There are some folks in Olympia that want to use the recent Port of Seattle audit as a wedge issue to de-fund the ports (and even privatize some of them, but a different subject). Before I go any further, a few things must be clear. This is not an apology, or in any way a defense of how the Port has managed their finances and assets. Rather, it is a warning that the taxpayers are the ones that will be punished, again, if some of these bills in Olympia come to pass.

Now, the reason this blog is getting a ...

Snoqualmie Pass remained closed Thursday morning, with no new estimate on when it might reopen. It closed down a second time Wednesday after an avalanche slide onto the westbound lanes near Hyak.

The Port of Seattle went public Wednesday with its detailed response to a damning state audit, keeping its pledge to be more transparent...

The Legislature is considering bills that would address concerns raised in a damning audit of the Port of Seattle.

More Prop 1 Fall-out Sound Politics, WA - 9 hours ago

Not sure if it'll get anywhere, but it's a start: local cities prodding Snohomish County to use its authority under the legislation creating the RTID to ...

"Streetcar hits truck Tuesday" Seattle Post Intelligencer - 11 hours ago

The article keeps them in shape for the next Sound Transit measure, Prop 2 or whatever - not to mention the soundoff pageviews generated. ...

City Club forum examines Pierce County transportation Tacoma Daily News, WA - 22 hours ago

Executive and a member and former chairman of the Sound Transit Board and current chair of the Pierce Transit Board This discussion will be moderated by ...

Countywide tax pitched to fix traffic HeraldNet, WA - Jan 30, 2008

The new tax package would have to be smaller than the failed RTID proposal, which would have collected $2 billion in Snohomish County and proved to be too ...

Houston’s “Wham-Bam Tram” strikes again!

 

Responsible Transportation Forum has posted previously regarding serious safety issues with light rail lines in other cities. Houston is one of the most notorious systems, with incident after incident documenting crashes between the light rail trains and cars, or the trains and pedestrians.

 

See the video from Honolulu Traffic- the video speaks for itself!

 

“And now from Houston “Metros Greatest Hits”:

Houston’s light rail is unofficially known as the Wham-Bam Tram. With more collisions than any other light rail line, you might say that it really got its name by accident. One accident after another. You’ll enjoy this video.”

 

See the post on http://www.honolulutraffic.com/index.html

Parsons Brinckerhoff and partners have to pay $407 MILLION in the BIG DIG fiasco, averting criminal charges.

From Honolulu Traffic:

“Parsons Brinckerhoff, the City’s consultant for its rail plan, and Bechtel Corp., its partner in Boston’s Big Dig will pay $407 million to settle a government lawsuit and avoid criminal charges over the highway tunnel project, part of which collapsed and killed a woman in 2006, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

“It’s clear from the pattern that we saw over a period of time that there was cutting of corners, there was failure to follow up, there was lack of oversight,” Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said Tuesday. “I think there was a desire to move (the project) along and get it done.

“Under the settlement, the state attorney general and the U.S. attorney in Boston agreed not to file criminal charges over Del Valle’s death.”

 

See the related article in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Bechtel, partner settle Big Dig lawsuit”

 

“They did not, however, ban Bechtel or Parsons Brinckerhoff from working for the state in the future. Large construction and engineering companies such as Bechtel thrive on government contracts, and some Massachusetts politicians pushed hard to have the companies barred.As part of the agreement, Bechtel and Parsons Brinckerhoff admitted to several specific oversight failures concerning the collapsed ceiling as well as technical issues involved in construction.”

Aren’t we glad we have them involved in Port of Seattle and Sound Transit projects?