Sound Transit announcement.
Sound Transit is improving access to South Tacoma and Lakewood Stations to make Sounder train and regional bus connections more convenient for all. In October 2021, we asked for community input on possible improvements. We hosted an online open house from October 6 – 26 where over 900 people viewed project details and maps, including over 100 visitors to our in-language sites in Tagalog, Vietnamese and Spanish. This was supported by mailers sent out to homes and businesses, in-person tabling events, emails, outreach toolkits for local organizations and virtual Q&A sessions with community members.
For South Tacoma Station, all of the potential improvements were supported by a majority of the 54 survey responses received, with some comments supporting or opposing improved bike infrastructure in the area. The Lakewood Station received a similar level of support from the 28 survey respondents for all but two of the proposed improvements. There were fewer comments on the Lakewood survey, but general support for better pedestrian, bike and transit access in the area.
We will incorporate this feedback into an Alternatives Analysis report, which will identify improvements that may be further studied, following review by the Sound Transit Board. All improvements are targeted to be completed by 2030.
82 responses. They’re going to base the decisions on 82 responses. What’s the local population? Hilarious.
I understand the article to say that the survey responses will be part, but not all, of the decision process. I took that survey myself, and it is indeed disappointing that there were only 82 respondents. It’s kinda like low voter turnout; the minority that participates gets to decide what happens for the majority.
To be fair, I don’t know how much of the low response is due to a lack of notification and outreach on Sound Transit’s part, or just apathy on the part of the community. I found out about this survey through an email (I am on their email list), but I thought it was also announced in an earlier Suburban Times article. Either way, Sound Transit does have surveys 2-3 times per year and it’s pretty easy to sign up on their email list for people who want to provide input.