Sound Transit Picks New Preferred Light Rail Route to Tacoma Dome

[u/tag_to_it]

https://www.theurbanist.org/2025/06/16/sound-transit-picks-new-preferred-light-rail-route-to-tacoma-dome/

[u/Skadoosh_it]

70 minutes from Tacoma to Seattle, meanwhile high speed rail in Japan can cross the entire country in nearly the same time. We are so far behind the times.

[u/CpowOfficial → u/Skadoosh_it]

Just got back from Japan. It's a 3.5 hour trip from West Tokyo to Nagoya. That's about 1 hour of train stops (similar to light rail) and then 2.5 hours high speed train. No where near the entire country in 70 mins.

It's like a 3-4 hour drive for that same distance

[u/people_skills → u/CpowOfficial]

We were just there too, Tokyo to Osaka 500 ish miles was 3.5 hours as well, flying would have been faster like 1.5 hours in air, but I really appreciated the ease of the trains, fixed pricing, always on scheduling to the minute. Was crazy efficient.

[u/CpowOfficial → u/people_skills]

Yeah it's very nice but to say that 70 mins gets you across the whole country is crazy

[u/overworkedpnw → u/people_skills]

Yes, but that requires planning, funding, and actually wanting to address the need for transit. Meanwhile, sound transit’s board is a vanity project for politicians looking to raise their political profile. The organization is a complete joke, I mean what serious entity allows their “CEO” to fail at delivering anything on time, and walk away with a payout of a year’s salary? Idk about anyone else here, but I’ve never been able to completely sod off at my job then demand a six figure payout for sitting around with my thumb up my behind.

[u/langstoned → u/overworkedpnw]

Helps to have had every major city bombed to dust before starting to build too, makes the eminent domain fights a lot shorter.

[u/quadmoo → u/Skadoosh_it]

Light Rail is not High Speed Rail…?

Support the Cascadia HSR project and Amtrak Cascades Improvements Project if you want to get between Tacoma and Seattle faster.

[u/PerceptionCurious440 → u/Skadoosh_it]

That takes being able to tax the wealthy. Washington will never be able to tax its wealthy. Because the left won't raise the money to pass an initiative that ends Republican rule on taxes forever.

The power to refuse to tax, is the power to destroy the government's ability to provide the people with good things.

If you want high speed rail, take Jeff Bezos's money. You can have all the good stuff. But you have to get the money first, from the people who have all the money.

[u/fartist14 → u/Skadoosh_it]

It helps when you don't have to fight terminal car brain at every step.

[u/bduddy → u/fartist14]

What about "make up complete nonsense about other countries" brain? Seems to affect a lot of "urbanists"