Why is SDOT minimizing the number of drivers into Seattle?

KIRO Radio’s Chris Sullivan scored an interview with Scott Kubly, the director of the Seattle Department of Transportation. Predictably, Kubly said there is no war on cars in the city of Seattle.

“This notion of a war on cars is, I think, an overly simplistic way to talk about how transportation works in the city.”

I actually agree 100 percent with him. I don’t think there’s a ‘war on cars’ where Kubly, Mayor Ed Murray, and others get in a room and try to hurt drivers in this city.

But I do think that these ideological leaders want to force people out of cars and into Metro, onto bikes, onto their feet, and a consequence of that is creating more traffic congestion. This is social engineering at it’s worst.

In order to justify their increased attention on Metro, bikes, and walking, without showing obvious special treatment, is to push a narrative that we’re already going down that road on our own. That we’re already going away from cars towards bikes, buses, and our own feet.

That’s why Scott Kubly made this shocking announcement, “Two-thirds of the people get to downtown by some way other than a car. So we need to balance everybody’s needs.”

We need to balance the needs of the folks not driving because two thirds get to downtown Seattle by means other than cars.

Two-thirds. Man, that’s awfully high. It’s awfully incorrect, too. That’s not true. That is a lie.

I emailed SDOT and asked them to provide a source for that data point and they sent me to a one-sheet with some cute graphics that gave a summary of a survey from 2012 called Commute Seattle. This, by the way, is an alliance that includes King County Metro Transit and SDOT – so it’s not even an independent group and it’s one that has a financial interest in pushing more funding for buses.

On this one-page, it says “two-thirds of Downtown commute trips are taken by modes other than driving alone.”

Then there’s a little footnote right by that statistic that shows just how remarkably dishonest and misleading Kubly is being.

(Update: Commute Seattle has written me to explain they’ve changed their footnote on the document to better make a distinction on the data).

At the bottom of this shareable and pretty one-sheet, you find the link to the actual study and it’s way more than one page. It’s 60 pages and boy, does it paint a different picture of modes of transportation into downtown Seattle.

Kubly wants you to think that two-thirds of drivers are getting into downtown Seattle via other modes of transportation. They’re not.

If you fact check this study, that two thirds statistics only looks at commutes already in downtown Seattle!

Two-thirds of people who live near downtown Seattle (including Belltown, First Hill, Pioneer Square, the commercial core) get to downtown Seattle via some other mode than driving solo.

Oh, well no kidding. What a shocker that people will walk, or bus, or bike a couple blocks to get to work.

By the way, when you combine all drivers (solo drivers, carpoolers, and vanpools) this same study actually says over 40 percent drive within downtown Seattle, which is even higher a percentage than those who take the bus. Since 2010, that’s only a decrease of 2.3 percent.

How’s everyone else getting into downtown Seattle? They’re driving – overwhelmingly.

From Bellevue to Seattle, over 57 percent are driving into Seattle. That’s an increase from 2010 of almost 5 percent.

From the Northeast (think Redmond area), over 47 percent are driving (an increase of about 3 percent).

From the Eastside, just over 50 percent are driving in, that’s a decrease, actually, of 3.4 percent — though it’s interesting to note that telecommuting is at 3.5 percent. It obviously kills the need to go to work in Seattle.

From the North End, almost 45 percent more are driving, which has remained flat since 2010.

From the South End, over 43 percent are driving into Seattle.

The data show an overwhelming number of folks are driving into Seattle for work. And bicycles? About 5 percent within the city are biking to work. Bussing? Considerable – absolutely. There is data to justify making it easier to bus in this city.

But when Scott Kubly says this:

“Two-thirds of the people get to downtown by some way other than a car. So we need to balance everybody’s needs.”

Remember that he’s lying to you because he wants you to think more people are walking, biking, and busing into downtown Seattle. He says two thirds are taking modes outside of driving into downtown Seattle because then he can justify all the disruption he’s bringing to car traffic in this city.

This is intentional. It’s dishonest.