Mennis

From the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance:

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors recently endorsed unanimously its Private Sector Energy Task Force's recommendations as to how Fairfax County can become a leader in the area energy sufficiency, sustainability and "green" technology.

In addition to Sound Transit's flawed ridership projections, one of the other significant findings in the SAO audit of Sound Transit is the lack of effectiveness from the public's only accountability tool, the Citizen Oversight Panel (COP).

In January, the State Auditor's Office agreed to conduct a performance on a number of items related to Sound Transit. Part of the audit was based on a WPC request to reconcile some of the agency's ridership and financial forecasting issues.

The SAO just released the results of that audit. Here are the key findings:

In a new state study, the proposed express toll lanes on I-405 will produce less revenue and lead to more traffic congestion than first thought by WSDOT officials.

Earlier this year, the legislature authorized WSDOT officials to deviate from the original I-405 Master Plan and create an express toll corridor between Bellevue and Lynnwood. However, opponents were able to convince lawmakers to include a third-party feasibility study before construction.

Mike Lindblom of The Seattle Times has a good article on how eliminating the ride-free zone in downtown Seattle hurts the poor.

In this recent article, even liberal PI columnist Joel Connelly shares his frustration with Seattle's War on Cars:

An Eastside buddy, noting a birthday this scribe studiously sought to overlook, wanted to give me a good-natured bad time over dinner.  He proposed to do it in Bellevue.  Two words melted my hesitation: Wild Ginger.

The dinner has since inspired several across-the-lake get-togethers for business and enjoyment.

The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) recently awarded over $250,000 in public money to 24 local advocacy groups to organize, influence and promote public transit and transit oriented development around the region.

The money is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and it is part of a program called Growing Transit Communities.  According to the PSRC, “The goal of Growing Transit Communities is putting jobs and opportunity closer to where people live.”