Sound Transit weighs options on future light rail lines amid budget woes

Sound Transit has a tough road ahead.

The agency has been tasked with building one of North America’s largest mass transit expansion projects, while facing a looming $35 billion budget shortfall over the next two decades.

Ten years ago, voters in the Puget Sound area approved a plan to double the region’s light rail network, among other transit expansions, with new lines to Everett, Tacoma, Ballard, West Seattle, South Kirkland and Issaquah.

But it’s clear now that funding issues will likely require the agency to scale back or defer plans under the 2016 Sound Transit 3 ballot measure.

https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2026/03/18/sound-transit-weighs-deferring-future-light-rail.html