Getting voters on board with the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority’s (Sound Transit) $54 billion plan to improve and expand mass transit in and around Seattle was a hard sell in 2016, but ultimately successful. Just over 54% of voters in the Puget Sound region cast their ballots for the measure.
Dubbed Sound Transit 3, or ST3, the framework for the original initiative included almost $37 billion of capital expenditures for commuter rail, light rail, express bus, bus rapid transit service and other system initiatives. The plan also included almost $7.5 billion for operations and maintenance, as well as approximately $7 billion for debt service, with the balance going toward other system needs.
