Traffic. Congestion. Two words most Puget Sound commuters are familiar with these days. The latest Washington State Department of Transportation numbers show the importance of the work now ramping up to extend Sound Transit’s light rail service to Federal Way and Tacoma.

WSDOT’s 2017 Corridor Capacity Study puts some hard numbers to our traffic congestion problems. In 2016, WSDOT reports that 75 percent of the time your 22-mile morning commute between Federal Way and Seattle experiences congestion. Coming home, eight miles of your evening commute experiences routine congestion.

If you are traveling south to Tacoma, WSDOT says you are experiencing a 20 percent increase in congestion on the freeway. We all know where the choke points are on Interstate 5: the Fife curves and around the Tacoma Dome. WSDOT estimates that congestion on that 44-mile round trip between Federal Way and Seattle is costing commuters over $2,700 a year.

So, what do we do about it? Well, we can look at adding more lanes on our roadways, but there’s not a lot of room left to expand highways. At Sound Transit, we believe mass transit options are part of the answer.

In 2016 Sound Transit extended light rail further south to the Angle Lake Station in SeaTac, with parking for more than 1,000 cars. Link ridership grew 22 percent in 2017 serving more than 23 million riders. With the approval of Sound Transit 3 more transit options for Federal Way commuters is on the way.

Last year the Sound Transit Board approved the route of the 7.8-mile Federal Way Link Extension which upon its 2024 opening will extend light rail service from Angle Lake station to the Federal Way Transit Center. The project is currently in the design-build phase with construction scheduled to begin in mid-2019. Sign up for project updates at Federal Way Link Extension.

The route generally follows the west side of I-5 with stations in Kent/Des Moines, South 272 at Star Lake and ending with a station at the Federal Way Transit Center. The stations will provide commuters with 1,500 new parking stalls. The new route will offer light rail users a 15 minute trip between Federal Way and SeaTac airport.

Federal Way is not the end of the story. Currently, Sound Transit is in the planning process for extending light rail from Federal Way down to the Tacoma Dome. Open houses for the Tacoma Dome Link Extension will be taking place in April. As our expansion projects move forward we encourage you to participate in the public involvement process and let us know what you think. Sign up for project updates at Tacoma Dome Link Extension.

Expanding transit services in South King County will dramatically expand the capacity of the region’s transportation system. As an example, light rail trains can move more than 8,000 passengers per hour in each direction. 18,000 people ride our Sounder trains every day. Every one of those transit riders is one less person who won’t be experiencing or adding to increasing traffic congestion.

While these expansions are under development Sound Transit offers South King County residents several transit options. There are several ST Express bus routes that will take you from Federal Way to Seattle and Tacoma. Last September, we expanded our Sounder commuter service to 13 round trips each day. There are convenient Sounder stations in Auburn and Kent where we will be expanding parking access in the next few years, with room for approximately 1,000 more vehicles.

Stay tuned for updates on our progress, and if you haven’t taken a trip on our trains and buses we hope you’ll climb aboard and discover how easy and convenient they are.

Scott Thompson is the Sound Transit Communications and External Affairs public information officer.