SOUND TRANSIT

'Sound Transit' has been the popular name of Washington state's Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority since 1996. It was formed in 1993 by the Snohomish, King, and Pierce County Councils. It operates express bus, commuter rail, and light rail service in the region and constructs capital projects in support and expansion of those services.

Contents

Express Bus

Light Rail

Commuter Rail

Sound Transit 2

Fleet

See also

Notes

External links

Express Bus

Sound Transit's bus fleet is operated by local transit authorities Community Transit, Metro Transit, and Pierce Transit. Its Regional Express Bus Service provides service to cities in all three counties, including Seattle, Redmond, Issaquah, Lakewood, Bellevue, Auburn, Federal Way, Gig Harbor, Everett and Tacoma.

Light Rail

The Tacoma Link is a light rail service in Tacoma connecting the city's Theater District, Convention Center, train station, and Tacoma Dome arena.
The Central Link, a 15.7 mile light rail line running between downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac Airport via the Rainier Valley, is currently under construction, scheduled to open in 2009.
The University Link is a 3.15 mile extension of the Link Light Rail system that is currently in the final design process. Construction on the line is expected to begin in 2009 with completion in 2016. The line will connect downtown Seattle to the University of Washington via Capitol Hill. The line will be underground for its entire route and cost $1.5 billion with half of the funding expected to come from a grant from the Federal Transit Administration.
Sound Transit has also been developing plans for a further, large expansion, including an extension from the University of Washington northward, initially to Northgate and eventually all the way to Everett. The expansion also includes an extension southward from Sea-Tac to Federal Way, eventually to run at least as far south as Tacoma Dome Station.
A line is being planned to the Eastside that would branch off from the Central Link just south of downtown Seattle and run over the I-90 floating bridge to downtown Bellevue, Overlake Transit Center (in the middle of Microsoft campus) and ultimately to downtown Redmond. This line is farthest in planning, with several alignment alternatives mapped and available on Sound Transit's web site.

Commuter Rail

Sound Transit operates the Sounder Commuter Rail, a commuter rail service between Everett and Seattle, and between Seattle and Tacoma. There are currently 4 daily round-trips between Tacoma and Seattle and 2 between Everett and Seattle. Sound Transit will eventually run up to 18 daily round-trips from Tacoma and 4 from Everett to Seattle once all trackwork is completed by BNSF Railway. They also plan on extending service to South Tacoma and Lakewood by the end of 2008.
Current and soon-to-open stations are:

★ Everett Station

★ Edmonds Station

★ Mukilteo Station (opens late 2007)

★ King Street Station (Downtown Seattle)

★ Tukwila Station

★ Kent Station

★ Auburn Station

★ Sumner Station

★ Puyallup Station

★ Tacoma Dome Station

★ South Tacoma (opening 2008 bus service/2010 commuter rail)

★ Lakewood Station (opening 2008 bus service/2010 commuter rail).

Sound Transit 2

Sound Transit 2 is part of a joint ballot measure with the Regional Transportation Investment District entitled Roads and Transit, which will be presented to Snohomish, King, and Pierce county voters in November 2007. Sound Transit 2 would and make a number of mass transit related improvements.^[1] These changes include almost 50 miles in new light rail lines, four new parking garages, two new Sounder stations, a streetcar line connecting First Hill, Capitol Hill, and the International District, a transit center in Bothell, and two expansion studies, one for studying rapid transit across the SR-520 floating bridge and the other studying the use of the Woodinville Subdivision between Renton and Woodinville.^[2]

Fleet

ST Express 45-foot Long-Haul Bus Specifications (MCI) >

Sounder Commuter Rail
Mfg	Model	Length	Passengers	Purchased	Retired	Qty. ★	Fleet Numbers
GM Electro Deisel	F59PH1, 3000 horsepower	58'-7"	NA	1999	''in service''	11	900-910 Sounder Commuter Rail Train Specifications
				2000	''in service''
				2001	''in service''
Bombardier	Cab Car	85'	136 (seated)	1999	''in service''	18	???-???
				2000	''in service''
				2001	''in service''
Bombardier	BiLevel Coach	85'	140 (seated)	1999	''in service''	40	???-???
				2000	''in service''
				2001	''in service''
Link Light Rail
Mfg	Motor	Length	Passengers	Purchased	Retired	Qty. ★	Fleet Numbers
Kinkisharyo	Mitsui 1500V-DC Electric Traction	95'	200 (74/126)	2007	''testing''	35	101-135 [3]
Skoda	750V-DC Electric Traction	66'	56 (30/26)	2001	''in service''	3	1001-1003 [4]
ST Express Busses
Model	Motor	Length	Passengers	Purchased	Retired	Qty. ★	Fleet Numbers
New Flyer DE60LF	Cat C9/GM Hybrid [5]	60'	57 (seated)	2005	''in service''	22	9600-9621 [6]
New Flyer D60LF	Detroit Diesel Engines Series 50 ST Express 60-foot Diesel Low Floor Bus Specifications (New Flyer)	60.7'	60 (seated)	1999	''in service''	25	9500-9524, 9525-9536, 9537-9552
	Detroit Diesel Engines Series 50			2000		12
	CAT (Caterpillar) C9 engine			2004		16
New Flyer D40LF	Cummins ISL	40'	37 (seated)	2003	''in service''	1	9200[7]
New Flyer C40LF	Cummins ISL C-Gas+ 250/280 HP? ST Express 40-foot CNG Bus Specifications (New Flyer)	40.8'	39 (seated)	2001	''in service''	20	9400-9419
Gillig PHANTOM	Cummins ISM Enginehttp://www.cummins-sp.com/engines/automotive/ism_engine.htm	40'	45 (seated)	1999	''in service''	92	9000-9069, 9070-9089, 9090-9091[8]
	Cummins ISM Engine			2001
	Cummins ISL Engine [9]			2005
Motor Coach Industries D4500	Low emission Detroit Diesel EGR Series 60 NOx 2.5	45'	57 (seated)	2005	''in service''	13	ST Express 45-foot Long-Haul Bus Specifications (MCI) >9700-9712
Orion V	Cummins L10 260G [10]	40'	45 (seated)	1994	''in service''	27	800-827[11]
				1995		2

See also

★ List of rapid transit systems

Notes

1. Sound Transit expansion ballot-bound
2. Sound Transit completes major transit expansion package for November Roads & Transit vote
3. Link Light Rail Train Specifications
4. Tacoma Link Light Rail Train Specifications
5. Hybrid Vehicle Specifications
6. New Flyer Articulated Hybrid Diesel-Electric Bus
7. ST Express 40-foot Diesel-Electric Hybrid Bus Specifications (New Flyer)
8. ST Express 40-foot Diesel Bus Specifications (Gillig)
9. http://www.everytime.cummins.com/every/applications/isl_motor.jsp
10. http://www.eere.energy.gov/cleancities/conference/2003/pdfs/monroe_pierce.pdf
11. ST Express 40-foot CNG Bus Specifications (Orion)


★ [1]

★ [2]

★ [3]

External links

★ www.soundtransit.org

★ Puget Sound Transportation Projects (unofficial site)