Why stymie region's transit progress?

For the past decade, Sound Transit has been developing and building what we need to connect the region. Sounder commuter rail is packed to the gills and expanding rapidly; Central Link light rail is mostly constructed and in testing; ST Express buses ease congestion on our clogged highways.

Sound Transit officials have just released a draft of Sound Transit 2, a package of future transit investments that will carry more than 350,000 people a day — and with it, they will finally get us up to speed with every other major urban area in North America. With their work, our transportation system is finally moving forward.

The Washington state Legislature, led by Sen. Ed Murray — my own senator — is threatening the future of our region. His Senate Bill 5803, creating a new Regional Transportation Commission, has cleared the upper chamber. If the measure is enacted in its current form, the commission would absorb some of Sound Transit's staff, uproot the existing, functional system, and add another layer of bureaucracy to plan regional transportation.

Proponents complain that we have 128 local transit agencies — but this does nothing to solve that problem; it only adds a new, inexperienced agency and fractures what we have.

We don't need this. We've done the work — we know what needs to happen next, and the plan is going to voters this year. Why are our own elected representatives in Olympia, specifically the ones whose constituents are most dependent upon transit, getting the state involved in regional issues?

Gov. Christine Gregoire told me a year ago that she didn't feel regional transit governance was an issue the state should interfere with. This would be a good time to reflect on that and realize it was the right position.

Surveys and citizen input consistently confirm that Sound Transit's planned light-rail expansion is exactly what the region's residents want. And we're willing to pay for it, though the Legislature already has delayed the transit package by a year by linking Sound Transit's ballot measure to regional road projects — and letting inflation add hundreds of millions of dollars to the cost.

With a sudden change in governance, we would now put this year's roads and transit ballot measure at risk. Who will vote for funding when it's unclear to voters who's in control?

The new agency could even choose to delay the vote, adding at least another two years to the wait: There's no way transportation projects can go on the ballot the same year as a contentious gubernatorial election. We could have to start over entirely, and force our region to endure bad traffic and no options, with no plan.

The planning work that has taken place over the past several years, putting together the best projects that serve the most people, is sound. Seattle residents commuting to jobs on the Eastside (like me) and those going the other direction will be well-served. The tens of thousands of students and faculty, patients and doctors at the University of Washington and the UW Medical Center will be well-served. People commuting from Fife, Federal Way and Des Moines, or Northgate, Mountlake Terrace and Lynnwood, into Seattle — our largest employment hub — will be well-served.

The Sound Transit board has negotiated a package that benefits everyone in the region. It is what we need. Any new regional agency would reach the same conclusions.

Sen. Murray, what are you doing? Our legislative district will have seven light-rail stops — more than any other. A streetcar will be built from Capitol Hill to the International District to serve First Hill. Your constituents benefit more than any others. With Sound Transit's package, people living in the 43rd District will have the best transportation mobility in the state.

Please, stop trying to start over when we're well on our way. You could set us back another decade.

Ben Schiendelman is an engineering student and transit advocate living in Seattle. In addition, he works for a software company on the Eastside.