Center for Transportation
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Launched in 2006, the Center for Transportation researches and analyzes the best practices for relieving traffic congestion by recapturing a vision of a system based on freedom of movement. Key aspects of this vision include reducing structural barriers that drive up costs, linking congestion relief with spending, improving accountability and transparency with the Department of Transportation and other local, state and federal transportation agencies. |
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Transportation Publications | Transportation Blog
Light Rail, One Year Later: A Train of Broken Promises
As our first year with light rail comes to a close, Sound Transit officials are certain to declare the experiment an unqualified success. Yet, a closer look at the actual performance shows citizens are not getting what they are paying for.
In 1996, Sound Transit officials promised voters they would build 25 miles of light rail for a total cost of about $1.8 billion, and they would be finished by 2006. In fact, officials were so confident in their “conservative” projections they called it, “Sound Move, The 10-Year Regional Transit System Plan.”
Fourteen years later, Sound Transit officials have reduced the planned line to 21 miles, and have only delivered about 17 miles for about $2.6 billion. The rest will not be finished until around 2020 for a total cost approaching $15 billion. In other words, Phase 1 is smaller, billions over budget and more than a dozen years late compared to what officials originally promised voters.
Read coverage of the story on MyNorthwest.com
Listen to Michael Ennis on KIRO Radio discussing Sound Transit Light Rail 1st anniversary
Watch the story LINK Light Rail Marks One-Year Anniversary on Q13 FOX, featuring an interview with Michael Ennis
EXCLUSIVE: New study reveals Metro's broken promises, questionable spending
Michael Ennis talks with KING 5's Chris Ingalls about King County Metro's failure to meet promises made to taxpayers.
Read the Policy Notes this story was based on:
King County Metro Bus Driver Wages Grow Out of Control
King County Officials Over-Promise Bus Service for Tax Increases
Investigators: $10 million spent on extras for group of state employees
Michael Ennis is interviewed by Susannah Frame for KING 5's continuing investigative series on financial waste in the state ferry system, June 24, 2010
Back room deal puts true ferry reform in question
Michael Ennis is interviewed in story about union influence at the negotiating table, June 17, 2010
Government Takeover Of West Seattle Ferry Triples Costs
On May 26th, KIRO 7 (CBS) news in Seattle aired a special investigative report based on our new study “King County Ferry Service Not as Efficient as Private Operator,”. Michael Ennis, Director of WPC’s Center for Transportation, is the source of KIRO’s story (See Policy Note below). You can read the story online here, and watch the video here.
King County Ferry Service Not as Efficient as
Private Operator
Argosy Cruises operates same service for three times less money
Since 1997, King County has operated the West Seattle Water Taxi across Elliott Bay. The ferry route connects Pier 55 on the downtown waterfront to Seacrest Park in West Seattle. The route has been seasonal, operating April through October.
In 2007, the King County Council voted to create a ferry district and levied a special property tax increase on all county residents to expand its ferry operations. The higher property tax generates about $18 million per year and pays for the Vashon Island passenger-only ferry abandoned by the state in 2006, and for yearround operation of the West Seattle route.
Read the full Policy Note here >>
Michael Ennis on TVW's The Impact discussing the high cost of high speed rail
Want a transportation system that works? Vanpools.
For an efficient way to move people and protect the environment, vanpools greatly outperform all other transit modes. Let's do the numbers.
Across the Puget Sound region, traffic congestion is predicted to double, reaching the levels of present day Los Angeles by 2030. Yet, so-called regional transportation solutions will do very little to help and will actually make traffic worse. A more cost-effective solution is staring us right in the face: vanpools.
Vanpools are cheaper, more flexible, and more efficient than any other intercity transit mode. King County's public vanpool program alone carries more riders than Sound Transit's entire Sounder Commuter Rail, and for $1 billion less.
Read the full op-ed on Crosscut >>
Michael Ennis talks with The Conversation host Ross Reynolds about vanpools, March 10, 2010.
How Public Officials Spend Our Transportation Taxes
Have you ever wondered how much of your transportation tax money pays for that Metro bus you always see on the road? Or how much of it funds light rail as opposed to roads and bridges? New research by transportation expert James W. MacIsaac, P.E. shows that if you live in the Puget Sound region, you might be surprised just how officials spend your hard earned money.
As lawmakers prepare to expand tolling and make it easier for transit agencies to raise their own taxes, it is important to understand how current revenues are distributed.
Read the full Legislative Memo here >>
Tolling Interstate 405 Needs a Closer Look
House Bill 2941 was proposed during the current Legislative Session. The bill would authorize the use of express toll lanes on Interstate 405 (I-405).1 The bill is vague and presumably relies on a study that does not adequately compare toll lanes to a no-build option. The legislature should request a full and complete comparison to a no-build option before authorizing the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to build express toll lanes on I-405.
Read the full Legislative Memo here >>
Second northbound Amtrak train is a waste of money
The second Amtrak train that connects Seattle and Vancouver, B.C., carries very few people, costs taxpayers millions of dollars and hurts local Washington companies.
Last August, Amtrak began operating a second train between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. The second train is a pilot project to connect the two largest regional urban areas as the Winter Olympics start in February. Both Washington state and Canadian officials are waiting to assess passenger demand before deciding whether to make the second train permanent.
Read Michael Ennis's full op-ed in The Bellingham Herald here >>
Would high speed rail work in Seattle?
See Michael Ennis, WPC's Center for Transportation Director interviewed by KIRO TV here
Michael Ennis talks with David Boze on KTTH about plans for the I-90 bridge, January 22, 2010.
Vanpools in the Puget Sound Region
The case for expanding vanpool programs to move the most people for the least cost
As traffic congestion and the financial and environmental costs of commuting continue to rise, a once overlooked transit alternative has quietly become an effective option for many motorists: vanpooling.
Sharing a commute through a vanpool:
• Reduces parking and fuel costs
• Allows access to HOV lanes
• Consumes fewer resources
• Is cheaper, more flexible and faster than other mass transit choices
Regional growth projections and travel patterns show there is a large undeveloped market in vanpool demand. Yet expanding vanpools is typically not a major priority for state and local governments as other, less efficient transit modes are marketed and funded. Vanpools are not for everyone and they cannot effectively serve short, intra-city transit demand. Ridership figures, costs and market potential in the Puget Sound region, however, show that vanpools are a successful and more efficient way to move long-distance, intercity commuters.
Instead of spending more public money to connect cities with high speed rail, commuter rail, light rail and express bus services, policymakers should look to vanpools as the most efficient alternative.
Read the full Policy Brief here >>
The Vanpool Solution (Video Transcript)
A faster, cheaper and easier way to commute
This script is from an in-depth, four-part Policy Brief by the Washington Policy Center called Vanpools in the Puget Sound Region, The case for expanding vanpool programs to move the most people for the least cost. The full report and the video can be found online at washingtonpolicy.org.
Vanpools offer attractive and cost effective option to commuters
Vanpooling is a little known public transit option that turns out to be the most efficient, flexible and effective in reducing traffic congestion. How much do you pay to commute to work? If you drive, as most of us do, then it is probably close to the American Automobile Association’s (AAA) average of .16 cents per mile. If you ride public transit, then you probably pay less.
Why the U.S. and Washington Should Not Build High-Speed Rail
Washington should apply for its share of federal high-speed rail stimulus funds for safety improvements such as grade crossings and signaling systems, but not for new trains that will obligate taxpayers to pay millions of dollars in annual subsidies, says a new report from Washington Policy Center (WPC). Authored by WPC adjunct scholar Randal O’Toole, the report makes the following key findings:
• Initial funding commits the nation to a program whose eventual costs could exceed $1 trillion. This doesn’t count overruns, operating subsidies, and rehabilitation costs.
• Outside of the Boston-to-Washington and Philadelphia-to-Harrisburg routes, Amtrak short distance trains lose an average of $37 per passenger and Amtrak expects the states to cover most of these operating losses.
• A hidden cost of rail is that it must be rebuilt about every 30 years. This means construction could leave states obligated to fund billions of dollars in rehabilitation costs.
• The fact that American freight railroads are profitable while European passenger lines are not suggests that freight, not passenger, is the highest and best use of a modern railroad in most places.
• It is far more cost-effective to save energy by encouraging people to drive more fuel-efficient cars than to build and operate high-speed rail.
• Considering the energy required for rail construction, improvements in auto and airline energy efficiencies, and the high energy cost required to move trains at higher speeds, high speed rail will have little to no environmental benefit.
• Upgrading the 280 rail miles in Washington to 110-mph standards would cost nearly $1 billion.
• The average Washingtonian will take a round trip on high-speed rail once every 8.5 years.
• For every Washingtonian who rides high-speed rail once a month, more than 100 Washington residents will never ride it.
WPC Op Ed in the PSBJ: High-Speed Rail is Wasteful
The complete report can be viewed online here
A Policy Note summarizing the full study is available here
Five Principles of Responsible Transportation Policy
Washington Policy Center encourages five principles of responsible transportation policy to help guide policymakers in returning to a system that provides people’s freedom of movement.
• Tie spending to performance measures, like traffic relief and economic development
• Respect people’s freedom of mobility
• Deploy resources based on market demand
• Improve freight mobility
• Use Public/Private Partnerships
Read the legislative memo here.
You can also view or download the brochure here.
Printer friendly version (PDF)
The Center for Transportation
Launched in 2006, the Center for Transportation researches and analyzes the best practices for relieving traffic congestion by recapturing a vision of a system based on freedom of movement. Key aspects of this vision include reducing structural barriers that drive up costs, linking congestion relief with spending, improving accountability and transparency with the Department of Transportation and other local, state and federal transportation agencies. 
Director Michael Ennis
Michael Ennis is the Director of the Center for Transportation. Before joining Washington Policy Center, he worked for the Washington State Senate and House of Representatives and was formerly a staff assistant for U.S. Senator Slade Gorton. Michael served in the U.S. Army with the 2nd Ranger Battalion and is currently in his second term on the Enumclaw City Council. He earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Washington and his Master's of Public Administration degree from the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs also at the University of Washington. Mike is the author of many published transportation studies and articles and has been covered in local, state and national media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, CNN, Bloomberg News and Investor’s Business Daily. He lives in Enumclaw with his wife Heidi and their two children.
Contact Information
For questions or for more information from the Center for Transportation please e-mail mennis@washingtonpolicy.org.
Check back for upcoming events
2009 Annual Center for Transportation Dinner
The 2009 Annual Center for Transportation Dinner took place Saturday, April 18, 2009 at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue. It featured Dr. Samuel Staley, Director of Urban Policy at Reason Foundation and was Co-Sponsored with American Dream Coalition.
