Speaking of not blogging and transit in Seattle

I am not really in a position to upload photos while traveling (I have this hot wifi memory card for my camera, but I forgot to set it up for my laptop, and I don't have enough memory for lots of photos anyway) but it's interesting being in another place and seeing election stuff.

For example, in the State of Washington, people vote on bond and tax issues. Of course, that's how it's done in most every place in the United States, except for the District of Columbia. They also vote for a state Lands Commissioner.

In Seattle, there are millage (tax) votes up for the Parks (the mayor is opposed), the Pike Place Public Market, and in the Sound Transit region, another vote on taxes for transportation improvement. There is a public referendum to limit speed cameras and direct 15% of the revenue from said cameras to traffic congestion reduction.

Many newsorgans seem to be against the Sound Transit initiative. A Seattle Weekly columnist doesn't sound too favorable in "My Undecided Ride on Prop. 1". I was looking at a map of the proposed light rail system, and I was thinking about the polycentric arguments laid out by Belmont in _Cities in Full_, about how polycentric transit systems end up supporting and extending sprawl, rather than resulting in optimal mobility improvements....

And so I was thinking about what you might call "transit economies" or "mobility" economies, the efficiencies that result from agglomeration as a result of mixed use transit supported mobility, places like Capitol Hill in DC (or much of Manhattan in New York City), where because of the number of transit connections and amenities available either by foot, bicycle, or transit (one missing option is extensive delivery options for goods), you don't need a car, and can get around by other means. Another way to think about this is network effects and the increasing returns that result from platform efficiencies.

You don't get transit economies with polycentric transit systems or with single line rail lines.

Note to Baltimore: as a city you will remain f*ed until you develop a real connected transit _system_.

For more about the Sound Transit initiative, see " Bus vs. light rail: Which is your ticket to ride?" from the Seattle Times.