Morning Fizz
When Trolleys Frequently Run Empty
1. At a city council hearing yesterday to discuss a proposal to limit the hours disabled drivers can park downtown (currently they can park all day), Fizz picked up some disturbing news
: While Washington State has more than 1 million disabled permits in active circulation, Oregon state---which has about half Washington's population---has issued just 178,000 disabled permits.
Washington, in other words, issues disabled parking permits at about three times the rate of Oregon---raising the question of whether non-disabled people are getting permits fraudulently , or if doctors are improperly issuing long-term disabled permits for temporary disabilities.
2. On Monday, the city council will consider a resolution from council president Richard Conlin that would defer the city's decision about whether to ask residents of North Highline and White Center, currently in unincorporated King County, if they want to join Seattle.
The resolution puts of the decision on annexation—which would add millions to the city's expenses—until February 2012. Only council member Jean Godden opposes annexation; she's against it on the grounds that the city can't afford to take on the cost of providing services to those new citizens, and she's likely to vote against the measure because she thinks it's an endorsement of a future vote to annex.
Some council members, sympathetic to Godden's concerns, may introduce an amendment to Conlin's resolution encouraging the city of Burien to move forward with their own proposal to annex North Highline and White Center if they want to in the mean time.
3. The county will complete its own evaluation of whether King County Metro should get rid of its electric trolley buses in mid-April. A county audit of the trolleys last year concluded that Metro could save $8.7 million annually by replacing its fleet of in-city trolley buses with electric-diesel hybrids.
However, that analysis didn't consider the environmental impacts of diesel buses , which produce more emissions than all-electric trolleys. The city's analysis will likely recommend buying more trolleys instead of replacing the trolley fleet with diesel buses, council staffers say.
4. If you see the South Lake Union streetcar operating in the middle of the day, you might be under the impression that the South Lake Union streetcar is barely used. But supporters say that's not true at rush hour, when the cars are packed with commuters traveling from companies in South Lake Union—such as Amazon, Vulcan, Group Health—and bus connections in downtown Seattle.
Unfortunately, the headways---the amount of time between streetcar arrivals---are the same all day: 15 minutes. The solution, according to companies in the neighborhood, pay the city to run more frequent service during rush hour.
Vulcan, Amazon, Group Health, and other SLU companies will reportedly come forward soon with a proposal to fund additional rush-hour streetcar service, paying around $65,000 to increase streetcar frequency from every 15 minutes to every 10 minutes during morning and afternoon rush (and hopefully eliminating the problem of full trolleys).
One obvious option to save the city some cash that isn't on the table: Reducing frequencies midday, when trolleys frequently run empty.
5. A little follow-up: Yesterday, we hyped Spring by calling your attention to the five recent sidewalk cafe permit requests. Here's some context: There are 256 active sidewalk cafe permits in the city and 23 permits pending.
Washington, in other words, issues disabled parking permits at about three times the rate of Oregon---raising the question of whether non-disabled people are getting permits fraudulently , or if doctors are improperly issuing long-term disabled permits for temporary disabilities.
2. On Monday, the city council will consider a resolution from council president Richard Conlin that would defer the city's decision about whether to ask residents of North Highline and White Center, currently in unincorporated King County, if they want to join Seattle.
The resolution puts of the decision on annexation—which would add millions to the city's expenses—until February 2012. Only council member Jean Godden opposes annexation; she's against it on the grounds that the city can't afford to take on the cost of providing services to those new citizens, and she's likely to vote against the measure because she thinks it's an endorsement of a future vote to annex.
Some council members, sympathetic to Godden's concerns, may introduce an amendment to Conlin's resolution encouraging the city of Burien to move forward with their own proposal to annex North Highline and White Center if they want to in the mean time.
3. The county will complete its own evaluation of whether King County Metro should get rid of its electric trolley buses in mid-April. A county audit of the trolleys last year concluded that Metro could save $8.7 million annually by replacing its fleet of in-city trolley buses with electric-diesel hybrids.
However, that analysis didn't consider the environmental impacts of diesel buses , which produce more emissions than all-electric trolleys. The city's analysis will likely recommend buying more trolleys instead of replacing the trolley fleet with diesel buses, council staffers say.
4. If you see the South Lake Union streetcar operating in the middle of the day, you might be under the impression that the South Lake Union streetcar is barely used. But supporters say that's not true at rush hour, when the cars are packed with commuters traveling from companies in South Lake Union—such as Amazon, Vulcan, Group Health—and bus connections in downtown Seattle.
Unfortunately, the headways---the amount of time between streetcar arrivals---are the same all day: 15 minutes. The solution, according to companies in the neighborhood, pay the city to run more frequent service during rush hour.
Vulcan, Amazon, Group Health, and other SLU companies will reportedly come forward soon with a proposal to fund additional rush-hour streetcar service, paying around $65,000 to increase streetcar frequency from every 15 minutes to every 10 minutes during morning and afternoon rush (and hopefully eliminating the problem of full trolleys).
One obvious option to save the city some cash that isn't on the table: Reducing frequencies midday, when trolleys frequently run empty.
5. A little follow-up: Yesterday, we hyped Spring by calling your attention to the five recent sidewalk cafe permit requests. Here's some context: There are 256 active sidewalk cafe permits in the city and 23 permits pending.
