• Fast, frequent service. Light rail travels quickly.
• Light rail systems like those in ST2 that operate primarily in their own rights of way are significantly faster than buses.
• Light rail will run up to 20 hours per day, every few minutes in peak hours, serving our region's most crowded corridors.
• Light rail is easy to use – no schedule required.
• Light rail is reliable because it operates in its own right-of-way. Trips on light rail take the same time, every time, because they're not slowed by traffic congestion.
• Light rail helps the environment. Light rail makes it easier for people to leave their cars at home, helping keep air and water clean while addressing climate change.
• The investments in this mass transit system expansion will reduce the amount of projected annual CO2 emissions by nearly 100,000 tons each year. That savings is equivalent to the amount produced from burning 323,000 barrels of oil a year; 1,900 gasoline-filled tanker trucks; 12,300 single-family homes and 1,000 acres of preserved forest land.
• Light rail provides high people-moving capacity. Light rail is easily expanded and can run trains up to 400 feet in length, carrying more than 800 people every few minutes.
• Light rail lines attract investment and spur the creation of walkable, high-density communities, making it easier for the region to handle growth and keep the economy moving.
• Light rail works well as the core of a transit system. Stations serve as hubs, providing seamless connections for riders who walk, drive or take the local bus. Light rail also frees buses so they can better serve local routes.

Sound Transit closely evaluated cities across the country that have embraced light rail with impressive results. Some examples:

• Portland. In its first year of operation, ridership on the MAX Yellow Line far outpaced ridership on the former bus line that operated along the same route. Overall, the line carries 95 percent more passengers than buses did.
• Tacoma. In its first week of service, Tacoma Link more than doubled the previous bus ridership along that same route.
• Dallas. The Dallas-area DART system has stimulated more than $3.3 billion in private investment since the rail line launched in 1996.
• Salt Lake City. Since TRAX light rail opened for service in 1999, residents there have twice voted to expand the system. Last November, voters raised their sales tax to speed up construction of more light rail. Lines originally planned for completion in 2030 will now open for service in 2015.
• Denver. Nearly half of light rail riders previously drove their cars to work. Overall, more than 25 percent of commuters into the city get there by transit.

• Sound Transit's forecasted operating cost per passenger mile is 15 cents, 86 percent less than $1.12 per passenger mile for bus service.
• Light rail is not impacted by rising diesel fuel costs and relies on the region's clean and abundant hydropower-generated electricity.

• Light rail is a sound investment because it will significantly expand the capacity of the I-5 and I-90 corridors for both transit passengers and general purpose vehicles.
• For example, light rail will be able to carry 14,000 people across the Ship Canal Bridge at rush hour in 2030. To carry the same number of people in cars in the same amount of time would require 5.3 lanes. That means light rail will provide the people-moving power of 5.3 lanes during that peak hour.
• The number of people who ride light rail will rise to more than 360,000 by 2030 under this plan. But that only reflects the early years of expanded transit system benefits. Sound Transit will increase train lengths and frequencies to serve even more people as demand grows.
• Light rail has far more capacity to move people than any other alternative in the same amount of right-of-way. That was an important consideration in shaping the plan since the region's population will grow more than 30 percent by 2030.