Open Letter to King County Executive Dow Constantine

Re: Proposed West Seattle Light Rail Extension

May 18, 2022

Dear Executive Constantine,

Thank you for your January 28, 2022, request that Sound Transit (ST) examine the aerial gondola
proposal for West Seattle. In your letter to ST’s CEO Peter Rogoff(Below) you asked him to “reach
out directly to gondola advocates to clearly understand their proposal and the assumptions underlying
it,” and “squarely and objectively” address them in the report.

ST released a gondola feasibility report April 7i, but it was not what you asked for. Agency staff did not
reach out to gondola advocates, consult with gondola experts, or objectively address SkyLink’s gondola
proposal.ii The report recycled eight-year-old material from ST’s 2014 High-Capacity Transit (HCT)
Technologies Issue Paperiii, and presented no new information – as we detail in the attached document.

The 2014 paper and April 7 feasibility report repeated old misunderstandings of current gondola
technology. These included, but were not limited to:
• Capacity — modern gondolas can transport 3000-6000 passengers per hour (pph)iv, not
2000 pph as ST asserted;
• System integration — cities larger than Seattle have already integrated gondola systems into
their bus and light rail networks, and carry 50,000-60,000 passengers per day
• Purpose – SkyLink proposes a local connector between West Seattle, SODO and the
Chinatown-International District (CID), not a regional transit network, as ST claims.

The impacts of these mega-projects are too significant to ignore. We can look back on this as a decade
of disruption, destruction and pollution for West Seattle, or one of innovation, community-building and
inspiration. We prefer the latter. Therefore, we urge you to follow through on your promise to formally
request a new study by aerial transit experts, that squarely and objectively addresses the gondola
proposal, its underlying assumptions, and how it compares to light rail for ST3’s CID/SODO-to-Alaska
Junction connection. It should address neighborhood, business and environmental impact concerns,
and provide a comparative analysis of gondola technology vs. ST’s preferred LRT routes.

Sincerely,

James Boyle Dorothy Gesick Barbara McMichaels Annie Phillips

Conrad Cipoletti Colleen Hinton Victoria Nelson Phil Tavel
Richard Curtis Randy Litzenberger Martin Pagel Martin Westerman
Marcia Friedman Marco Mazzoni Todd Peterson More than 1500 of your
West Seattle constituentsv
 Flaws in Sound Transit’s April 2022 Feasibility Report

ST’s April 7 report misrepresented SkyLink’s proposal. The gondola is proposed only as a
feeder line for connecting West Seattle with light rail (LR) stations in SODO and the CID. But,
ST’s 2014 and April 7 reports ignored that, and said gondola technology is not appropriate for
use as a regional trunk line. We agree.

Gondolas work best as local feeder lines integrated with multi-modal transit systems. They are
particularly well suited as low-impact HCT for West Seattle’s steep topography and dense
residential and commercial development, unlike rail.

The report greatly underestimated gondola capacity. Since 2014, cities larger than Seattle
(e.g., Mexico City, Haifa, Ankara) have begun operating multi-station gondolas as part of their
integrated multi-modal HCT systems. Paris and Vancouver (BC) are starting construction on
their own gondola systems soon. The World Bank’s 2020 study viof 21 urban aerial cable
systems running elsewhere in the world show that some carry 4500 pph – more than ST plans
for West Seattle.

The cities of Kirkland, San Diego, Los Angeles, Vancouver (BC), Pittsburgh, Tampa and Miami
have all hired outside consultants to study aerial gondolas as public transit. Sound Transit
must, too.

ST’s April 7 report failed to compare gondolas to LR for West Seattle on any basis. There is no
mention of relative costs, build time, capacity, pollution, carbon footprint, reduction of vehicle
miles traveled, or of impacts to housing, businesses, jobs, the local economy and green spaces.

The report inaccurately claims that changing the ST3 plan from LRT to gondola would require
a re-vote. Voters approved the ST3 transportation package in 2016, which included a West
Seattle light rail proposal. But the ST Board has the authority to make changes to the ST3 plan
without voter approval (authorized by ST3 Section 2vii, and the West Seattle Ballard Link
Extension (WSBLE) Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) Chapter 2viii). The Board did
that in ST2, choosing the International District streetcar over a First Hill tunnel. And it is doing
so again with proposed ST3 changes to the Interbay and Avalon stations.

Concerns the New Independent Study Must Address

Cost: The WSBLE Link is over budget ($3.2 billion, vs. voter-approved $1.7 billion) and delayed
(2032 vs. voter-approved 2030). ST is considering cost-savings options that include
compromises in numbers and siting of stations and delayed delivery dates. The ST Board is
spending $4 million to find ways it can save money and address its “affordability gap.” A
$250,000 independent gondola study would fully compare CID-SODO-West Seattle construction
and construction-related costs, as well as projected cost increases over the life of the project
for gondola and light rail. And it could show ST how to save more than $2 billion by building a
West Seattle gondola.

Environmental Impacts: ST’s DEIS does not fully and adequately account for project pollution,
carbon footprint, or environmental destruction:
• The City of Seattle’s blistering review of the WSBLE DEISixconcluded, "It is essential for
the environmental review to accurately evaluate potential project impacts to inform
appropriate mitigation measures and understanding of alternatives and their trade-
offs... many sections of the DEIS are missing key information and analysis necessary to
understand the full complement of project impacts. Without this information, it is
difficult to fully compare alternatives and develop appropriate mitigation.”
• At the May 10 K4C Spring Town Hall, you said, “We need to put climate first,” and “we
need a movement of people demanding change.” SkyLink advocates and supporters
are demanding a climate-friendly change that offers significantly less environmental
damage and lower carbon footprint than light rail.
• The independent study must also evaluate and compare gondola vs. light rail on
environmental bases: carbon footprint generation and mitigation, destruction of
green space mitigating capacity, and contributions toward city, county and State
targets for reducing carbon and vehicle miles traveled.

Equity and Social Justice Impacts: ST’s preferred West Seattle routes will massively disrupt
formerly red-lined, BIPOC and low-income neighborhoods.

Uwajimaya, which supports a strong and accessible transit network, commentedx that it has
“deep concerns that the true depth and breadth of impacts that will come from building a
second transit station in the CID have not yet been fully analyzed””, that ST has not “fully
accounted for the negative impacts a new station will have on our historically marginalized
community, and it has not sufficiently addressed how these detrimental effects will be analyzed
or mitigated.”

The City of Seattle’s WSBLE DEIS review (ibid.) added, “The City strongly disagrees with
conclusions in the EJ analysis that the project has adequate offsetting benefits, and/or
mitigation that the project would not result in high and adverse effects on environmental
justice populations,“ and ”Impacts to minority-owned businesses and employees, particularly
BIPOC businesses and employees, have not been fully evaluated throughout the corridor.”

On May 10, ST’s West Seattle Community Advisory Group (CAG) called out the dislocation of
residents, small businesses and green space in the WSBLE, and most CAG members stated the
plans offered “no good options.” On May 11, the membership of the 34th Legislative District
Democrats passed a Resolutionxi calling for an independent study of a gondola option for West
Seattle. Currently, more than 1500 of your West Seattle constituents (ibid.) have signed a
petition urging ST to immediately commission an independent study by gondola experts.

We urge you to formally request a new, proper study of the West Seattle gondola proposal.
Dow Constantine
King County Executive
401 Fifth Avenue, Suite 800
Seattle, WA 98104
206-296-9600 Fax 206-296-0194
TTY Relay: 711
www.kingcounty.gov

January 28, 2022

Peter Rogoff
Chief Executive Officer
Sound Transit
401 S Jackson St.
Seattle, WA 98104

Dear Mr. Rogoff:

I write today to formally request that Sound Transit produce a feasibility report regarding an
aerial gondola from West Seattle. I have spoken to you and your staff about this issue
previously and had planned to request this verbally from the dais during yesterday's Board
meeting. But, as the meeting had already run late, and several Board members (myself
included) had other obligations, I thought it wiser to present the request in writing.

Board members have heard from gondola advocates, and from West Seattle residents who
want to know if an aerial gondola is feasible and a viable transit option under Sound
Transit 3. While I am skeptical that an aerial gondola can match the utility of high-capacity
rail transit, I support a study into the feasibility of the concept. I believe the community and
Board would benefit from a shared understanding of the facts, and of the potential benefits,
costs, and technical and legal feasibility of a gondola as compared to the voter-approved light
rail.

I request that the report be completed by March of 2022. I ask that the agency reach out
directly to gondola advocates to clearly understand their proposal and the assumptions
underlying it, and that those be squarely and objectively addressed in the report.

The findings should be shared with the Board, and with interested stakeholders including, but
not limited to: Gondola advocates, individuals and community groups who have expressed
interest in the subject, community-based organizations serving Black, Indigenous, and People
of Color, community-based news outlets, and transit advocacy groups.
i
ST April 7, 2022, Gondola Feasibility Report: https://www.soundtransit.org/sites/default/files/documents/sound-
transit-feasability-report-regarding-aerial-gondola-from-west-seattle-20220407.pdf
ii
West Seattle SkyLink proposal: https://www.westseattleskylink.org/
iii
ST 2014 HCT Issues Paper, P. A-12: AE 0084-13 Task 2.2.1 High Capacity Transit Technologies Issue Paper Oct
2014.pdf
iv
Gondola capacity: several references, including, P.2, https://www.edmonton.ca/sites/default/files/public-
files/assets/transit/ETSAB_Urban_Gondolas_in_Public_Transit.pdf and World Bank report below
v
Skylink Petition: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/lets-get-moving-on-a-gondola-for-west-seattle-now
vi
World Bank gondola report: https://documentos.bancomundial.org/en/publication/documents-
reports/documentdetail/140251611326011996/urban-aerial-cable-cars-as-mass-transit-systems-case-stu
vii
ST3 Section 2, P.3:
https://web.archive.org/web/20180226061714/https:/www.soundtransit.org/sites/default/files/Resolution%20R2
016-17_0.pdf
viii
WSBLE DEIS, Chapter 2, P.1: https://www.soundtransit.org/sites/default/files/documents/2-wsble-drafteis-
chapter2-alternatives-202201.pdf
ix
City of Seattle April 28, 2022 Commentary on WSBLE DEIS:
https://seattle.gov/documents/Departments/OPCD/OngoingInitiatives/LightrailOPCD/CoSeattle_WSBLE_DEISCom
ments_CoverLetter_20220428.pdf
x
Uwajimaya DEIS comments: https://www.uwajimaya.com/blog/our-response-to-sound-transits-wsble-deis/
xi
34th Legis. District Democrats gondola resolution: https://34dems.org/gondola-resolution/