SURVEY: Sound Transit is asking for your priorities in bridging $34 billion gap

| Sound Transit | West Seattle news

With major decisionmaking just months or maybe even weeks away, Sound Transit has just launched a survey asking for your priorities regarding what to do next as it tries to close a $34 billion shortfall while keeping promises. Here’s how its announcement explains the survey’s goals:

Sound Transit is working to reduce the impact of historic inflation, tariffs, labor shortages, supply chain disruptions and other factors on its ability to plan, build and deliver transit to the region.

The agency currently estimates that it will need to close a $34.5 billion funding gap over the next 20 years to deliver what’s outlined in the voter-approved Sound Transit 3 program. ST3 includes light rail extensions to West Seattle, Ballard, Tacoma, and Everett, South Kirkland and Issaquah, and much more.

Sound Transit’s Board of Directors and Sound Transit staff are taking proactive steps to address this long-term financial challenge through a comprehensive agencywide process known as the Enterprise Initiative (learn more about that initiative here). As part of this process, the agency is requesting feedback via a survey from those who live within the Sound Transit District.

This survey is available here.

To catch up on WSB coverage of the West Seattle light-rail plan, scroll this archive.

SIDE NOTE, ADDED SATURDAY: Possibly of historical interest: While reviewing long-ago coverage for a KUOW interview we recorded Friday, we happened onto these ST survey results from 2015, one year before ST3 went to voters.

Prioritize April 3, 2026 (8:04 pm)

deez nuts.

Derp April 3, 2026 (10:10 pm)

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I second that “deez nuts” comment

Many options April 3, 2026 (8:12 pm)

So now the problem is due to inflation and tariffs? What about when the rails had to be torn up on the 2 line because they were installed improperly? What about when ST blew through the original budget as approved in 1995 before starting any work? For the love of god, stop this project. We can use other forms of public transportation.

Heet April 3, 2026 (9:48 pm)

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Every major city and first class transit network in the world is run by suckers and rubes who think that trains offer unparalleled efficiency and ease, on the mere thin basis of 150 years of experience. Thank goodness this guy has it all figured out that all we need are buses.
pelicans April 3, 2026 (11:50 pm)

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How about expanding water routes in Puget Sound/Salish Sea? Smaller vessels that connect directly to bus and existing light rail/Sounder routes and utilizing smaller dock facilities?
We have this wonderful unique geographic resource.

Admiral2009 April 3, 2026 (10:36 pm)

ST could start by aggressively collecting fares and work with the State to collect Car Tab fees. Combined this is a significant amount of lost revenue than needs to be collected.

k April 4, 2026 (7:02 am)

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Many cities have done audits of fare enforcement and found that they spend more on the enforcement teams than they make back in fare revenue, without making the transit systems any safer or better. Here’s an article from Oakland, but they have found the same all over the country: https://oaklandside.org/2025/05/16/cracking-down-on-fare-jumpers-didnt-make-bart-safer-or-increase-revenue-report-finds/
- Disagree April 4, 2026 (7:47 am)
  
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  After BART installed fare gates last year at many of its stations, crime on the trains plummeted by 54% in a single year. What’s more, the amount of time that BART employees have to spend on “patron related Corrective Maintenance” — i.e., fixing or cleaning up things that riders break or defile — went from huge amounts to almost nothing.https://x.com/timfduffy/status/2021284431609364907?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=emailData Source: BARTIt turns out that just a few riders were causing most of the disorder on the BART — and those riders were mostly not paying their fares.
- Sonja April 4, 2026 (3:03 pm)
  
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  My Daughter-in-Law is a BART police officer. Her entire job is fare enforcement and rider safety. Since putting a priority on it they’ve literally stopped fare-jumpers and most of the criminal activity on the trains.
  - K April 4, 2026 (5:49 pm)
    
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    The cost of that fare enforcement was more than the losses at the fare box from fare-jumpers. That’s the point. It’s a myth that fare enforcement saves money. And while your daughter-in-law may believe she stopped all the crime on the trains, BART is saying otherwise, which is in line with what’s reported in other cities as well.

Erik April 3, 2026 (10:48 pm)

The solution would be to scrap the rest of the project!

Chemist April 4, 2026 (12:12 am)

I remember going to one of the 2019 community engagement sessions held at the masonic temple where we were still talking about refinements to the preferred alternative, back when the rail was to extend E-W and trail track was going to be extending W of the 4 way all walk intersection and the Gondola folks were just getting started. The way ST had overhead maps for us to plan with that still had the Huling Bros and Howden-Kennedy structures (which had been demolished and redeveloped several years prior by that point) was not confidence inspiring about early budget estimates. Our facilitator also pushed back at our group suggesting dropping Avalon station if it helps be able to fund terminating in West Seattle Junction with a tunnel. Back then ST kept leaning into the idea of finding “third party funding” for deviations from the voter approved route. Lo and behold, 6 years and change later and we’re back to potentially dropping Avalon and a tunnel being a nominal $$ upgrade compared to buying out redeveloped properties in the Alaska Junction/Triangle area.

WS Guy April 4, 2026 (9:42 pm)

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Ah yes. I remember that proposal from a local group. 6 years later we finally got there. And we wonder why this is taking so long.

Michael April 4, 2026 (7:09 am)

Did my part, requesting critical lines connect the region and stressing how additional funding should be found to close the gap. Not going to let the NIMBYs in the neighborhood drown out what I believe is a majority of the population here that wants the core plan to proceed, meaning light rail here.

Lauren April 4, 2026 (9:18 am)

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Hear hear, Michael

Cancel April 4, 2026 (7:13 am)

The only feasible solution to this fiasco is to cancel the project in its entirety.

BUS RIDER April 4, 2026 (7:24 am)

Easy. Call for a NO BUILD on the absurdly expensive, community-destroying West Seattle light rail project. On March 18, Sound Transit announced that the $8 billion cost-estimate is now a mere $4 billion for four miles of track! Wishful thinking and creative accounting are euphemisms for this ongoing boondoggle. They declared that West Seattle light rail is at 30% design and therefore “shovel-ready”, and gleefully announced that they will start digging within 90 days of getting board approval by the end of June. The permitting process has been streamlined and early property acquisitions expedited. And Sound Transit will make a third attempt to get the legislature to allow them to issue 75-year bonds. Be sure to make a comment when you fill out the survey. Solve your $35 billion “affordability gap” by cutting the $7 billion dollar West Seattle light rail project.

LightRail Rider April 4, 2026 (8:13 am)

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Ok Grandpa, let’s get you to bed and get that caps lock key unstuck in the morning
- Ex-Westwood Resident April 4, 2026 (9:57 am)
  
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  OK Millennial, learn the difference between CAPS LOCK and font SIZE!!!
- wscommuter April 4, 2026 (10:42 am)
  
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  Ahh … age-ism. The last acceptable bigotry. Well done Lightrail Rider.
  - aa April 4, 2026 (6:13 pm)
    
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    Nope WSCommuter, add judgement and disdain for fat people. And now judgement if they use medication to lose weight. Shamed for being fat, shamed and labeled ‘Ozempic Face’ when you drop lbs.

Marcus April 4, 2026 (7:26 am)

Oh boy am I confused. I thought that removing the Avalon station would save 30 billion and ST would be solvent. Just joking about this big joke!

aa April 4, 2026 (8:09 am)

I find these surveys ridiculous. They are the professions, figure it out! How would they even use the data from a survey filled with so many diverse and strong opinions?

Dustin April 4, 2026 (9:46 am)

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My guess is that they are considering decisions that they know will be unpopular among ST3 supporters (for example cancelling certain controversial light rail expansion projects?) and are going to use the survey to try to justify whatever that decision will be and claim they asked voters for input. For people who are frustrated about how this project has been handled and communicated, I think it’s important not to let ST pressure us into permitting them to take an easy way out.
Really you don’t know? April 4, 2026 (11:49 am)

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They already made the decision to scrap West Seattle and they’re just offering this illusion of choice. Then they’ll come back to us and announce they’re canceling West Seattle due to the responses.
- Foop April 4, 2026 (12:35 pm)
  
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  Please stop with this blatant disinformation. Or ya know what? Keep it coming, maybe the NIMBYs will stop crying about the light rail at every turn if they think it’s cancelled.

SHELLEY B April 4, 2026 (8:25 am)

SCRAP THE PROJECT!

That's a scream April 4, 2026 (9:49 am)

CANCEL to prevent WS junction from becoming any more of a modern hell pit than it already is in the junction. Ballard makes sense since they already blew it out disgustingly beyond the only narrow streets and streetlight clogged hwy 99 that lead into/out of it. But West Seattle has a bridge and marginal way and the 518 and the 509 to escape. What a joke. Tell me something concrete like the millionaires tax will pay for it. Have more events like the world cup so that officials feel a forced deadline to get stuff done, clean stuff up, etc. as they obviously weren’t able to do it before this event got close. Build lockers and storage for homeless people’s things and pet boarding vouchers for their animals that is nearby a shelter/treatment facility with a roof so they might feel more comfortable coming inside for awhile to get off drugs and/or get mental health treatment. Someone could bring their pet to visit them while they get the mental health and drug treatment they need. Sorry to go off on a rant tangent here but the whole thing is beyond laughable. Tent city bahahaha.. that breaks my heart as an acceptable ‘at least it’s a start’ idea for a city this f-ing rich. Get it together Seattle City government. I invite everyone to go online and do a job search on the city of Seattle’s website and look at the hourly pay they offer. I’ve seen a social media job that any 20-something without college could do these days that paid $45+ an hour. Who sets these pay scales with our tax dollars?! I’m tired of voting yes for new taxes when it’s obvious a spring cleaning has yet to be done with our local government. Yes. I’ll be filling out their survey. Thanks WSB for keeping us in the loop. Oh and Hell Yes to expanding the water routes with the millionaires tax! Those South Lake Union Balls need to seed our community in a more useful way! Yep, I’m a Gen X-er with anger issues.

flimflam April 4, 2026 (10:23 am)

$34 billion dollar shortfall? With a “b”? BILLION.

aa April 4, 2026 (4:21 pm)

It would be interesting to hear how much time and money the
survey will cost. Pay people to create the survey, then pay people to review
the findings, pay people to present the findings, pay people to make decisions
based on the findings. Personally, I have no skin in the game as I have no
family in the area and I’ll be dead before it is finished. And still, I feel
compelled to respond to the ridiculousness of surveys such as these.