Passenger Bus, Rail and Motorcoach Industry News

More than 120 retail stores just joined the 40 transit agency venues that sell ORCA cards. Prior to ORCA, regional transit agencies each had their own tickets, passes and paper transfers.

The new $18 million project will be a mixed-use arts facility containing 57 rental units of affordable live/work space for artists and their families. The ground floor will include a community room and 12 commercial spaces for non-profits, creative enterprises and related businesses.

Trying to keep the city of Kirkland from taking out a five-mile section of rail line to install a recreational trail. City officials told the paper that they plan to eventually rebuild the tracks, but rail advocates are skeptical and say the possibilities should be studied first.

Had an estimated 28 million boardings last year. Average weekday boardings topped 93,000 for the year. The combined annual numbers were up almost 12% over 2011 and boardings on all Sound Transit services topped agency projections for the year.

The excess amount was $349,632 over a four-and-a-half-year period, according to a state auditor. An untrained employee and overly complex accounting systems were to blame for the payment mistakes.

Increased focus on TOD opportunities will span all phases of planning, constructing and operating regional transit expansions, including the up to 36 additional miles of light rail expansions approved through the 2008 Sound Transit 2 measure.

The new commuter rail service to and from Lakewood saw an average of 237 passengers at two new stops in the first 17 days of revenue service. The operator predicted 380 to 530 daily boardings within the first two years of operation.

Up almost 12% through September compared to last year.

The seven-year construction management contract awarded to CH2M Hill and Jacobs Engineering has a value of $75.5 million.

While the agency’s light rail ridership forecasts seem overly optimistic and its citizen-oversight panel is insubstantial, the agency did adapt well to the recession.