Seattle's public transport in 3 to 5 years (Bellevue, Federal Way: buses, airport, trains)

[AD1985]

Right now I believe public transport in Seattle is mostly bus lines with a single light rail. But I hear the options are expanding.

Based on the planned expansions, would you guys say that in 3 to 5 years time, Seattle will have a substantial public transport infrastructure at or close to New York?

If not I'd like to hear about the areas of town that'll still be deficient.

[mkarch]

In 3-5 years, roughly 90% of the city will still be deficient. You want to hear about all of those areas?

[AD1985]

I thought there was a pretty substantial addition of rails coming in the near future.

[Hemlock140]

For those commuting from certain areas, the light rail expansion will be helpful. Most of that will not be in 3-5 years, more like 8-10 and that's if they manage to stay on schedule. Within Seattle itself the routes will remain very limited, and mostly dependent upon the current light rail to the airport and the buses.

[Ira500]

New York City has eight million people. Seattle has 650,000. So, even with transit improvements, it will in no way be "at or close to New York." New York City has something like 700 miles of subway track. Seattle currently has what? 15? But I think the U district extension will be open next year, Northgate 2021, Bellevue/Redmond will be open by 2023,Lynnwood 2023, and south to Federal Way by 2023.
So there will be a lot more rail service.
Mostly, these are places that you can already get to via bus. But the rail service promises to be much more frequent.

[AD1985]

good to know, I imagine the rail would be faster also.

[CityWok]

2023, sounds about when Bertha will finish her trek, too

[sean98125]

I think we'll be driving through the waterfront tunnel several years before we're taking trains from Northgate.

[Haakon]

Originally Posted by AD1985

Right now I believe public transport in Seattle is mostly bus lines with a single light rail. But I hear the options are expanding.

Based on the planned expansions, would you guys say that in 3 to 5 years time, Seattle will have a substantial public transport infrastructure at or close to New York?

ROFLMAO! That's a good one! Seattle will NEVER have a public transport infrastructure like New York. They can't even get a single tunnel dug or a bridge built in 3-5 years much less upgrade all of the infrastructure.

Originally Posted by AD1985

If not I'd like to hear about the areas of town that'll still be deficient.

Still be deficient? All of it. Do you know how long the tiny amount of light rail that is in place now took?
History of Link Light Rail - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
3-5 years from now nothing will be significantly different than today, except that traffic and congestion will be worse.

[SeahawksLOB]

Originally Posted by AD1985

Right now I believe public transport in Seattle is mostly bus lines with a single light rail. But I hear the options are expanding.

Based on the planned expansions, would you guys say that in 3 to 5 years time, Seattle will have a substantial public transport infrastructure at or close to New York?

If not I'd like to hear about the areas of town that'll still be deficient.

Close to New York? Are you kidding? in the next 3-5 years the only new addition to the current mass transit system is the Link extension to Capitol Hill and Husky Stadium. Extensions to Northgate and the Eastside are a decade away from opening. Even then, it won't be remotely close to what NYC has right now.