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skubly.bsky.social

@skubly.bsky.social
183 followers 61 following 348 posts
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 1h
I am hearing they extended the response period until 10/12. Didn’t do much to publicize. Did they notify potential respondents? www.theurbanist.org/deadline-arr...
theurbanist.org
Deadline Arrives for Outside Ideas to Curb Costs on Ballard Light Rail
Transit advocates are criticizing Sound Transit's process to solicit outside ideas to reduce Ballard Link costs and accelerate the timeline. The Request for Information process was poorly publicized, ...
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
From a cost per rider perspective I believe this outperforms West Seattle. At least Juarez was able to get her project built.
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
“Earlier that year, then-CEO Peter Rogoff hesitated to add what was called ‘Northeast 130th Station … Ridership seemed thin and construction difficult, and… adding a fifth station would jeopardize a $1 billion federal grant request.’” Regardless of project merit. The excuse is always the same.
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
This is good to see and glad @wsdot.wa.gov stepping up. @mayor.seattle.gov @cmdanstrauss.seattle.gov SDOT has property right next door. Only half of which is used for a salt dome and snow equipment. The other half could increase capacity at Glassyard Commons www.theurbanist.org/seattle-brea...
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
I beg to differ on the poetry. Even though Lake Washington Blvd summer streets should be year round. “Running south on Lake Shore Drive heading into town Just slippin' on by on LSD, Friday night trouble bound” m.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zb3...
m.youtube.com
Lake Shore Drive
YouTube video by Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah - Topic
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
If we could build at the Ballard and West Seattle at the cost of our global peers we could afford to grade separate this. Transit that costs too much has an opportunity cost… More and better transit.
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Friday news drop from Sound Transit. 3 months ago @transportreform.bsky.social and I recommended this and @saveballardrail.bsky.social push the agency to do it. Thursday before Labor Day they issue, wait 1.5 weeks to publicize, give 30 days to respond www.soundtransit.org/get-to-know-...
soundtransit.org
Sound Transit seeks cost-saving strategies for ST3 projects | Sound Transit
September 11, 2026 | Sound Transit opened a request for information (RFI) seeking responses from qualified sources on strategies that could reduce cost or speed delivery of ST3 proj
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Today @sound-transit.bsky.social published a Request for Information to solicit ideas for saving money on the Ballard link extension. Good right? Their approach is deeply flawed. Only 30 days to prepare responses, no industry day to answer respondents, to name a few docsend.com/v/2zkp2/rfi
docsend.com
DocSend - Simple, intelligent, modern content sending
DocSend helps you communicate more effectively by telling you what happens to content after you send them and letting you keep control in real time.
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AMR - Alexis Mercedes Rinck @alexis4seattle.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Mayor Wilson, Councilmember Foster, Councilmember Saka and I are teaming up to ban surveillance pricing at grocery chains in Seattle. Surveillance pricing is a harmful practice where your data is weaponized against you to price gouge. (1/2)
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Check out the Riverwalk. NEPA was a categorical exclusion and it required an act of congress to narrow the navigable water way. $120M to build Lots of lessons there for ST
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Interesting side benefit. Beyond the clear safety benefit. Likely allows smaller tunnel. Reducing cost and improving constructability
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Marco Chitti @chittimarco.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
If you think about it, evacuating people from the end of a stranded open-gangway train into a 1.3 m track bed is obviously more effective than sending them in a single line over an elevated 70- 80 cm walkway with no railing. But somehow we convinced ourselves the opposite is true
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Streetsblog NYC @nyc.streetsblog.org · 19/08/2026
The MTA could halve the $7.7 billion price tag for the planned subway extension along 125th Street — but only if its leaders have the will to use “cut-and-cover” techniques to build shallower and smaller stations more in line with peer cities. buff.ly/sH1eo4b
nyc.streetsblog.org
Shallower, Smaller Stations Could Cut 125th Street Subway Costs In Half: Report - Streetsblog New York City
The MTA could halve the $7.7 billion price tag for the planned 125th Street subway if it's willing to use "cut-and-cover" construction.
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
How can you tell the board knew West Seattle was already delayed prior to their big vote in May and the shovel ready rah rah BS. Not a single board member has publicly expressed any disappointment or anger. The public is getting played
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
This one aged well.
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
“We NOW have a durable date for delivering light rail to one of the region’s most vibrant neighborhoods”, said Sound Transit CEO Dow Constantine Capitalization my own. Color me credulous. Question for @mayor.seattle.gov is this actual savings or shifting costs from ST to ratepayers
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Posted without a hint of self-awareness or acknowledgment that they spent 12 months gaslighting people.
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
@mclindblom.bsky.social did anyone at ST explain why the schedule is slipping another 3 years? Also did they just learn this in the last 2 months? Or was “WS is shovel ready and any questions will delay it further” all theater? www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
seattletimes.com
Light rail arrival in West Seattle delayed again
The original target to open a new Sodo-to-West Seattle line was 2030, but inflation and previously overlooked challenges added time and costs.
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Pin this In 2028 @sound-transit.bsky.social is going to propose raising their debt capacity to solve their funding shortfall. Imagine if they could just say this upfront.
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Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 14/08/2026
When we voted on ST3 in 2016, we were told light rail would reach Ballard in 2035. Now that's the yet-again-delayed date for West Seattle (originally 2030). Earlier this month ST said Ballard is delayed to *2060*. We need to completely change how ST is governed.
seattletimes.com
Light rail arrival in West Seattle delayed again
The original target to open a new Sodo-to-West Seattle line was 2030, but inflation and previously overlooked challenges added time and costs.
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Trevor Reed @transportreform.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Much of the rhetoric around not delaying the vote was *to protect* opening dates - if those dates were never based in reality, why the rush?
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Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 13/08/2026
This should be a scandal. Sound Transit told everyone we had to agree to put ST3 into a blender and massively delay projects in part to get West Seattle built by 2032. We argued instead ST should work to lower construction costs and get new $$ before delaying voter-approved projects. Now this?!
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
2 months ago the board approved 2032. I asked during public testimony if anyone would bet their jobs or next election on 2032. No takers. Shocking
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West Seattle Bike Blob @westseattlebikeblg.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
I would love for the energy spent saving one tree in Seattle to instead be directed towards saving the thousands of trees that are cut each year for our sprawling suburbs and rural estates.
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
If they find money by 2033 we are on track. The cynic in me says “wow 1.5 election cycles from now. Well after anyone on the board will face electoral consequences and well after the current CEO retires.” To use a football metaphor The Prevent Defense www.theurbanist.org/full-ballard...
theurbanist.org
Full Ballard Link Line Could Take Until 2060 To Build, Sound Transit Says
The new 2060 timeline for light rail stations in Interbay and Ballard assumes Sound Transit isn't able to unearth any major cost savings or unlock additional financial tools. But the agency painted an...
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
At this point supporting ST doesn’t make you a fan of transit. It makes you a fan of public works spending. Transit fans should be appalled at our cost being 2x-3x our international peers. We get less transit, slower because ST is not competent. www.theurbanist.org/full-ballard...
theurbanist.org
Full Ballard Link Line Could Take Until 2060 To Build, Sound Transit Says
The new 2060 timeline for light rail stations in Interbay and Ballard assumes Sound Transit isn't able to unearth any major cost savings or unlock additional financial tools. But the agency painted an...
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
You can tell how much visibility sound transit wants on this by giving it a Friday news drop. A savvier organization would have done it later in the day.
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Maybe Dow isn’t sweating 2060 because he has talked to Bryan Johnson.
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
@kirkhovenkotter.com sound transit needs to be pushed to do better. Not spend more. The rest of the world does this better than us. It’s not about spending less on transit. It’s about getting more for every dollar we spend.
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Back in April @transportreform.bsky.social and I forecast 2059. This was a very simple exercise. This is not a 3.5 month exercise. People need to be less credulous of sound transit when they avoid answering questions or dissemble.
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Regulatory creep is real. If your job is to draft regulations you have a structural disincentive to say “Cool. We’re done”. This doesn’t mean regulations is bad. Or new regulations aren’t sometimes needed.
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Prediction: West Seattle won’t compete well for federal funds. At some point money will get shifted from Ballard to WS to backfill fed funds. Making Ballard even less likely.
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
@mclindblom.bsky.social Another example of automated rail 60 second headways
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Given he was the loudest voice fighting for Seattle at Sound Transit, I know which one I prefer.
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dereksagehorn.bsky.social @dereksagehorn.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
A lot to like in this Transit Abundance Playbook. ifp.org/transit-abun...
ifp.org
The Transit Abundance Playbook | Institute for Progress
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Trevor Reed @transportreform.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Great op-ed by @nondriver.bsky.social "In the context of Sound Transit, this would mean asking why, with the ability to appoint 10 of the 18 board members, the King County Executive wasn’t able to negotiate more for King County access in the recent re-alignment" open.substack.com/pub/ericacba...
open.substack.com
How Do We Get Transit Champions on Transit Boards?
Sound Transit's board is dominated by elected officials who don't use the system they oversee. But it doesn't have to be that way.
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
The US transit industry refuses to learn and advocates (to often) refuse to push for better outcomes. It’s almost as if spending is the goal and excellent transit is a happy accident.
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
My coauthor pulled their name because they couldn't risk losing funding from the project delivery industry. That is politics, but it should also raise big red flags. We need to start saying the quiet part out loud and we should be able to say it without fear www.seattletimes.com/opinion/soun...
seattletimes.com
Sound Transit needs a massive reset. Here's how that could work | Op-Ed
The governor and Legislature should stop treating Sound Transit as a normal agency with a temporary budget problem.
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
"I keep hearing things online or in conversation that are not entirely accurate," Constantine said. “Entirely” is doing a lot of work here. We deserve a simple answer “given current resources when will Ballard start construction and when will it finish”. The whole line.
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Seattles light rail is a success because Seattle voters approve historically high investments. We deserve an agency that matches the ambitions and ability of the voters.
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
@safesler.bsky.social Maybe if we still had the sonics we could have a justification for the intersection contract.
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Seattle is the best bus city in North America 3rd Avenue does a ton of work!
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
This is great and something to be proud of. But the US doesn’t build much rail and the rail that it does build is too expensive. If we could build at the same cost as Europe and Asia we could have 2x to 3x the rail and 2x to 3x the ridership. We should celebrate but not be satisfied.
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Alkinoos @alkinooskanaris.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Have you seen how cheap Spanish metros are to build? Well actually, I have and I will tell you all about it! I had the chance to visit the extension of line 11 in Madrid, where I learned a lot about their construction methods, peculiarities and processes. Let me take you along! A thread 🧵 (1/11)
Map of the extension I found online (not official, not the best, gets the job done regardless)Construction site of Comillas station, featuring the cross section of the tunnel as an exhibit overground.
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
WMATA NOMA station was built in an active rail yard on the NE Corridor with - handful of full closures and single tracking. Cost $250MM ($2025) Way more complicated and bigger than Graham street. About the same cost. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NoMa%E2...
en.wikipedia.org
NoMa–Gallaudet U station - Wikipedia
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Food for thought when contemplating Boeing Access. WMATA built the Potomac Yard infill station for $370M in 2023. A larger more complicated project than Being access. For $100m less We are cutting scope because ST can sharpen its pencil and learn from others. dcist.com/story/23/05/...
dcist.com
Metro’s Potomac Yard Station Is Open: Here’s What You Need To Know | DCist
The new station currently sits among lots of building construction, but officials say the station will spur growth in the quickly developing neighborhood.
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
@sound-transit.bsky.social Time for a rebrand
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skubly.bsky.social @skubly.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
What concrete information are you basing your optimism on?
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