Contracting Commuter Rail Services, Volume 2: Commuter Rail System Profiles (2018)

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111 The Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority (Sound Transit) plans and operates regional transit connections in a three-county area that includes King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties in the state of Washington. Sound Transit sponsors three transit modes to make regional connections: Regional Express bus, Link light rail, and Sounder commuter rail. Sound Transit provides the planning, funding, and capital project development for regional connections. Sound Transit contracts out the majority of day-to-day operations. Local public transit agencies (King County Metro, Pierce Transit, and Community Transit) operate Regional Express buses and Link light rail, while BNSF Railway operates Sounder commuter rail service. The Sounder commuter rail corridor runs 81.8 miles between Lakewood and Everett, Washington. The South Line refers to the Sounder service between Lakewood and King Street Station in Seattle, and the North Line refers to the Sounder service between King Street Station and Everett. On the South Line, Sounder operates eight peak-period, peak-direction trains every weekday. Six trains start in the morning in Lakewood, and two trains start in South Tacoma. The same number of trains operate in the reverse direction in the afternoon. Each peak period, two trains operate in the non- peak direction between Seattle and Tacoma. On the North Line, Sounder operates four peak-period, peak-direction trains every weekday between Everett and Seattle. Additional Sounder trains operate on some Saturdays and Sundays for special events. The Sounder rail fl eet includes diesel locomotives manufactured by EMD (F59PHI) and MotivePower (MP40PH-3C), and bi-level coaches and cab cars manufactured by Bombardier. Sounder shares the railroad tracks with BNSF Railway freight trains and the Amtrak Cascades intercity passenger rail line. Sounder trains share stations with Amtrak in Everett, Edmonds, Seattle, Tukwila, and Tacoma. Passengers can switch between Amtrak Cascades and Sounder commuter trains at these stations. Sounder Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority Lakewood–Seattle–Everett, WA HISTORY 2012 2008 2003 2000 1999 1997 1996 1993 1990 1987 Sounder services were extended from Tacoma to Lakewood on the South Line. Voters approved the Sound Transit 2 ballot measure for additional regional transportation projects. Sounder passenger service opened on the North Line between Seattle and Everett. Sounder passenger service opened on the South Line between Tacoma and Seattle. The Sound Transit board of directors authorized contracts with BNSF Railway for operation of Sounder. The Sound Transit board adopted Sound Transit as its popular name and approved the name Sounder for regional commuter rail service. Voters authorized Sound Transit to collect taxes to build and operate the regional transit system. The Joint Regional Policy Committee (JRPC) adopted the Regional Transit System Plan and formed the Sound Transit board. The Washington Legislature enacted the High Capacity Transit Act to provide funding and local-option taxing authority; JRPC formed through an interlocal agreement between the King, Pierce, and Snohomish County transit agencies to coordinate regional transit planning. The Regional Transportation Plan was amended to include rail transit. The Sound Transit board adopted Sound Move, the 10-year regional transit plan. 1986 1984 1982 1981 Multi-corridor transit studies were completed. An analysis of the north corridor transit alternatives was completed. The regional rail evaluation began. The Puget Sound Council of Governments assessed the potential use of rail.

112 Contracting Commuter Rail Services, Volume 2: Commuter Rail System Profiles PERFORMANCE STATISTICS Past Trends 2012–2016 Service Data in RY* 2016 Data source: NTD *Report year: for each report year, NTD collects data refl ecting the reporter’s operation in the same fi scal year. Annual Operating Cost: $44,414,515 Total Directional Route Miles: 164 Passenger Car Revenue Miles: 1,794,741 Unlinked Passenger Trips: 4,312,113 Annual Total Passenger Miles: 106,687,816 Operating Cost per Passenger Car Revenue Mile Operating Cost per Passenger Passenger Trips per Passenger Car Revenue Mile Passenger Miles per Passenger Trip $24.75 $22.72 $25.03$23.58$24.53 20162015201420132012 $10.30$10.52 $11.94 $13.00$13.11 20162015201420132012 2.40 2.162.10 1.811.87 20162015201420132012 24.7423.6322.9121.8022.24 20162015201420132012 Sounder commuter rail operations are subject to oversight from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) for safety and operations. Sound Transit relies on BSNF Railway for compliance with many FRA regulations that are audited by FRA. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) promulgates regulations for funding and planning, and Sound Transit is responsible for meeting FTA obligations. Sound Transit reports data to meet the requirements of the FTA National Transit Database (NTD). Sound Transit is responsible for developing resiliency plans and implementing service recovery strategies. Most of these plans (e.g., the Passenger Train Emergency Preparedness Plan, the Roadway Worker Protection Plan, and BNSF Railway owns and maintains the rail line between Everett and Tacoma, and Sound Transit owns the corridor between Tacoma and the Thurston County line (at the Nisqually River). Sound Transit contracts with Stacy and Witbeck to maintain the infrastructure for its corridor. BNSF Railway operates Sounder trains. Amtrak maintains Sounder commuter rail equipment. Sound Transit owns and operates the Sounder stations. Private companies provide station services, and the King County Sheriff ’s Offi ce provides security at certain stations. North Line: The Sound Transit agreement with BNSF Railway permanently enables commuter rail trains to travel on existing tracks from Everett to Seattle. This agreement provides for access to the tracks during specifi c hours of the day in perpetuity. BNSF Railway currently hosts eight daily Sounder trains (four round trips) and six daily Amtrak intercity passenger trains daily on the BNSF Railway–owned right-of-way between Seattle and Everett. South Line: BNSF Railway owns all right-of-way used by commuter rail (13 round trips) and 10 Amtrak intercity passenger trains daily, in addition to approximately 48 daily freight trains. Sounder South Line service has a southern terminus in Lakewood, 9 miles south of Tacoma, served on track owned by Sound Transit, which extends to the Thurston County Line. The Sound Transit Board of Directors is the authority’s governing body. The 18-member board establishes policy, provides direction, and performs oversight. Members include the secretary of the Washington State Department of Transportation and 17 locally elected officials. The county executive in each county appoints members from that county. The locally elected officials include mayors, city council members, county executives, and county council members within the Sound Transit district. Each county is represented by one board member per 145,000 people living within that county. By state law, appointments must include an elected city official representing the largest city in the participating county and proportional representation from other cities and unincorporated areas. To help coordination between local and regional transit plans, half of the appointments in each county must be elected officials who serve on the local transit agency governing authority. CONTRACTED SERVICE GOVERNANCE General Contracted Service Informaon Oversight and Responsibilies between Tacoma and Seattle and currently hosts 26 Sounder trains daily

Sounder 113 the System Safety Program Plan) are coordinated with BNSF Railway. BNSF Railway is responsible for the procedures and operators manual used by train crews. Sound Transit is responsible for delivering capital projects. The matrix below illustrates the responsibility for major service functions for Sounder. The capital letters A, B, C, and D represent the Sound Transit in-house staff, the host railroad (BNSF Railway), Amtrak, and the independent contractors (King County Sheriff’s Office, Securitas, Aon Risk Services, and Hallcon), respectively. Contracted Service Matrix A—Agency; B—Host Railroad (RR); C—Amtrak; D—Independent Contractors (RR or Non-RR) A B C D Train Operations Maintenance of Infrastructure Maintenance of Equipment Specifi cally: Train Dispatching Services Train Operations Maintenance of Equipment Facilities Maintenance (1) Maintenance of Way (1) Provision of Electric Traction (na) Signals and Communication (1) Positive Train Control Maintenance Station Operations and Maintenance Non-revenue Equipment Provision Safety Management Security Services (2, 3) Environmental Services Management/Oversight Services Materials Management Services Risk Management Assessment (4) Customer Service Functions Marketing Communications Ticketing/Sales Revenue Collection (3) Information Technology Systems Accident/Fatality Investigations/Support Supplemental Work (na) Other: Media Relations Emergency Exercises Fare Enforcement Management Station Agents (5) Notes for Matrix: 1. Sound Transit contracts with Stacy and Witbeck to maintain the infrastructure for Sound Transit–owned right-of-way. 2. Sound Transit Police is a contract unit of the King County Sheriff ’s Offi ce. 3. Securitas provides fare enforcement and security offi cers at select stations. 4. Aon Risk Services is responsible for risk management assessment. 5. Hallcon provides a customer service presence at stations during commuting hours.