Transportation Rants

With the advent of fully self-driving cars, it seems inevitable that the day is quickly approaching when kids will be able to simply put into their phone where they need to go, and the family car will take them there. So that means that the 12-year-old who had to be driven to their soccer practice will be able to go on their own. Carpooling will still be a thing to reduce road traffic and to make the trip more enjoyable, but the 'app' can simply be asked to pick up Jimmy, Johnny, and Timmy on the way to soccer. The family car (or ordered car) will simply drop all of them off, wait, and then have them all back home - without the parents needing to do the driving. The same could be said for having your early teen go to the store for you to get a few things by just hopping in the self-driving car. With these conveniences readily available, teens will stop getting a license in much higher numbers than is already happening, and only those who really want to drive will be getting their license.

City councils will force private parking operators to interface with a single, open municipal parking API. Drivers will pay for any public or private lot through one standard app without service fees or multi-app downloads.

The transition to new hybrid-electric vessels combined with modernized maritime training pipelines will stabilize regional ferry schedules, eliminating staffing cancellations and restoring predictable cross-sound commuter timelines.

To alleviate standstill traffic around key arterial bottlenecks like Mercer Street and the I-5 collector-distributors, local authorities will introduce peak-hour tolling zones for single-occupancy commercial and personal vehicles entering core business districts.

To prevent frequent track disruptions, fallen items, and escalator backlogs, regional transit will retrofit deep underground stations with automated glass platform doors that open only when train cars are fully berthed and stopped.

Given the persistent bottleneck on I-5 northbound, regional transportation planners will designate at least one full lane exclusively for high-occupancy autonomous shuttles and express buses. Commuter friction will force local transit authorities to adopt driverless express lanes to meet climate and throughput targets by 2030.

The heavy surface construction along major corridors over the next few years will temporarily squeeze small storefronts and pedestrian traffic in central Ballard. However, long-term property values within a 5-minute walk of the completed station will spike by over 30% once light rail service opens.