October 14, 2025

Sound Transit expects revenue boost from expansion openings

Photos via Sound Transit [enlarge]

The Federal Way Link Extension is slated to open Dec. 6, with final operations testing underway (shown here beside the extension’s new Star Lake Station).

Sound Transit held a public hearing on a proposed $3.5 billion budget for 2026 on Oct. 9.

The regional transit authority said its 2026 budget projection is driven by an overall 29% increase in estimated service hours between 2025 and 2026 as a result of system expansions.

The agency projected system expansion spending at 23% over its 2025 forecast.

Stride bus rapid transit and Link light rail projects currently in planning will make up a majority of the agency's construction spending next year. Stride bus rapid transit spending is projected to ramp up in 2026, with those projects representing a fifth of total agency expenditures. Link spending will shift to projects currently in planning, including expansions in Ballard, West Seattle, Everett and Tacoma.

Additional operating dollars will target four-minute headways on the 1 Line and increased World Cup service, the agency said.

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Live-wire testing began last month for the Cross-lake Connection Extension, set to open in early 2026.

MORE RIDERS, MORE REVENUE

The regional transit authority is projecting $3.3 billion in revenue in 2026, including an estimated 28.4% increase in passenger fares it will be able to collect thanks to the two massive Link light rail expansion projects scheduled to open in the coming months.

The authority's new 7.8-mile Federal Way Link Extension is slated to open in December, ahead of the original projected opening date of March 2026. As reported by the DJC last month, work on the $3.2 billion South King County line is 99% complete, and crews with the project's design-builder Kiewit Infrastructure West are completing final punchlist items, with the project in the pre-revenue operations phase.

Sound Transit's much-awaited Cross-lake Connection Extension is also expected to bump up system ridership when it opens early next year. The final 7.4-mile segment of the 2 Line (aka East Link) will carry riders over Lake Washington across the Interstate 90 floating bridge. The historic segment's opening has been pushed back several times, but live wire testing is now underway.

The floating bridge segment is being built by a joint venture of Kiewit and Hoffman Construction, and is designed by WSP USA. Mass Electric did the systems work. Hewitt built the Judkins Park and Mercer Island stations on either side of Lake Washington.

BUMP IN PROPERTY TAXES

Sound Transit is also proposing collecting $183 million in property taxes in 2026 — up $6.8 million over this year. The measure does not require voter approval as it falls within the agency's allowable annual 1% increase, an agency spokesperson said. Instead, it will need authorization from the Sound Transit Board, which could come as soon as its October meeting, according to the agency spokesperson.

Property tax collections are a relatively small portion of Sound Transit's 2026 funding pie, making up only 5.59%. Sales Tax and Motor Vehicle Excise Tax are the largest revenue sources, representing a combined 68.9% of the agency's total projected revenues in 2026.

The agency's proposed 2026 budget will be considered as a separate agenda item from the property tax uptick authorization, the spokesperson said.