But a person driving a car is likely commuting to a job paying taxes for social services the homeless use. Without tax revenue, the homeless would be in even more peril. Hence, your postulation is incorrect.

@1: The CCA revenue aside, the rail users also pay taxes. Property (directly or through their rental) and sales to name a couple.

Rue the day that this state enacts a revenue program needed to support the homeless (and a lot of others) that is dependent on people driving back and forth in cars. Oh, wait ....

"We need a tax that is not transferred to the public purse but directly to those who use Link and other forms of transportation that do not burn fossil fuels."

Yeah. That would make the CCA tax somewhat more palatable. But a tax taken from those that generate a societal cost and transferring it directly to a program which ameliorates that cost just won't fly politically in this state. Not until the stream of funds can be coaxed into our Rube Goldbergian funding system for numerous wanting projects and emerge as a meager trickle at the end where it is needed. Following tax revenue is like a game of three card monte.

I rode the bus. It was stuck in traffic. I concluded that the only solution was a train.

Really, Charles? Are you not familiar with busways? Or HOV-3 lanes? The problem with travel between Everett and Seattle is not that we lack a railway (we actually have one, it is just owned by BNSF) it is that the powers that be can't figure out how to change "HOV-2" to "HOV-3". Do that and the problem disappears.

The same is true for West Seattle. Holy shit, in West Seattle the main problem is that they need to run more buses. Of course that would require ... gasp! ... paying drivers more money. Not that I'm against adding ramps from the Spokane Street Viaduct to the SoDo Busway, but you are missing the bigger picture here: Sound Transit is wasting money. They are building the wrong thing. It is not "cars versus transit". It is an agency that is focused way too much on the wrong thing. They are building transit in a way that no European or Asian city would. Ironically, it is because they are focused on areas where there are a lot of cars (like freeways) instead of areas where there are a lot of people.

@4: "They are building the wrong thing."

Shhhh. You'll upset the elites that run ST, Seattle and King County. They know what's best for us.

We had a proposal for a system that would have moved people around Seattle once. Formulated by those that actually knew where the people were and wanted to go. West Seattle and Ballard were first on their list. But the transportation elites said "No. You can't have a system that is financially self supporting and self contained. We have to be able to shuffle funds around as we see fit." And the voters (in spite of a couple of 'Yes' votes) relented in the face of their masters and about-faced. And voted for ST. Operant conditioning at work.

Too bad now. You all made your bed. Sleep in it.