Sound Transit 2
Sound Transit 2

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What Snohomish County priorities are reflected in the package?
  2. Why did the ballot measure increase Sounder service for Pierce County and South King County but not Snohomish County?

Answers

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What Snohomish County priorities are reflected in the package?

    • The package responds to short-term needs by immediately funding a 30 percent increase in Snohomish County's ST Express bus service while light rail to Lynnwood is built.
    • The package positions light rail to get to Everett in the future.
    • The plan's 36 new miles of light rail achieve a 53-mile regional system.
    • Light rail gets to Lynnwood five years sooner than in the 2007 ballot measure.
      • From Lynnwood, Snohomish County residents will have quick rail service to Seattle, the Eastside, Sea-Tac Airport and further south.
    • The package also expands and improves the Sounder stations at Edmonds and Mukilteo and includes provisional new Sounder stations at Ballard and Broad Street if additional funds become available. All of these better serve Snohomish County residents who work in south Snohomish or King County.

  2. Why did the ballot measure increase Sounder service for Pierce County and South King County but not Snohomish County?

    • In Snohomish County, the Sounder commuter rail service that already exists has enough capacity to serve expected ridership growth there well into the future, making light rail expansions on the I-5 corridor a higher priority for Snohomish County.
    • The planned light rail extension to Snohomish County will operate with fast, frequent and reliable service in both directions up to 20 hours a day, while commuter rail only operates into Seattle in the morning and back to Snohomish County in the evening.
    • Sounder commuter rail runs on existing freight lines. In Snohomish County and North King County, those tracks run along the shore of Puget Sound, which reduces the geographic area from which the system draws riders. This is a major factor behind the significantly higher demand on the south corridor, where the Sounder system pulls riders from both the east and west.
    • Snohomish County's Sounder service operates on BNSF's main rail connection between the Northwest and the Chicago area, a corridor where expanding capacity is very difficult and expensive due to location of Puget Sound on one side and steep embankments on the other.
    • Based on these considerations the Board recommended Snohomish county resources on express bus and light rail expansions.