Approved: May 24, 2007

This regional transit system expansion plan, adopted by the Sound Transit Board in May 2007 following more than two years of extensive planning and public outreach, formed the transit portion of the Roads & Transit ballot, Proposition 1, that voters turned down in November 2007.

The 20-year plan would add more than 50 miles of light rail, improve commuter rail facilities and increase regional express bus service. The result would nearly double Sound Transit system ridership with fast, reliable connections to more places for more people, cutting through congestion in the region’s most heavily traveled corridors.

• Extends light rail north from the University of Washington to 164th Street SW/Ash Way in Snohomish County, with service to Northgate, Shoreline, Mountlake Terrace and Lynnwood.
• Extends light rail south from Sea-Tac Airport to downtown Tacoma, adding service to the Des Moines, Federal Way and Fife areas.
• Extends light rail east to Mercer Island, Bellevue and Redmond’s Overlake Transit Center and Microsoft campus, with service all the way to downtown Redmond if sufficient funding is available. The plan identifies the extension to downtown Redmond as a high priority and provides up-front funding for planning, engineering and some real estate acquisition.
• Expands parking and enhances Sounder stations, increasing access to the regional transit system. Sets aside funding for future service enhancements to the existing ST Express bus network during light rail construction.
• Funds several long-term studies: extension of light rail to Everett; future high capacity transit lines to Issaquah via I-90, from UW across SR 520, from Ballard to UW, and in Seattle’s west corridor, from Ballard to West Seattle to Burien; additional bus rapid transit; and long-term use of the BNSF rail line in east King County.

• Provides fast, frequent and reliable light rail service free of delays from congestion and weather, with trains running 20 hours a day and every few minutes at peak times.
• Moves more people through the region’s most congested corridors, taking cars off the road.
• Light rail stations serve as hubs that collect riders from local bus routes.
• Connects Snohomish, Pierce and East King counties with the almost 19 miles of first-phase light rail investments paid for by North King County and South King County taxpayers.
• Makes strategic bus rapid transit (BRT) investments in the I-405 corridor, complementing BRT investments already completed or under construction.
• Builds on the cost-estimating, engineering and construction experience that Sound Transit acquired over the last decade. Independent experts from around the country also extensively reviewed Sound Transit’s work, further increasing the level of confidence that the proposed rail lines can be built with available funds.
• Reaches Northgate by 2018, and downtown Bellevue and Kent-Des Moines Road by 2021. Other extensions would be phased through 2027.

	Annual		Weekday
Service	Without package	With package	Without package	With package
Central Link	37 million	93 million	118,000	305,000
Tacoma Link	1.1 million	1.6 million	3,800	5,400
Sounder	4 million	4 million	16,000	15,400
ST Express	15 million	9 million	51,000	33,000
Total system ridership	58 million	108 million	189,000	359,000

168,000	More riders on the Sound Transit system
11,200	New park-and-ride stalls
50-53	Miles of new Link light rail
25-27	New light rail stations
10	Additional cities connected by light rail
7	New/improved Sounder stations
2	New I-405 BRT enhancements
1	Mile of new/improved Sounder tracks
1	New streetcar line

Financial, budget and schedule information presented here and online is based on estimates as of May 2007. Figures may be updated periodically to reflect updated estimates as deemed appropriate by the Sound Transit Board.

Overlake/Microsoft to downtown Bellevue:	10 minutes
Lynnwood to downtown Seattle:	28 minutes
SeaTac to the Tacoma Dome:	37 minutes
University of Washington to downtown Bellevue:	30 minutes
Downtown Bellevue to Qwest Field:	20 minutes

• 5/10 of one percent sales tax increase, or five cents for every $10 retail purchase
• Typical new cost per adult is $69 (0.5%) annually
• Continuation of existing Sound Move taxes (0.4% sales tax and 0.3% vehicle license tax)

	2007 dollars	Year of Expenditure (includes inflation)
Capital costs	$11.3 billion	$18.1 billion
Operating & maintenance (2008-2028)	$1.5 billion	$2.4 billion