USA: Sound Transit’s Rider Experience and Operations Committee has unanimously advanced an $87 million fare gate pilot for up to 14 Link light rail stations, sending the proposal to the full board.

Two Link light rail trains at Bellevue Downtown Station
Link light rail trains at Bellevue Downtown Station. Illustrative photo. Photo: SounderBruce, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Board action is still preliminary

The committee voted on August 6 to recommend Motion M2026-30, which would authorize design, procurement and implementation planning rather than construction itself. The full Sound Transit Board is scheduled to take final action on the motion on August 27.

If the motion is approved, $6 million would be included in the proposed 2027 budget and Transit Improvement Plan for the first implementation phase. Sound Transit says that money would advance design, procurement and implementation planning. A separate future board action would be required for construction funding.

The motion keeps the pilot at “up to” 14 light rail stations and requires staff to return before construction with refined costs, station locations and readiness information. That means the candidate list identified in the agency’s earlier study is not yet a final construction list.

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Which 14 stations are in the current study

Sound Transit’s June fare gate pilot briefing identified 14 recommended stations: Lynnwood City Center, Northgate, Roosevelt, U District, University of Washington, Capitol Hill, Westlake, Symphony, Pioneer Square, International District/Chinatown, SeaTac/Airport, Federal Way Downtown, Bellevue Downtown and Downtown Redmond.

The study balanced ridership and transfer activity against design feasibility and cost. The later staff report also lists station constructability, operational and staffing considerations, equity and accessibility factors, and return on investment among the criteria used to evaluate locations.

That approach concentrates the initial program on heavily used downtown stations and major endpoints while avoiding some of the more difficult at-grade retrofits. Sound Transit has said the pilot is intended to generate evidence on fare recovery, passenger experience, staff safety, maintenance impacts and operational performance before any broader deployment is considered.

What the $87 million estimate covers?

The August staff report places the entire project estimate, including construction, at $87 million. It does not publish a station-by-station or line-item cost breakdown.

The June study provides more detail on the cost envelope: it estimated roughly $79.3 million to $88.2 million for construction and software. The recommended implementation concept also calls for fare gates, ticket vending machines and assistance phones at gated stations, while fare-media integration and detailed design requirements still need to be refined.

Sound Transit’s current schedule targets pilot revenue service in 2029 or 2030. Before construction begins, however, the board would still need updated station locations, refined costs and a further funding decision.

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