Sound Transit held an all-day retreat last week to figure out how to close a $34.5 billion gap. They say they’re working on bringing costs down. And maybe they’ll shave something off. But here’s where this is almost certainly heading: back to voters, hat in hand, with a scaled-back plan and a bill that works out to roughly $10,000 per person in the taxing district. And if history is any guide, voters will say yes.
So let’s talk about that number.
In 2016, voters in the Puget Sound region approved Sound Transit 3 (ST3), a massive light rail expansion connecting Tacoma to Everett, Seattle to Issaquah, with stops in Ballard and West Seattle. The price tag was $53.8 billion. This is not the first time the numbers haven’t worked. In 2021, Sound Transit acknowledged a $6.5 billion affordability gap and adopted a realignment plan. Last September, the agency announced the shortfall had grown to $30 billion. Six months later, it’s $34.5 billion. The gap grew by $4.5 billion in half a year…