Bus Rapid Transit Plans Scrapped in Tacoma

Ryan Packer reports: Pierce Transit told its board of commissioners that it could no longer move forward with plans to create any dedicated space for buses along Pacific Avenue between downtown Tacoma and Spanaway.”

“The line, which was to be run under the branding of “Stream” and would have upgraded Pierce Transit’s most-used route, Route 1, has been in planning for over five years and gone through multiple iterations as the agency tried to find a design that met the approval of both the City of Tacoma and the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), which would have to sign off on any changes to a significant portion of the corridor that exists as State Route 7,” explains Packer.

Stream BRT was doomed by delays and high costs—the latter driven by the large need for property acquisitions along the route and a common story from around the region.

“The battle over the need for property acquisition to avoid impacts to existing (and future) traffic echoes similar struggles elsewhere in the region, including Sound Transit’s Stride BRT projects, which also face significant budget increases,” writes Packer.

All is not lost for the concept of high quality transit along the corridor—Pierce Transit has to find a way to bring down the cost for a transit project by $100 million, or so, to make the project budget work.

Previous Planetizen coverage of Tacoma and Pierce Transit’s BRT plans:

• Bus Rapid Transit Upgrade Coming to Tacoma-Spanaway Route (July 2018)
• Tacoma Weighs Bus Rapid Transit (March 2019)
• 'Hybrid' Bus Rapid Transit Design Preferred in Tacoma, Washington (April 2019)