Paris is not boxed in as Seattle and environs are.

We should totally do the max possible subway expansion. I am so sick of it taking forever to get anywhere.

Transportation is hampered by the I-90 tunnel mess. The I-90 tunnel is the fount of decay eating away at friend and foe alike. For example, without the boondoggle tunnel dragging its crushed and bleeding limb into its very uncertain future, the Republicans in Olympia likely wouldn't have had enough bad stuff in the abstract to justify taking down the transportation secretary. The I-405 stuff wouldn't have been enough to make it so painless for them. Who will want to take on that job now, knowing that they will be blamed for everything that goes wrong with the I-90 tunnel.

So, public transportation? Opponents can just point to the Democratic leadership and say, "Hey, they got what they wanted the last time they wanted something big, and look how badly it has gone." It won't matter that it is a quintessential roads project. The tunnel can be played as if it is the opposite.

So the Parisian tunnel C'est La Bertha?

Paris humiliates Seattle in this, but not for the reasons you give. Paris builds a subway to reduce traffic congestion. ST is on record saying Link has nothing to do with reducing traffic congestion. Paris shows us why we need to vote down ST initiatives. Until a transit planner in Seattle gets half as smart as the least intelligent Parisian traffic planner, we're just throwing away good money after bad.

@6
That makes no sense. Congestion is a fact of cities. Paris will still be congested after they build this. If you want a way to skip it, build a subway. Sound Transit is doing that. You cant hate congestion and options to avoid it at the same time.

Yes but Paris has been working on the Les Halles station complex for literally a generation, so...

#7, makes no sense? It is a quote in the story itself.

"The goals: Reduce the smog-choked region’s car traffic."

If you think Parisian streets will still be congested after this is built, maybe you need to call someone who works at Paris Metro. I'm sure they'll appreciate all the time and money you'll save them.

@9
There are awesome reasons to build transit that don't relate to congestion. I think the Paris metro expansion will be an enormous success for mobility and carbon neutrality in Paris. But I really doubt that traffic will be awesome in Paris at any point in time ever. Paris streets have been congested since like the 1700's.

I just think it is very weird to support groups not based on their actions, but by their PR. ST and Paris metro are both building very necessary subway expansions, and ST has a great track record of actually doing it. To say that one is worthwhile and the other needs a wake up call *based on PR* just seems silly to me. Not everyone has to have the same reason to make a sorely needed investment in infrastructure.

@11,

Induced demand doesn't happen in every single case, but in a massive world city like Paris it totally does. There is no way traffic is going away in Paris.

Paris is also over 7 times more dense than the city of Seattle. I bet many of these suburbs are more dense than Seattle is.

So we're not even close to built out in a may that precludes building a broad-reaching rail network. If L.A. can do it (and they are), we can and should be doing it too.

The only certainty is that if we pass a $30 billion transit measure (and I hope we do) Sloggers will bitch and moan twice as much about how crappy transit here is and how we need to do more.