HIGH CAPACITY TRANSIT STUDY

SOUTH KING COUNTY CORRIDORS

2014 FINAL DRAFT

DOWNTOWN SEATTLE TRANSIT CAPACITY WHITE PAPER

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INTRODUCTION
ANALYSIS FRAMEWORK
This White Paper presents an analysis of the
possible future of transit demand and
capacity in downtown Seattle. This is a
component of the South King County High
Capacity Transit (HCT) Study.
The central question is whether or not
there will be enough capacity on
downtown Seattle surface streets and in
the existing Downtown Seattle Transit
Tunnel (DSTT) to accommodate potential
additional HCT connections. The HCT
connections under consideration in the
paper are those between downtown and
Ballard, and between downtown and
West Seattle, Burien (and potentially
Renton). If there is not sufficient capacity
on downtown Seattle surface streets
combined with the DSTT, then
consideration of additional capacity will
be required as part of future High Capacity
Transit planning.

REGIONAL BUSES
ST LINK LRT
KC METRO BUSES
SEATTLE STREETCAR

FIG. 1 Principal existing & potential transit corridors in

Downtown Seattle

To address that question, 2035 travel demand and capacity in existing and planned HCT corridors
connecting to downtown Seattle was analyzed. The intent is to explore how HCT service evaluated in
the South King County HCT study could be connected to serve a variety of origins and destinations.
Connectivity and transfer demand were also analyzed using origin and destination information from
Sound Transits ridership model for 2035. This analysis identifies where travel could potentially be
constrained and how future HCT might serve to address those constraints.

CONTEXT
DOWNTOWN SEATTLE TRANSPORTATION
Seattles Commercial Core and the surrounding neighborhoods comprising the Center City continue to
grow (Figure 2). Significant new private and public investments, as well as growing demand for transit,
are transforming this part of the city. This change is being brought about by substantial private
investment in jobs and housing paired with strong public investment in light rail, streetcars, bike
facilities and the new waterfront resulting from the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement project. Figure 3
illustrates the new private development and transportation infrastructure projects planned or under
construction as of early 2014.

FIG. 2 Neighborhoods included in Seattles Center City (City of Seattle, Department of Planning and Development)

I . D . C H IN AT O W N S TAT IO N

FIG. 3 The future transportation network serving downtown Seattle, showing growing public investment in
transportation choices. (DSA/SDOT Downtown Access Study, VIA Architecture, 2013)

A RING OF CONSTRAINTS
In 2003 the City of Seattle issued the Center City Circulation Report which presented a comprehensive
conceptual approach for maximizing access to downtown Seattle by improving and integrating public
transit, bicycle and pedestrian networks. This is a macro-scale effort to integrate existing light rail, bus,
monorail, streetcar, ferry terminal, Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall (AWVS), and bicycle and pedestrian
projects, all independent transportation projects that will affect future circulation in downtown Seattle.
The Center City report emphasizes that access to downtown Seattle is limited by a ring of physical
constraints. An outer ring limits points of regional access and consists of the Ship Canal and Lake Union,
Lake Washington, the Duwamish Waterway, and Elliott Bay (Figure 4). An inner ring limits access to the
Downtown Core of the Center City. There are few points of access to and from I-5, Spokane Street and
the Alaskan Way Viaduct (Figure 5).
North Link

Map Key:
Seattle Center City

To Ballard
SR 520

Ring of constraints
limiting access
Existing and planned
SR 520 Bus Service
Existing and planned
Link light rail service
Existing Sounder
service

East Link

To West
Seattle

FIG. 4 The outer ring of constraints (Center City

Circulation Report, SDOT & Nelson/Nygaard, 2003)

Central Link

Potential Ballard
to Downtown and
Downtown to
West Seattle HCT
connections

FIG. 5 The inner ring and travel through the

Downtown Seattle: existing and planned corridors

However, there are several trends that will improve regional connections in coming decades despite
the mobility challenges posed by geography. A substantial portion of the regions residential and
commercial growth is occurring within Seattle, particularly in and around downtown, meaning that
more people will be living and working there. Growth in downtown Seattle will provide more
opportunities for work and home locations to be within walking distance of one another, which will
help to alleviate the constraints described above.
Link light rail will provide new points of regional access, allowing travelers to bypass surface
constraints as the network expands north, east and south. However, on-street congestion in
downtown Seattle is projected to increase with additional development, and future HCT planning
may benefit from partnerships between transit agencies and the City of Seattle to ensure reliable
transit travel times.

CURRENT DEMAND
Demand for transit continues to grow. In 2012, 34% of Center City commuters drove alone, down
from 35% in 2010 and 50% in 2000. Demand for transit as well as for walking and biking facilities is
growing: 43% of all trips from, to, and within downtown Seattle were made on transit in 2012.
The 2012 transit mode split for both North and South King County was 50%. Sound Transits travel
demand model projects an overall transit mode split of 57% for downtown trips in 2035.
2012 Commuter Trips by Mode/Origin
Seattle

North King County

Bellevue

South King County

FIG. 6 Commute Mode Share by Neighborhood of Origin (2012 Center City Commuter Mode Split Survey Results, prepared for
Commute Seattle by The Gilmore Research Group; Figures 2 & 3, pp. 12-13)

CURRENT TRANSIT CAPACITY

King County Metro buses are currently overloaded at peak travel times, both on downtown Seattles
surface streets and in the DSTT. There is a lack of both surface street throughput and available bus
stop curb space on north-south streets at peak travel times, which results in speed and reliability
issues for bus routes serving downtown Seattle.
FIG. 7 2012 AM Peak Period Downtown Passenger
Load (TMP Briefing Book, Figure 4-18. Data from
King County and City of Seattle)

To understand the nature of these limitations, King County Metro studied bottlenecks in Seattles
Central Business District transit network and published a report identifying the maximum number of
1
buses per hour that can be accommodated by each Commercial Core street. In most cases, the
capacity of a street is constrained by bus stop capacity, or the amount of curb space available for
arriving buses. This King County Metro analysis, performed in anticipation of the end of the Ride Free
Area and pay-on-entry boardings, reveals that stops on 2nd, 3rd and 4th Avenues at Pike Street are at or
over capacity. The DSTT, currently used for both light rail and bus service, is currently operating at its
maximum mixed-mode vehicle capacity, serving approximately 50 buses and 16 light rail vehicles per
hour at peak periods.
Demand in these corridors will continue to grow. To address that growth, Sound Transit and King
County Metro are currently reevaluating their near- and long-term assumptions about the capacity of
the DSTT and the downtown street network for buses and light rail. Because the results of that
evaluation are not yet available, this analysis utilizes assumptions from King County Metros 2001
Tunnel Capacity Study as well as King County Metros analysis of expected Commercial Core bus stop
capacity after implementation of its pay-on-entry policy in 2012.
As Sound Transit expands Link light rail to reach more travel markets, an increasing number of
regional transit trips will shift to light rail, meaning fewer regional buses will travel on downtown
streets. At the same time, increased Link service will result in headways incompatible with mixed
operations in the DSTT, requiring relocation of buses to surface streets. Link service will intercept
riders outside of downtown Seattle, reducing some bus trips on downtown streets. Although there
will be fewer regional bus routes entering downtown Seattle, any remaining transit capacity on
surface streets could be taken up by growing demand for local bus routes within downtown.
1 Simulation Testing of No Ride Free Area at Selected Critical Bus Stops in the Seattle CBD King County Metro, 2011, pp. 25.

FUTURE DEMAND AND CAPACITY

GROWTH IN PERSON TRIPS
Between 2011 and 2012, Seattles population grew
at a rate 25% faster than that of surrounding King
County. Citywide, Seattle gained more than 23,000
residents between 2010 and 2012.
More apartments were developed in the Seattle area
in 2013 than in any of the previous 20 years. This will
occur again in 2014 and in 2015.2

361,100

232,100

83,200
47,500
52,500
The Puget Sound Regional Council has projected
22,600
35,000 additional residents and 129,000 additional
2008 2030
2011 2035
jobs will be accommodated in Seattles Center City
2008 2030
between 2008 and 2030. Conservative estimates
Center City
Center City
Peak Hour Transit
Jobs
Residents
Trips Through The
are that between 3,000 and 5,000 apartments
Commercial Core
will be added per year over the next three years.
Approximately three-quarters of those new
FIG. 8 Growth in Center City Jobs, Residents, & Transit Trips
apartments will be built in Seattle, most of them
concentrated in the Center City and close-in
neighborhoods. The supply of office space is also increasing for example, Amazon, Inc. alone is
adding space for approximately 17,000 new workers between 2014 and 2015.3

As a result of those additional jobs and residents, the number of transit trips taken in and around
downtown Seattle is expected to grow as well. According to Sound Transits EMME model, the
number of peak-hour transit trips in and around the Center City will more than double by 2035,
increasing by nearly 30,000 trips over 2011 levels in the Commercial Core.

2 Rental market & development trends Dupre+Scott, September 2013

3 http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2020775791_apartmentboomxml.html

ACCOMMODATING BUS, BIKE, AND RAIL

To determine the amount of transit capacity that will be available to meet future travel demand, this
analysis draws upon existing studies from King County Metro4, the City of Seattle5, and input from Sound
Transit, with the following assumptions about the state of the Center City transit network in 2035:
In 2035, Link Light Rail will operate through
the DSTT at three-minute headways using
four-car trains and a load factor of 2.0
(twice as many passengers as there are
seats)
King County Metro buses will continue to
operate at their current load factor (1.05)

The Center City Connector is planned to connect

the First Hill and SLU Streetcars via 1st Avenue,
running at five- minute headways
Modifications to surface streets, including cycle
tracks and transit lanes, will be implemented when
funding is available as outlined in Seattles Transit
and Bicycle master plans

Bus volumes on 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Avenues

will remain the same as today, constrained
by curb space and stop capacity
Based on these assumptions, the capacity of the transit system in the Commercial Core was
calculated. The results are shown in Table 2 summarized for the DSTT and all surface transit
(streetcar, surface bus).
The surface capacity values shown in Table 2 are based on the bus stop constraints and assumed
vehicle load factors. Key to this capacity being delivered is that the transit vehicles can travel through
the Commercial Core without excessive delay caused by other vehicles. An analysis of the 2035 Puget
Sound Regional Council travel demand model (which forecasts future vehicle traffic volumes and
speeds) indicates that the average peak hour speeds on the north/south streets to be approximately 610 MPH. The additional transit lanes proposed in the Seattle Transit Master Plan on 2nd and 4th
Avenues will help to improve transit speeds through the Commercial Core; however, cross street traffic
and turning vehicles could still result in delays to surface transit that could ultimately impact the ability
of surface transit to travel reliably through downtown.
TABLE 2: Funded Peak Hour Transit Capacity
through the Center City In 2035
Facility

Corridor

Effective Seats6

Link Light Rail

DSTT

23-24K

Surface Transit

1st, 2nd, 3rd 21-23K

4th & 5th

Total Capacity

44-47K

4 Center City Connector Transit Study, Tier 2 SDOT & Nelson Nygaard, October 2013
5 King County Metro; Center City Connector Alternatives Analysis
6 Note: Effective Seats is a measure of capacity and includes stop capacity and load factor. It does not assume all transit
riders have a seat, but rather is used to describe the carrying capacity of a transit vehicle. In this analysis, capacity is
estimated for buses using a load factor similar to what KC Metro experiences today (1.05); for Link Light Rail, capacity is
estimated using the same load factor as is used in Sound Transits long range operating assumptions (2.0)

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FUTURE DEMAND
Future transit demand was evaluated using a transit trip origin-destination (OD) matrix extracted
from the 2035 ST EMME model which includes implementation of ST2 projects. This OD method was
selected because it is difficult to accurately predict which transit routes will serve downtown Seattle
in 2035 with the information currently available7. OD trips are not assigned to individual transit lines,
but rather to specific transit modes such as Link Light Rail, surface transit (bus/streetcar). Potential
demand stemming from the Ballard and SKC HCT projects was also identified. Key assumptions used
to estimate demand include:

The geographic boundaries of the different OD areas evaluated define the available transit mode
(see Figure 9). For example, transit trips beginning or ending in First Hill or the Central District
will be accommodated by surface transit, while trips to/from North King County and Snohomish
County will occur on Link Light Rail.

Transfers are assumed to occur within the Commercial Core according to the rates shown in
Table 3. The transfer rates are based on the project teams best judgment based on
observations of existing travel patternsfor example transfers from Sounder to 4th Avenue and
DSTT transit. The transfer assumption is a key element of this analysis since transfer trips can
appear to be counted twice, for example on Link and on a surface bus.

The transfer rate varies by types of trips that enter or traverse the Center City. Five trip types
were identified, as shown in Figure 10.

Demand was calculated at three hypothetical screenlines within the Center City OD zone. The
north screenline is roughly at Valley Street, the middle screenline is in the Commercial Core,
roughly between Pine and James Street, the south screenline is roughly at Dearborn Street. The
screenlines are not absolute (e.g., at Union Street) because of the OD method being used8. The
goal is to identify the point at which the transit routes are at their fullest as they travel through
the study area. The maximum demand across the each of the screenlines was identified and
summed to estimate total demand.

The results of the demand analysis are shown in Table 4.

7
The Sound Transit EMME model assumes that many routes from the north will be truncated as Link extends north of the
University of Washington. There are also potential truncations for service as East Link is built. However, with fewer longdistance routes, King County Metro could re-deploy transit hours to serve Center City trips and other neighborhoods near the
Center City with additional service, since transit demand is expected to be high. Considering that the Sound Transit model is
not capacity constrained, it is likely that additional bus service not explicitly assumed in the model would be required to meet
the high transit demands forecasted under 2035 conditions. This OD method, combined with a fixed bus load factor of 1.05
assumes that additional bus service will be provided in the future.
8
The OD method assigned 30% of intra-Center City trips and 75% of trips that transfer from Link/Sounder to surface transit
to the cross the middle screenline. This method was chosen to simplify the assumptions about which specific stop within the
Downtown Commercial Core people get on and off at.

11

TABLE 3: Downtown Surface Transit between Origin and Destination Pairs 2035
Assumed
Notes
Transfer Rate

Origin/Destination Pairs
Travel to Center City via Link Light
Rail, Bus, or Ballard/SKC HCT

30%

Travel to Center City via Sounder

Commuter Rail

75%

Travel to First Hill/Central District

via Markets Served by Light Rail, ST
Regional Bus, Ballard/SKC HCT or
Sounder

100%

This assumes that some trips will be made via a transfer

to a bus in the Commercial Core. For example, travel from
West Seattle to South Lake Union or from Ballard to the
Stadium District
Assumes many trips on Sounder will transfer to surface bus
to reach the final destination within the Center City.
Assumes that all long-distance regional trips will transfer
to a bus in the Commercial Core to reach First Hill or the
Central District. No transfers are assumed from Capitol
Hill or the Center City.

TABLE 4: Projected Peak Hour Demand

for Center City Transit Facilities In 20359
Facility

Trip Demand

Link Light Rail (DSTT)

18-20K

Surface Transit

25-27K

Potential West Seattle/

Ballard HCT

6-8K

Total Demand

49-55K
North Link

Kirkland/Redmond
(520)

Ballard

Capitol
Hill

Center City
(Area of Study)
First
Hill

Central
District

I-90 / East Link

West Seattle /
Burien

Extents of Center City assumed in

Demand analysis

Central Link /
Sounder /
ST Express

Trips occurring outside of Downtown

FIG. 9 Trips On Downtown Transit Corridors Occurring Outside the Center City
9 King County Metro; Center City Connector Alternatives Analysis

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VARIABLES
Understanding the capacity of a specific facility
requires determining which origins and
destinations travelers using that facility are likely
to require, and how proposed and existing
connections will facilitate those trips.
Trip Types
In the Center City, there are at least five different
trip types possible given various origin
destination pairs (see Figure 10). Each places a
different demand on the capacity of the facilities
it uses. For a specific trip, this distribution of
demand can depend on several factors, such as:

The number of riders requiring a trip through

the Center City
The number of riders using a facility for trips
within the Center City
Whether a rider arrives close enough to walk
to their final destination, or whether their
trip requires them to transfer to an
intermediate mode or facility

Fig. 10 Possible Center City Trip Types

Trip Distribution
Constraints inherent in Seattles current and proposed transit facilities also pose challenges for
particular trips, including trips made by riders arriving at King Street Station via Sounder commuter
rail who need to travel to destinations north through the Center City; trips made by riders arriving in
the Center City via Ballard HCT who want to continue south; or trips made by the growing number of
people living and working in the Center City who need to reach key Center City destinations such as
the stadiums. It is also important to consider instances in which demand is so high at DSTT stations
(such as the International District /Chinatown Station or at Westlake) that riders are not able to board
trains because they are full.
Understanding the capacity of any corridor requires assumptions about trip distribution as transit
vehicles move through the Center City. In an idealized scenario, the number of riders departing a
vehicle at any given station would be equal to the number of riders boarding that same vehicle, such
that seats would be available to all boarding riders. If this were the case, capacity of a given transit
corridor could be designed simply as a factor of the number of transit trips into and out of the Center
City made via that corridor.

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COMMERCIAL CORE

PERFECT TRIP DISTRIBUTION

DEMAND = CAPACITY
jobs and people.
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job
bs and people. s and people.
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jobs and people.

job
jo
bs and people. s and people.

jo bs and people .
job
jobs and people.
s and people.

jobs and people.

WEST SEATTLE/
BURIEN HCT

MAXIMUM
DEMAND

INTL DIST

MADISON

WESTLAKE

BALLARD HCT

COMMERCIAL CORE

IMPERFECT TRIP DISTRIBUTION

ADDITIONAL TRIPS
THROUGH AND WITHIN
COMMERCIAL CORE
EXCEED CAPACITY

DEMAND > CAPACITY

jobs and people.
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job
bs and people. s and people.
jo

jobs and people.

job
jo
bs and people. s and people.

jo bs and people .
job
jobs and people.
s and people.

jobs and people.

WEST SEATTLE/
BURIEN HCT

MAXIMUM
DEMAND

INTL DIST

MADISON

WESTLAKE

BALLARD HCT

FIG. 11 Trip Distribution in Center City Transit Corridors

In reality, trip demand along transit corridors is often distributed unevenly among various stations and
asymmetrically between directions of travel, requiring additional capacity where theres a high potential
for overlapping trips (see Figure 11). For example, if riders wishing to board a northbound train at a
station in the Commercial Core are faced with a full train of riders headed to points north that have not
yet left the train, twice the vehicular capacity is needed in order to accommodate both sets of riders.
This analysis assumes that in reality, the trip distribution will be somewhere between the perfect case
scenario (0% trip overlap) and the worst case scenario (100% trip overlap), and splits the difference
between the two at the midpoint of trip distribution.

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OVERALL CAPACITY VS. DEMAND

After accounting for trip growth and planned capacity, the
analysis found that demand on transit routes traveling through
the Commercial Core; including the potential HCT corridors
evaluated between Ballard, West Seattle, Burien, and Renton;
will exceed the capacity of existing and planned facilities in
2035. While this aggregate finding is informative about general
transit demand in Seattles Center City, it does not fully describe
the value of specific facilities in accommodating likely travel
origins and destinations. Tables 2 and 4 describe a discrepancy
of approximately 5,000 - 8,000 effective seats9 between
anticipated future peak hour demand and capacity on Center
City transit facilities.
Trip demand was calculated by breaking Center City trips down
into origin and destination pairs, then assigning each trip to
the Center City transit mode most likely to serve each origin
and destination. Demand was assessed for each mode at the
north and south edges of the Center City, as well as within the
Commercial Core were highest trip volumes were expected to
occur. Next, the point of highest demand was
identified for each mode and assumed to be the controlling factor
in the capacity needed to accommodate that mode.

FIG. 12 Third Avenue Transit Corridor at peak

hour

9 Note: Effective Seats is a measure of capacity and includes stop capacity and load factor. It does not assume all transit
riders have a seat, but rather is used to describe the carrying capacity of a transit vehicle. In this analysis, capacity is
estimated for buses using a load factor similar to what KC Metro experiences today (1.05); for Link Light Rail, capacity is
estimated using the same load factor as is used in Sound Transits long range operating assumptions (2.0).

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FINDINGS
FUTURE ON-STREET CAPACITY
Surface lanes are over capacity, and people are waiting for buses.
Between now and 2035, surface transit in the Commercial Core will continue to operate at capacity
on north-south avenues as limited by stop constraints. The Center City Connector which this analysis
assumes will be implemented by 2035 will add transit capacity to 1st Avenue. However, the findings
indicate that peak-hour trip demand on surface-running transit corridors in the Commercial Core will
exceed planned capacity by 4,000 to 6,000 riders in 2035. In other words, about 4,000 to 6,000 riders
per hour could potentially be turned away from full transit vehicles on surface streets during the PM
peak period.
Peak Hour:
Surface Bus/Streetcar Demand:
25-27K trips
Surface Transit Capacity:
21-23K effective seats
Unmet Surface Transit Demand: 4-6K riders
The DSTT can accommodate some, but not all, of these trips.
The DSTT currently operates at full capacity for mixed bus/rail operation, carrying 16 trains and 50
buses per hour at peak times. While there is no more room for additional vehicles under present
operations, Sound Transit expects the tunnels seat capacity to increase significantly when bus
operations leave the tunnel as the Link system expands, which will allow light rail trains to operate
at headways as short as three minutes. (Train headways shorter than three minutes in the DSTT
may be infeasible without additional infrastructure investments and disruption to existing transit
service during construction). Trains will also operate with four cars at peak times and are expected
to operate at a load factor of 2.0. Together, these assumptions suggest Link Light Rail will have the
capacity to carry 23,000 24,000 riders per hour through the DSTT at peak periods, although other
factors, may limit the actual capacity of DSTT stations in 2035.
The analysis predicts 18,000 20,000 trips in the PM peak hour through the Commercial Core. Assuming
Sound Transit will be operating at three-minute headways in the DSTT , about 4,000 to 5,000 effective
seats of surplus capacity would be anticipated on Link Light Rail vehicles operating in the DSTT.
It can be assumed that some of the riders turned away from surface transit will choose to use Link
Light Rail to reach their destination, occupying some of that surplus capacity. However, in 2035,
Link will not be an alternative for all of those trips, as many will originate and terminate in
neighborhoods served only by bus or surface transit. However, even when assuming no surface trips
are diverted underground, surplus capacity on Link Light Rail will not be adequate to accommodate
all of the peak-hour demand of 6,000 to 8,000 trips projected for potential future HCT service to the
Center City from Ballard and West Seattle/Burien/Renton.
Link Light Rail Demand:
Link Light Rail Capacity:
Surplus Capacity on Link:

17

Peak Hour:
18-20K trips
23-24K effective seats
4-5K effective seats

WHERE CAN ADDITIONAL HIGH CAPACITY TRANSIT BE

ACCOMMODATED?
The central question addressed by this study is whether the capacity planned for Center City transit
facilities will be adequate to accommodate potential additional HCT service along with expected
growth in Center City transit trips, or whether additional capacity will be required as part of a future
HCT investment. The study evaluated Sound Transits ridership forecasts for HCT service connecting
Ballard, West Seattle, Burien, and Renton to the Center City, and predicts demand for an additional
6,000 to 8,000 trips through the Commercial Core. The study also found that the north-south
avenues in the Commercial Core as well as the DSTT are both operating near their maximum
capacities and will continue to do so until 2035, meaning new transit capacity through the Center
City will be required. There are several options for how to accommodate new capacity, each with its
own benefits and challenges. The following options discuss both how additional HCT service could
be accommodated, while also addressing the finding that overall additional transit capacity will be
needed through the Commercial Core.
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)
To accommodate demand for Ballard/West Seattle/Burien/Renton BRT service
and for buses serving other corridors, up to two bus-only lanes could be
considered in each direction on 2nd and 4th Avenues through the Commercial
Core (as proposed in the Seattle Transit Master Plan). This reconfiguration of
existing street width could allow for buses to pass each other, similar to existing
operations on 3rd Avenue.
Benefits and Challenges
Low capital cost but medium to high operations cost
Bus operations in the Commercial Core are limited by a finite amount of curb
space
Will require transit-only lanes in existing right-of-way
A surface alignment will face significant speed and reliability issues in the
Commercial Core due to increased traffic volumes, cross street congestion,
signal timing requirements, turning vehicles and pedestrian movements
Grade Separated Rail-Only Facility
Whether elevated or underground, an additional grade-separated alignment
through the Center City would accommodate projected demand for Ballard
and West Seattle/Burien/Renton HCT, but would likely only accommodate
some unmet surface transit demand.
Benefits and challenges
Grade-separation provides reliability.
Without a transfer , a grade separated rail-only facility does not accommodate
trips to and from neighborhoods served only by bus
Structural supports required for an elevated alignment could potentially reduce
surface street capacity.

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New Rail/Bus Tunnel(s)

In addition to serving Ballard and West Seattle/Burien/Renton-bound riders,
a tunnel or tunnels accommodating both rail and bus vehicles would have
serve multiple travel markets, reliably accommodating most unmet demand
from surface-routed corridors.
Benefits and challenges

Accommodates demand for rail and bus trips

Provides reliable travel time
Relieves demand for almost 60% of on-street capacity
Requires integrated stations/hubs to transfer
Requires multi-agency coordination and funding
Requires rerouting of buses to access tunnel
Projected Demand For New HCT:
60% of Unmet Surface Demand:
Total Demand for Rail/Bus Tunnel:

Peak Hour:
6-8K trips10
2-3K trips
8-11K trips

Transfers and Connections

WESTLAKE
HUB

STADIUM
STATION

For the best return on investment, a new HCT line through downtown Seattle
will simultaneously offer a reliable connection to the markets it serves directly
as well as alleviate unmet transit demand. The amount of service that can be
accommodated by a grade separated alternative depends greatly on station
locations and the quality of transfers to and from connecting transit facilities.
For example, a shared-use bus/rail tunnel would be most effective if portals
were configured to provide reliable travel time for bus routes that will
continue to use Aurora, Dexter/Westlake, Stewart/Olive, and the SODO Busway to access the Center City. A rail-only tunnel could also offer useful capacity
for DSTT riders, but only if seamless transfer opportunities are provided at
downtown transit hubs such as Westlake Station. Connections and transfers
south of the Commercial Core that take into account the year-round calendar
of stadium events will be very important.
In all cases, improved connections and wayfinding at the Westlake Station
transit hub will be necessary to connect any future HCT facility to Link Light
Rail service in the DSTT, as well as to surface buses serving South Lake Union
and origins east of the downtown. South of the Commercial Core, improved
transfers and wayfinding between new HCT service, Link Light Rail, Sounder
service, and bus routes will further expand each facilitys demand and capacity.

10 Source: Sound Transit EMME Model, including Ballard to Downtown and South King County HCT studies.

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