[nfbwatlk] FW: Sound Transit CEO Report

[Jacob Struiksma]

  _____  

From: Sound Transit [mailto:soundtransit at govdelivery.com] 
Sent: Friday, March 27, 2009 3:18 PM
To: lawnmower84 at hotmail.com
Subject: Sound Transit CEO Report




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CEO Report 

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>From Joni Earl 

March 27, 2009 


In this edition 


*	
University Link bid about $86 million under estimate 

*	
Link light rail fares set 

*	
Ridership continues climbing this year 

*	
James R. Ellis Regional Leadership Award 

*	
Photo of the Week 

*	
Sound Transit Board action on Thursday 



University Link bid about $86 million under estimate 

Great news on our U-Link tunnel bids this week. 

The apparent low bidder to dig the project's twin tunnels from the
University of Washington to Capitol Hill was about $86 million under our
engineer's estimate for the job. The bid, from Traylor Frontier - Kemper
Joint Venture, was about $309 million. The second bid, from JCM U-Link Joint
Venture, was about $360 million.   

This is the single largest contract for the U-Link tunnel and it includes
excavating a portion of the UW Station and digging 11,400 feet of tunnels
from the university to Capitol Hill. Construction recently kicked off on the
3.15-mile U-Link extension, which runs from downtown Seattle to the
University District. U-Link includes two stations, one at Capitol Hill
(Broadway and East John Street), the other on the campus near Husky Stadium.


We're reviewing the low bid to make sure it meets all our requirements. The
tunneling work is scheduled to begin late this year and last about three
years.  

The $1.9 billion University Link extension is expected to open in 2016. 

Link light rail fares set 

The Sound Transit Board on Thursday took a huge step towards opening light
rail passenger service in July, when it approved a fare structure for Link
riders. 

Fares are distance-based and will include a $1.75 base fare plus $.05 per
mile, rounded up or down to the nearest quarter. The maximum adult fare on
the line from Westlake Station in downtown Seattle to Sea-Tac Airport is
$2.50, the same as a bus ride. Youth fares start at $1.25 and have a maximum
fare of $2.  Senior/disabled fares start at  $.75 and have a maximum fare of
$1.25. Fares will apply in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel.   

The fare structure supports Sound Transit's goal of recovering 52 percent of
annual operational costs by 2017, when the line is fully in service.   

Link light rail is on schedule to open for passenger service between
downtown Seattle and Tukwila in July and to the airport by the end of the
year. Connector buses will carry passengers between Tukwila and the airport
until the airport station opens in December. 

More information about the new fare structure can be found at:
www.soundtransit.org/linkfares. 

Ridership continues climbing this year 

Sound Transit bus and train ridership keeps on growing. 

As I told the Sound Transit Board this week our overall ridership, including
ST Express buses, Sounder trains and Tacoma Link light rail, was up 9
percent in January, compared to the same month a year earlier. And, overall
ridership was up 6 percent in February over the same month in 2008. 

Our average weekday passenger boardings totaled 56,231 in January and 56,109
in February, which are both significant increases over the same time a year
earlier. 

James R. Ellis Regional Leadership Award 

Mayor Greg Nickels, chair of the Sound Transit Board, and I were honored
Wednesday to receive the Municipal League of King County's regional
leadership award named in honor of Jim Ellis. 

The award recognizes the Sound Transit Board and Sound Transit staff's work
on the Sound Transit 2 plan that was approved by voters last November. 

Photo of the Week 

Our photo this week was taken at the South Tacoma Station. 

 <http://www.soundtransit.org/newsroom/photo/>
http://www.soundtransit.org/newsroom/photo/. 

The Sound Transit Board on Thursday: 

*	Approved the submittal of the Transit Development Plan 2009-2014 and
2008 Annual Report to the Washington State Department of Transportation. 

*	Approved the increase in contingency for the contract with SCI
Infrastructure, to provide construction services for Southcenter Boulevard
Improvements (including an expanded Park-and-Ride facility within the
Central Link Initial Segment) in the amount of $2,606,443 for a total
authorized contract amount not to exceed $26,342,690, which includes costs
reimbursable to Sound Transit from the City of SeaTac and other third
parties for betterment work. 

*	Approved the acquisition, disposal or lease of certain real property
interests by negotiated purchase, by condemnation (including settlement), by
condemnation litigation, or by administrative settlement; and to pay
eligible relocation and re-establishment benefits to affected parties as
necessary for the Regional Express Kirkland Transit Center/3rd Street
Project. 

*	Approved a resolution exempting the sale of lodging from the
additional five-tenths of one percent sales and use tax imposed by
Resolution No. R2008-15 to the extent required by RCW 82.14.410.    


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