunnel
that plunged Sounders and Mariners fans into darkness for a minute.
rCLPlease help our Light Rail system and improve rider experiences rCo and trust,rCY she wrote.
Service disruptions, generically labeled in rider alerts as power,
mechanical or switch problems, have tarnished light rail service
frequently since spring 2024, as new lines started and middle-aged
equipment declined.
They donrCOt occur every day, and most of Sound TransitrCOs nearly 130,000 daily passengers hit delays less often than drivers do. But when light
rail is obstructed, itrCOs hard for riders to adjust, especially since
local governments are putting more eggs in the rail basket these days,
and reducing express buses.
When being on time really matters, like for a job interview or a flight
at Sea-Tac, what do Sound Transit officials think people should do?
Build in extra trip time? Hire a taxi, or just drive?
ASound Transit CEO Dow Constantine wonrCOt give specific advice, such as
allow an extra 30 minutes.
rCLI donrCOt think I would go that far. There have been a number of notable disruptions, but most days for most trips, everything is moving on the prescribed headways and on the prescribed schedule,rCY he said in a short interview.
Riders should check for service alerts at www.soundtransit.org, he said,
and know that shuttle buses will be sent during any lengthy stoppage. (Nonetheless, there was a 24-minute stoppage in the U District
mid-month, that people mostly waited out.)
rCLObviously I was always cautioned by my mother to leave a little bit
early for things, so I could make sure I was on time,rCY Constantine said. rCLBut if yourCOre going to choose between different modes of
transportation, light rail is going to probably be the most dependable,
to get you where you need to be on time.rCY
Board Chair Dave Somers suggests allowing extra minutes, since even on
the best days, you might walk into the station just as a train leaves,
so thatrCOs already 10 minutes of waiting. rCLAnd maybe have a backup plan.rCY
rCLAllow a little extra time and be patient. WerCOre working on it. We know reliability is extremely important,rCY said Somers, the Snohomish County executive.
A closed gate is seen at the entrance of Roosevelt Station on Aug. 15,
when light rail service between Capitol Hill and Northgate stations was
shut down. (Ken Lambert / The Seattle Times)
A closed gate is seen at the entrance of Roosevelt Station on Aug. 15,
when light rail service between Capitol Hill and Northgate stations was
shut down. (Ken Lambert / The Seattle Times)
A closed gate is seen at the entrance of Roosevelt Station on Aug. 15,
when light rail service between Capitol Hill and Northgate stations was
shut down. (Ken Lambert / The Seattle Times)
So far in October, there have been three surprise train stoppages and
three surprise delays along the 1 Line between Lynnwood, Seattle and
SeaTac. These ranged from a brief pause for a medical incident at U
District Station, to a 5 p.m. outage between UW and Northgate stations
Oct. 16, to single-tracking and closures in Rainier Valley, to repair a damaged rail switch last Friday morning.
Performance dashboards show 82% of light rail trains on time during July
and August, shy of the 90% goal. Staffers blamed Sodo event crowds, one electrical fire, police activity and mechanical glitches. A mere 92% of
1 Line trains completed their scheduled trips in July, missing the 98.5%
goal. Some problems, they can or should control, others they donrCOt, such
as car crashes blocking a track.
However, rail is becoming more reliable, Constantine said. Last year,
there were 36 average hours of disruptions per month, down to 15 hours
monthly in 2025. Sound TransitrCOs goal is fewer than 10 hours next year,
he said.
Constantine said $16 million is budgeted for projects in 2026 to make
service more reliable, such as replacing old power lines, substations
and dispatch gear, during a multiyear $80 million program. His new
service delivery director, Ed Cobean, formerly at San Francisco Muni,
will close stations early sometimes, to enable more rail and wire
maintenance.
Those kicked off three nights last week, when service ended at 11 p.m.
between Rainier Beach and Angle Lake stations, followed by a scheduled
all-day shutdown of the Beacon Hill tunnel Sunday, to replace old ventilation-fan switches.
rCLThis is one of the ways werCOre going to ensure werCOre going to have fewer and fewer [surprise] interruptions,rCY Constantine told the board last week.
The EastsiderCOs 2 Line, less than two years old, has been afflicted with power losses that closed some stations. Constantine said thatrCOs largely
a growing pain with new wires, as crews learn how to maintain them at
proper tightness. (Slack downtown Seattle wires, about 17 years old,
were re-examined and adjusted in recent months.) Theft of copper
electric wires caused a 2 Line shutdown in June.
To be sure, highway trips can suddenly be thwarted by a crash, rain, or unexpectedly bad snarls caused by roadwork.
The Washington State Department of Transportation publishes rCLreliable
95th percentile travel timesrCY that help commuters plan. For instance, if
an average 29-mile commute on I-5 from Everett to Seattle takes 51
minutes, you should allow 79 minutes to arrive on time 19 out of 20
trips, or 95% of commute trips.
Most Read Local Stories
Fort Colvile: A part of WA history you may have never even heard of
Homeless man accidentally killed by garbage truck in Eastlake
WA to direct $2.2 million a week to food banks as SNAP cutoff nears
Maple Valley man charged in $2M West Seattle jewelry store robbery
Seattle homicide suspect mistakenly released from jail in California
rCLJust like anyone who would be driving, IrCOm planning ahead and thinking ahead, but I donrCOt think of transit as a less reliable system than a
car,rCY said Tacoma Councilmember Kristina Walker, who chairs the boardrCOs ridership and operations committee, and rides ST Express buses.
Train reliability is a challenge elsewhere, notably Bay Area Rapid
Transit, where an equipment problem on the underwater rail tunnel Monday caused 20-minute delays in several directions and a temporary two-line blockage. BART averaged 85% on-time trips in June, and lost several
hours systemwide the morning of Sept 5, due to computer problems.
Minneapolis-St. Paul METRO launched a reliability initiative and says
its two lines ran 91% and 87% on time earlier this month. Besides fixing
rail defects and signals, officials discourage passengers from holding
open train doors, which prevents trains from leaving. In polite
Minneapolis, more than half the train delays, or 80 hours a week, are
caused by people holding doors.
Portland MAX light rail, hamstrung by downtown surface tracks, operated
81% on time in September, worse than buses at 84%. Vancouver SkyTrain,
an automated line, reported 94% on-time arrivals first quarter 2025.
Walker said a national comparison would be interesting but not
essential. rCLWerCOre trying to stay focused on our system, right? It doesnrCOt help a rider, if we say werCOre better than all the other systems
in the country. We want to make the system work for our riders.rCY
Constantine brought up downtown escalators, that used to fail half the
time in 2020. After Sound Transit invested tens of millions of dollars
and changed maintenance contractors, escalators are working 94% of the
time downtown, and 97% systemwide as of this week, rCLwhich I think shows
the agency when presented with these challenges, will respond with
energy and resources to fix it,rCY he said.
When the 2 LinerCOs overdue I-90 train crossing opens, sometime next year, that should help. Trains from Bellevue will cross Lake Washington and
turn north at International District/Chinatown, toward UW and Lynnwood.
Once that happens, a steady flow of 2 Line trains can serve the north
end, even if some collision or outage stymies the 1 Line between Sodo
and Federal Way.
Mike Lindblom: 206-515-5631 or
mlindblom@seattletimes.com. Mike Lindblom
is a transportation reporter at The Seattle Times.
View 177 Comments / 177 New
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