A roundup of news and announcements we don’t want to get lost in the fast-churning news cycle!
by Vee Hua 華婷婷
Continue reading NEWS GLEAMS | Truce in Gaza Extended; $27M in Participatory Budgeting Process Projects Announced
by Vee Hua 華婷婷
by Vee Hua 華婷婷
by Katherine Hoerster and Julie Cella
Earlier this month, people everywhere celebrated Bike & Walk to School Day. But as parent leaders of a walking school bus for South Seattle K–5 students, active transportation is a meaningful — yet challenging — year-round ritual. For more families to access joyful, healthy, active transportation, Seattle leaders must drastically improve policies and infrastructure. These investments should center on South Seattle, where we experience a disproportionately high burden of driving-related casualties, compounding broad health inequities.
Continue reading OPINION | Seattle Public Schools and City Government Must Support Safe Walk, Bike, and Bus Routes for South Seattleby Vee Hua 華婷婷
by Arvia Morris and Iris Antman
To address expected population growth, promote economic development, and develop a more sustainable transportation system, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has been studying an ultra-high-speed ground transportation (UHSGT) system between Vancouver, British Columbia, and Portland, Oregon, for the past six years and is required to report progress to the Washington State Legislature. Its most recent report to the Legislature is shockingly substance-free, casting doubt on WSDOT’s ability to communicate effectively about this enormous infrastructure commitment. Most egregiously of all, the report does not include any updated cost estimates, which is not only essential information but is also required by law in updates such as this.
Continue reading OPINION | WSDOT Must Be More Transparent About High-Speed Transportation Projectby Vee Hua 華婷婷
by Sarah Goh
With a growing population in the Pacific Northwest, the call for better public transportation heightens. This March, Washington’s State Legislature signed off on a transportation milestone, allocating $150 million to a high-speed connection between Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.
Though this funding could reduce congestion, cut carbon emissions, and better connect these coastal cities, a high-speed rail that travels above 200 miles per hour between major cities has never been done before in the United States. How will Washington get started? How will the State ensure a successful project?
Continue reading Plans Develop for High-Speed Rail in the PNWby Phil Manzano
Could the decades-old government housing discrimination program, commonly called redlining, have anything to do with pedestrian fatalities today?
According to a recent national study that compared federal redlining maps of the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation with data on 2010–2019 pedestrian deaths from the national Fatality Analysis Reporting System, the answer is yes.
Continue reading Redlining Continues to Reverberate in Seattle Nearly a Century Later in Pedestrian Deathsby Amanda Ong
On April 8, the Wing Luke Museum debuted two new exhibits, “Nobody Lives Here,” with art and text by artist Tessa Hulls, and “Resistance at Home,” an exhibit by the museum’s cohort of YouthCAN students. The exhibits are distinct but contain interconnected themes. “Nobody Lives Here” looks at the 1960s and the construction of I-5 through the Chinatown-International District, as well as its resounding effects, and connects it to national projects of urban renewal that have come at the detriment of low-income neighborhoods of color. Meanwhile, “Resistance at Home” features artwork from members of the museum’s youth program, who were asked to reflect on the history of resistance in the CID and what “resistance” and “home” mean to them personally.
Continue reading Wing Luke’s ‘Nobody Lives Here’ and ‘Resistance at Home’ Take a Look at Sound Transit and the Future of the CIDby Ronnie Estoque
The U.S. Department of Transportation has provided two federal Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) grants to Seattle transportation agencies. One grant of $2 million was awarded to Sound Transit and Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) to increase the general safety around the Link light rail along Martin Luther King Jr. Way South, which statistically has been the most dangerous for local residents as reported by the Emerald last year.
Continue reading Sound Transit and Seattle Department of Transportation Awarded Federal Grants for Improvements