Michael Smith
@mesmith35673.bsky.social
Seattle, WA Software engineer, safe streets advocate, and occasional Seattle Transit Blog contributor Check out the ridership data for your favorite route at https://seattletransitridership.com. He/him
Happy primary day! We're officially launching Nondriver Action, a c4 that works at the intersections of transportation, housing & climate justice. Tomorrow, we'll send out questionnaires for our general election endorsements to all city and county council candidates on the ballot in WA ndaction.org
Sound Transit has quietly delayed its planned Everett-Seattle night-owl bus route until 2027. The agency's other night-owl routes will start on August 29 with Route 547 between Seattle-Redmond and Route 597 between Seattle-Lakewood. seattletransitblog.com/2026/08/04/s...
Sound Transit expands night-owl service to Lakewood, Redmond – not Everett
Route 570 will be discontinued and replaced by Route 597. (Wes Mills) Sound Transit’s expanded night-owl bus service is starting on August 29 with service between Redmond-Seattle and Lakewood…
seattletransitblog.com
"Who bikes in the Southend" quickly becoming "Who *doesn't* bike in the Southend?"
Today is the day! Check your mailbox, fill out your ballot, and drop it off before 8pm. 🗳️ Not sure who to vote for? @theurbanist.org has you covered! Their extensive questionnaires, interviews, and endorsements are unmatched. www.theurbanist.org/2026-primary...
Random shoutout to @alexkven.bsky.social for making a tool that shows visualizations for new and changed routes (from the GTFS feeds). Your work is very appreciated, especially on Service Change Announcement Day.
Get ready for the biggest Seattle transit restructure in years! Starting August 29, Metro and Sound Transit are adding, updating, and deleting dozens of routes across the region.
this is not true. there was no conspiracy. it didn't matter whether the streetcars were publicly owned (seattle, detroit) or private (los angeles, atlanta). a thread (because i wrote a whole-ass book on this): 1/?
David Ho@davidho.bsky.social · 3d agoIs everyone aware of the General Motors streetcar conspiracy? In the mid-20th century, auto and oil interests bought up electric streetcar systems across the US and systematically replaced them with bus routes and paved roads, funneling commuters toward private cars.
The Yale slip lane is now permanently closed, with Boren handling all I-5 traffic! We had a great time meeting the SDOT crew and can't wait to see the improvements this will bring for the L8! We'll head back down later today to share some more photos after everything is fully installed.
The decision to “open” the Rainier Ave bus lanes to cars is going about as well as you’d expect.
New bus lane is coming along! Thanks @transportation.seattle.gov !! This weekend involves a bit of rechanneling traffic. Actual bus lane will be painted in a few weeks.
Every closed station entrance should have a staff member or a sign with a map showing the direction to the shuttle stop. I’ve talked with at least a dozen people who didn’t know what to do or where to go.
Michael Smith@mesmith35673.bsky.social · 3d agoThe train has been moved but is still in the tunnel. CID station security say the next update will be in 2 hours. Expect long Link delays today and use buses whenever possible.
Great to see the new traffic patterns on Denny Way! The concrete barriers can’t come soon enough.
The train has been moved but is still in the tunnel. CID station security say the next update will be in 2 hours. Expect long Link delays today and use buses whenever possible.
Cortana@cortanav.bsky.social · 3d agoNobody freak out but the Seattle light rail just derailed across the track at the Chinatown International District station.
I hope this is the last year we allow Genesee Park to be used as a parking lot for Seafair. It creates a large barren space that degrades the park year round.
Michael Smith@mesmith35673.bsky.social · 5d agoCars really put the “ing lot” in “parking lot”.
Seafair also turns our neighborhood streets into parking lots.
Michael Smith@mesmith35673.bsky.social · 5d agoCars really put the “ing lot” in “parking lot”.
Seafair needs to get it's act together on transit access. The region expects to be able to take transit to events. www.reddit.com/r/SeattleWA/...
From the SeattleWA community on Reddit: Seafair Shuttle is Poor
Explore this post and more from the SeattleWA community
reddit.com
The Mayor was essential for getting the Denny Way bus lanes across the finish line, but this project would not have been prioritized (it was her first executive order) without pressure from advocates. Congrats again to the @fixthel8.bsky.social team!
Nick@nicksattele.bsky.social · 5d ago3 years ago when canvassing Denny Way, I don’t think anyone really thought this was possible (even me). It was eye opening hearing so many bus riders assume that cars and traffic were always gonna be more important than their mobility. A year ago they were right but now we have a new mayor!
Really appreciate the @kuow.org team for highlighting the ““wasteland of concrete” that is MLK Jr Way S. Car crashes on this unique road are a daily threat to the neighborhood and can cause severe Link delays that impact hundreds of thousands of passengers across the region.
The Urbanist@theurbanist.org · 5d agoGreat segment here on MLK Way and the Vision Zero campaign to eliminate road deaths, via @kuow.org and featuring our friends at @streetsalliance.bsky.social. omny.fm/shows/seattl...
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Hearing on good authority that Police Chief Shon Barnes has just been fired. He just left the mayor's office this evening after being inside for quite a while. Barnes is currently calling around the police department to tell his captains. Still waiting on confirmation from mayor's office and SPD.
The latest episode of @kuow.org’s Control F podcast discusses speed limits and MLK Way. I had a great time speaking with Clare McGrane for the show about MLK Way’s dangerous design and what we can do to make the street safe for everyone. www.kuow.org/podcast/cont...
Control F
Control F is a podcast about data — hard, fuzzy, surprising, and sometimes unreliable data — and all the ways it influences our daily lives. In each episode, we dig deep on a topic and search through ...
kuow.org
Signs for the Mount Baker Healthy Street have been installed! This Healthy Street covers the two blocks of 34th Ave between Mount Baker Blvd and Horton St (John Muir Elementary school).
Congratulations to @cmeddielin.bsky.social and his team on their successful SEPA reform bill!
The final vote: YES: Strauss, Foster, Kettle, Lin, Rinck NO: Saka, Juarez, Rivera, Hollingsworth The bill passes 5-4.
The Seattle City Council is finally taking up CM Eddie Lin's bill to eliminate one of three pathways to appeal land-use decisions. An appeal that started as a hearing examiner appeal is currently seeking to overturn the comprehensive plan, which proposed allowing modest increases in housing.
Overheard on Lake Washington Boulevard yesterday evening: “Weeeeeeeeee!” “This is so cool!” “Look how fast I can go!” “It’s weird not having to worry about cars on the road”
Seattle Fire and Police are currently responding to a mass shooting at the Seattle Center with at least six gunshot victims.
Just waiting to cross MLk at the light at a Graham, two different people passed me biking along the sidewalk. Imagine how many people would bike if we actually had biking infrastructure in Rainier Valley. Could we start with bike counters on both sidewalks, Seattle DOT?
