Bob Wodnik 185 pages softcover
Observing its busy stations today, it is difficult to picture Seattle
and Puget Sound without Sound Transit. Or to imagine how close the
transportation agency came to folding. Back on Track reveals
its astonishing survival story. After the city took the last streetcar
out of service in 1941, Seattle subsisted for decades without a rail
system, and it was choking on congestion. So for many, it was a joyous
day in November 1996 when voters in urban areas of King, Pierce, and
Snohomish Counties approved a ten-year, $3.9 billion plan to bring mass
transit to Puget Sound. But for the 23 employees of the fledgling Sound
Transit, the celebration was short-lived. When light rail plan estimates
came in a billion dollars over budget and extended the project three
years, the agency faced a torrent of angry taxpayers and public
ridicule. News headlines bristled about “Unsound Transit,” and whether
the organization was “on the midnight train to nowhere.” Prominent
politicians and citizens joined the battle. One by one, Sound Transit’s
administrators resigned.
Then Joni Earl stepped in. The new executive director rallied the
remaining team members, secured a crucial $500 million federal grant,
publicly confronted critics, and presented a realistic revised budget.
As construction began, she and her team navigated lawsuits, the complex
and at times excessive demands of impacted locations, and the expanding
expectations of outlying communities. Earl’s vision, tenacity, and
diplomacy transformed Sound Transit. Under her leadership, with strong
support from Link Executive Director Ahmad Fazel and Seattle Mayor Greg
Nickels, the agency delivered its promised light rail system in July
2009. A resounding success, Sound Transit exceeded usage forecasts, and
now its trains and buses serve nearly 50 million passengers a year
traveling a combined 73,000 miles every day, and few ever question
whether the region’s light rail system should exist.
