With light rail ridership massively shifted from pre-pandemic trends, Sound Transit is announcing new initiatives including more and better security at its facilities including Capitol Hill Station and improved efforts to keep important but fragile infrastructure like its escalators functional and running.

The effort comes as a new survey shows just how much the public transit landscape has shifted in Seattle as the city’s wealthiest residents take on new work habits and its poorest have become the city’s biggest users of bus, streetcar, and light rail systems.

“The past few years haven’t always been easy for our riders, and we appreciate your patience,” Sound Transit CEO Julie Timm said in the announcement of the new initiatives announced this week. “We want you to know that we have heard your concerns and are taking steps to address them.”

New and increased security, better outreach through station agents, continued efforts to try to keep overworked escalators moving until they can be upgraded or replaced, and simple improvements like station trash cans are part of the plan.

The changes come as Seattle public transit ridership trends have clawed back to near pre-pandemic levels and officials are trying to hold the gains and scramble to catch back up with demand.

Across the light rail system, ridership remains a little more than 10% below its 2019 benchmarks, according to Sound Transit reporting.

At Capitol Hill Station, boardings hit a peak of 236,000 riders in October — that’s actually a slight jump from October 2019.

But there are new challenges as habits have seemingly permanently shifted. New survey findings from the Mobility Innovation Center at the University of Washington and Commute Seattle show that there has been a “reversal” in who rides public transit now in the city: “People who live in households that make below $90,000 are more likely to take transit than those who make over $90,000, a reversal from pre-pandemic,” the study’s authors report. According to the report, Seattle households earning $150,000 per year or more, are more likely to telework or have hybrid commute options.

CAPITOL HILL STATION BOARDINGS

At the top of Sound Transit’s list will be an increase and changes with the security teams that patrol the system and the addition of new station agents at Westlake and Northgate that could be also added to other facilities in the future:

Agents have already started working weekdays and we’re hiring more staff to cover weekends as soon as possible. We have had a Station Agent at our SeaTac/Airport station for several years and at Sounder stations since that service started in 2000. The station agents also provide another set of customer-focused eyes in the station so we can quickly respond to the needs of our riders. The pilot program provides an opportunity to evaluate how we may further expand their roles at other Link stations as the system continues to grow.

Sound Transit has also changed how it hires its security staff with newly approved agreements with four security contractors to provide civilian security officers at Sound Transit stations and on board its trains. Timm says the hiring and training process for the new contracts is underway and riders should start seeing “more security officers throughout our system in the coming months.”

“The benefit of having multiple vendors is that a single provider is not on the hook to provide the more than 300 security officers needed to be fully staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” Timm writes. “If one vendor is experiencing staffing challenges, then one of the other three providers can be tapped to rapidly fill that gap.”

In 2020, the Sound Transit board put new rules in place around its security and how it handled issues like fare evasion after surveys showed Black passengers were cited and punished disproportionately by the process.

The recovery for light rail has also come as the system has expanded with new stations opening in 2021 at Roosevelt and Northgate.

Ridership has also been softly impacted by changes that allow kids to ride free on all public transit.

Last year, meanwhile, brought a full overhaul of the ORCA transit card system that will eventually include tap payment by smartphone sometime starting this year.

And construction to enable the system’s expansion has also been a factor. Sound Transit has been busy with a series of “Future Ready” projects to prepare existing light rail facilities for upcoming expansion. CHS reported here on the new schedule for completion of the new line to the Eastside including a new station at Judkins Park now slated to open in winter 2024.

As part of the immediate new efforts, Sound Transit is also spending more to maintain and clean its stations and trains:

• New station cleaning protocols to provide more frequent power washing and new trash cans at the platform level of downtown Seattle tunnel stations.  
• Partnering with King County Community Health Services to have crisis response teams on trains and checking downtown stations to help those who need to connect with resources.
• Testing new seating on 1 Line trains with more durable and easy-to-clean materials. 
• Lighting improvements at Rainier Valley stations to replace original fixtures with new energy-saving LED lighting.

Other challenges will take longer to address. Timm said concerns around broken and unavailable escalators and elevators at its stations remains a priority but upgrading the system will take time. Sound Transit has just started a procurement process for “escalator equipment modernization” and the first installation won’t happen until early next year at the International District station, Timm said.

Capitol Hill Station, meanwhile, will also become more of a draw. New businesses and restaurants are set to open in the development above the busy light rail facility including the new Glo’s Diner set to open in coming weeks.

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