August News: All Aboard for Tuxes & Trains 2025

Transportation Choices Coalition Staff enjoying ice cream at Molly Moons.

Dear friends,

We hope you’re finding time to enjoy the beautiful summer weather, whether that’s walking to your favorite ice cream shop, biking along a scenic trail, or taking transit to explore a new neighborhood. There’s something special about this season that gets people out and about, and we’ve been inspired watching our communities embrace transportation choices that connect us to the places and people we love.

We were proud to advocate for this pet-friendly policy change at last month’s Sound Transit board meeting, and we’re pleased to see this update that makes transit more accessible and welcoming for all community members and their four-legged companions. We are also excited to share that our office has moved to a new location! This new space will help us better serve our mission of advocating for sustainable transportation options throughout the region. During our Spokane Walk & Talk event, we explored our vision for safer Main Street highways and discussed how we can transform high-risk corridors throughout Eastern Washington.

Finally, the time has come to reserve tickets for our annual Tuxes & Trains celebration. Continue reading for more information on the latest updates, statewide news, and opportunities to get involved.

Keep moving,

– Transportation Choices Coalition

WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO

Bark at the Board

Transportation Choices Coalition and supporters after the Sound Transit board meeting.

Sound Transit’s governing board voted unanimously to allow leashed dogs to ride free on Link light rail, Sounder trains, and ST Express buses, following the lead of King County Metro, which has permitted dogs since 1997. McKenna Lux, our Deputy Director, testified that “Seattle is full of dogs and their people. This would give people the opportunity to go to the vet, dog parks, and other dog-friendly establishments.”The policy change was inspired by the opening of Marymoor Village Station near the popular off-leash dog park, with supporters voicing improvement in regional mobility for dog owners who don’t drive.

For more details on this story, check out the full article in The Seattle Times.

New Address, Same Mission

Transportation Choices Coalition staff checking out the new office.

We’ve recently settled into our new home at 506 2nd Ave, Suite 630 (better known as the Smith Tower), in downtown Seattle! After months of planning and packing, our team is looking forward to working from this new space that better reflects our growing impact across Washington state. The move represents our commitment to expanding our advocacy work and deepening our connections with communities throughout the region. We’re already enjoying the improved accessibility of our new location and look forward to welcoming partners, advocates, and community members to visit us in our new digs.

Spokane Walk & Talk

Kirk Hovenkotter, TCC Executive Director, speaking to Spokane Walk and Talk crowd.

On July 16, 2025, we brought together over 70 community members, advocates, agency staff, and elected leaders to experience firsthand the challenges of navigating Spokane’s Division Street without a car. Division Street plays a dual role as both a state highway and Spokane’s primary transit corridor, connecting neighborhoods and supporting thousands of transit riders daily while serving as a commercial spine lined with apartments and businesses.

The mile-long walk revealed the corridor’s dangerous design legacy that prioritizes vehicle speed over community safety, with participants encountering narrow sidewalks squeezed next to fast traffic, outdated infrastructure, and few safe crossing opportunities.

Snoqualmie Valley Rural Transportation Advocacy 101

Attendees at Snoqualmie Valley Rural Transportation Advocacy listening to the panel.

Earlier this summer, over 40 local residents, elected officials, and transit riders came together in Duvall for the Snoqualmie Valley Rural Transportation Advocacy 101 Workshop. Hosted by Transportation Choices Coalition, Hopelink, and the Snoqualmie Valley Mobility Coalition, the event focused on the unique mobility challenges rural communities face, and the power of local voices to help solve them.

Participants heard from regional leaders, explored advocacy tools, and practiced crafting testimony rooted in lived experience to call for better transit access in the Valley.

WHAT’S COMING UP

Tuxes & Trains 2025

TICKETS ARE LIVE! Join Transportation Choices Coalition for our annual Tuxes & Trains gala on Friday, November 14, 2025, from 7-10 PM at the Seattle Art Museum, where the theme “Together We Build” celebrates the coalitions, creativity, and leadership transforming Washington’s transportation landscape. This event brings together transit agency leaders, elected officials, planners, engineers, workers, advocates, and community members from across the state to honor another year of major transit project openings and build momentum for future connectivity.

The evening will feature live music from DJ Toya and jazz favorites Dough Boy, an online auction and raffle, networking opportunities, access to the museum’s third-floor galleries, Pacific Northwest cuisine with an open bar, and the Transportation Choices Hall of Fame awards ceremony recognizing champions who promote mobility justice, collaborative partnerships, and sustainability. We encourage you to nominate inspiring people, projects, and organizations for the 2025 Hall of Fame through September 3, highlighting those who have made significant impacts on walking, biking, rolling, and transit in local communities and across the state.

GET INVOLVED

Bike & Scoot Sundays

Enjoy adaptive cycling at Seattle’s Bike & Scoot Sundays, a wonderful free community event that opens up cycling to everyone ages 7 and older. Hosted by Outdoors for All in partnership with the Seattle Department of Transportation, these special Sundays feature a wide variety of adaptive bike rentals that accommodate different abilities, allowing all families to enjoy the car-free experience along scenic Lake Washington Boulevard. Participants can explore the beautiful lakeside route while the Nacho Rio food truck provides delicious refreshments from noon to 4 p.m.

Week Without Driving

Week Without Driving (September 29th – October 5th) challenges drivers to experience life without a car for one week, helping build empathy for the nearly one-third of Americans who rely on walking, transit, and rides daily. Started by the Disability Mobility Initiative and now supported by America Walks, this growing movement has engaged over 520 organizations across all 50 states. Join as an individual, organize your workplace, or connect with local partners to make your community more accessible for everyone. Visit weekwithoutdriving.org to sign up.

STAFF PICK

Streets Built for People, Not Just Speed

Erik Lowe, Founder of Spokane Reimagined, speaks to Walk & Talk attendees.

August is National Traffic Safety Awareness Month, a time to reflect on road safety for everyone. For many, August is synonymous with long evenings, neighborhood festivals, and the perfect weather for a walk in your local neighborhood. But, too often, these simple joys get interrupted by a speeding motor vehicle or a risky crosswalk, or a hard-to-navigate intersection. These are not just inconveniences, but symptoms of a larger design reality. The truth is that many of our streets are built for high-speed traffic rather than people, and the consequences of this design are heartbreaking. In 2023, Washington saw its highest number of traffic deaths since 1990, with a record number of those being pedestrians and bicyclists. Nearly half of those pedestrian and bicyclist deaths happened on the state highways that also serve as our Mainstreets. That’s why the conversation about making our roads safe for everyone is very critical.

At Transportation Choices Coalition, we believe our streets are the heart of our communities where we connect, move, and thrive, and they deserve to be safe. And so, we are championing a powerful idea: redesigning our Mainstreets, safe for people. Over the last year, we’ve been advocating for investments and policy changes to make our vision for Mainstreets a reality, and we’re seeing real progress.

Earlier this year, we helped secure historic state funding dedicated to redesigning these dangerous urban corridors into places where people can walk, bike, and live safely. Last month, we saw our vision for safe streets taking shape on Division Street in Spokane. We joined over 70 community members, advocates, agency staff, and elected leaders on a walk to explore what a safer, more vibrant Main Street can truly feel like. The energy from that event in Spokane shows a hope of what’s possible when a policy is shaped by lived experiences.

I’m so inspired by this momentum, and I invite you to take a look at our latest blog post to know more about what we learned in Spokane and how we’re working to advance our vision for safer streets across Washington.

Nivya Murthi
Policy Analyst

WHAT WE’RE READING

Who Owns the Most Dangerous Roads in America? Likely your State. – Vision Zero Network

State governments own America’s most dangerous roads. These legacy highways were designed decades ago for different purposes, but now function as main streets through communities without being redesigned for safety.

New WA foot ferries envisioned for San Juans, Everett, Bellingham – The Seattle Times

Washington’s plans for expanded foot ferry service face skepticism due to tight government budgets and legislative challenges, with a recent bill to fund and expand passenger ferry service failing to win enough support despite passing the House.

King County Metro adding more than 900 weekly bus trips, improved 2 Line connections – King County Metro

King County Metro is adding more than 900 weekly bus trips starting August 30, including new routes connecting Eastside communities to Sound Transit’s 2 Line light rail stations and improved service on Route 106 in Seattle, funded by the Seattle Transit Measure.

You’re probably faster than Seattle’s slowest bus – KUOW

King County Metro’s Route 8 bus runs so far behind schedule that riders have nicknamed it “The L8,” prompting transit advocates to organize races against the bus to highlight its slow speeds. The bus is so unreliable that people can often beat it on foot.

‘Fundamentally a transit town’: New STA chief embraces the promise of public transportation – The Spokesman Review

Karl Otterstrom, who has worked with Spokane Transit Authority for over 15 years, was unanimously selected as CEO after developing a lifelong passion for public transportation.

Transit changes are coming to south King County: Metro wants your feedback on proposed route improvements – King County Metro

King County Metro is proposing route improvements in South King County to prepare for the expansion of Link light rail service to Federal Way, including new transit connections to future Link light rail stations.