May/June 2024 - 8

People & Places
A rendering of the Mt. Vernon Library
Commons.
Image: USDOT
The first portion of Sound Transit's Link 2 Line opened April 27.
Photo: Sound Transit
First portion of Sound Transit
Link 2 Line begins service
The initial segment of Sound Transit's Link 2 Line opened on April 27.
The 6.6-mile segment of the Link 2 Line includes eight stations in Bellevue
and Redmond, Wash. The initial segment terminates at the South Bellevue
Station at the west end and the Redmond Technology Station on the east.
Two-car trains run every 10 minutes, 16 hours a day, seven days a week.
The full 2 Line is expected to open in 2025.
MassTransitmag.com/55021719
Bureau has approved its first TransitOriented
Development Transportation
Infrastructure Finance and Innovation
Act loan for up to $26.8 million for the
Mt. Vernon Library Commons Project
in Washington state. The project
includes a multi-use building with
a public library, community center,
meeting rooms, commercial kitchen,
parking garage, public restrooms,
STEM center, computing space and
numerous electric vehicle chargers.
The project, slated to be completed
this summer, encompasses half a city
block in downtown Mount Vernon,
Wash., and will be a short walk
from Skagit Station, Skagit County's
multi-modal transportation center.
MassTransitmag.com/55036818
Brightline West breaks
ground on high-speed rail
system connecting southern
California and Las Vegas
▶Brightline West has broken ground
on a 218-mile high-speed rail system
that will connect Las Vegas, Nev., to
southern California. The rail line will
be constructed in the middle of the
I-15 in the western portion of the U.S.
and is based on Brightline's vision to
connect city pairs that are too short to
fly and too far to drive. Brightline West
will run zero-emission, fully electric
trains capable of speeds of 200 miles
per hour. The project was recently
awarded $3 billion in funding from the
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs
Act. The rest of the project will be privately
funded and has received a total
allocation of $3.5 billion in private activity
bonds from the U.S. Department
of Transportation.
MassTransitmag.com/55020160
8 Mass Transit | MAY/JUNE 2024
Metro Gold Line set to
open March 22, 2025,
in the Twin Cities
▶The Metro Gold Line - Minnesota's
first bus rapid transit (BRT) line to
operate primarily within bus-only
lanes - will open on March 22, 2025.
The new line will connect Woodbury
to downtown Saint Paul, Minn. The
Gold Line is one of three new BRT lines
Metro Transit will open next year, expanding
the region's network of Metro
lines that provide reliable, all-day
service and stations with amenities
such as heated and lit shelters.
MassTransitmag.com/55001857
USDOT's Build American
Bureau approves first TOD
TIFIA loan for Mt. Vernon
Library Commons Project
▶The U.S. Department of
Transportation's Build America
Pierce Transit, in partnership with MultiCare,
has cut the ribbon on the Stream Community
Line.
Photo: Pierce Transit
Pierce Transit cuts ribbon on
Stream Community Line
▶Pierce Transit has cut the ribbon on
its new Stream Community Line. The
high-capacity transit service launched
April 1 in partnership with MultiCare
and offers a frequent, rapid and
convenient weekday morning and
afternoon service between Spanaway
and Tacoma Dome Station in Tacoma,
Wash. Stream runs on weekdays from
5:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. and from 4 to 7
p.m. to help those riders who commute
to and from downtown Tacoma
and who connect to other local and
regional transit services.
MassTransitmag.com/55022098
http://www.MassTransitmag.com/55036818 http://www.MassTransitmag.com/55021719 http://www.MassTransitmag.com/55001857 http://www.MassTransitmag.com/55020160 http://www.MassTransitmag.com/55022098
May/June 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of May/June 2024
