You may see some mind-boggling — if inaccurate — numbers in the accompanying article by opponents of Sound Transit. Coupled with the numbers coming out of D.C. and Wall Street, it is a heck of a time for voters to have to decide dollar issues. But as you vote, keep these two thoughts clearly in mind — our magnificent Puget Sound region and 69 bucks. The former is what we cherish and the latter is what it will cost the average adult each year to help protect it. We are on a good path toward finally fitting transportation into growth. We must continue down that path with the next phase of Sound Transit if our region is to remain all that it is.
I have spent a good portion of the past four decades involved in Puget Sound transportation. I was here when we turned down mass transit in 1968. It happened again a few years later. I’m guessing we have built our last freeway for awhile and, at best, may add a lane or two, here or there, over the coming decades. New major freeways? I think not. As we grow by another 1.7 million residents through 2040, we must find alternative means of moving people and goods. If we fail, all that we have here will change immeasurably.
Since the early 1990s I have witnessed the emergence of good growth management with all of its promise for organizing our regional growth through 2040 and beyond. Washington is a model for the nation in this regard. But any citizen knows that our elephant in the regional living room has always been transportation, the source of great frustration with few easy answers, but the linchpin for growth management success nonetheless.
Proposition 1 continues a regional transportation improvement program begun in 1996. With Sound Transit, Snohomish County now enjoys real alternatives to the single occupant vehicle. Commuter lanes, park and ride facilities, commuter rail, new transit centers and the economic development that goes with it are all products of Sound Transit. Proposition 1 will expand the system and further the vision. Light rail will come to Lynnwood. Commuter rail and bus services will expand. With voter approval, we will continue down the path of balanced regional growth with a balanced transportation system to support it.
Be very skeptical of opponents’ claims. Continuing what we have started will not cost you $107 billion; it will not cost a family $60,000 and it will improve your ability to move around the region. Proposition 1 will certainly not eliminate congestion; nothing will. If you stay in your car — which is your right — there will still be peak-hour Hell in 2020, especially with another million residents. But the alternatives Sound Transit provides will get you where you’re going faster, if you so choose and if Proposition 1 passes.
True, Sound Transit had its new-agency problems. That is old news. As much as detractors love to dwell on the past, the fact is that good service is being provided to those seeking alternatives to the freeway commute. Ridership is increasing as rapidly as gas prices. Surveys show strong support for the system. By every reasonable measure Sound Transit is a success. This is due in no small part to the cooperation among other partner agencies in our local communities which have integrated Sound Transit into their local transportation efforts.
Once and for all, we have begun a coordinated regional approach to transportation. We can rightfully claim success over our predecessors of the 1960s — but only if we stay focused on the No. 1 need of our precious Puget Sound area. In every sense, we must move forward.
My English teacher in high school hated double negatives almost as much as split infinitives. But with apologies to Miss Hicks, the best way to sum up Proposition 1 is to simply state that as a region we can’t not vote Yes. It is a fundamental imperative to our quality of life in Puget Sound. Once the dust has cleared from this financial hurricane we are all experiencing, those 1.7 million new people will be here. So will the traffic. And so will the need to move our people, goods and services. Sixty-nine bucks (that’s one tank of gas) all of a sudden sounds like a pretty good deal.
Reid Shockey is a life-long resident of the Puget Sound area and an Everett resident since 1970. He is a former Community Development Director for Everett and is President of Shockey/Brent, Inc., a land use and environmental consulting firm. He is a past Chair of the Citizen Oversight Panel for Sound Transit.
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