SEATTLE — Sound Transit's South Line Sounder service is getting ever more popular as people choose the train over sitting in traffic.
In the next two years, the number of weekday round trips between Seattle and Lakewood will increase from 10 to 13.
The first new round trip will be mid-day, and starts in September.
Two more peak-service round trips come in 2017.
The South Line runs between Seattle and Lakewood.
Sound Transit says 12,000 people now ride it on an average weekday.
"Sometimes I'm standing on there," said Ryan Shultz, who has been commuting by Sounder from Kent to Seattle for nearly eight years.
He says it takes about 25 minutes, compared to 45 minutes, plus the cost of parking, when he drives.
"Ridership has been growing in double digit numbers and people have been asking for 'more trains, more trains' and they are coming," said Kimberly Reason of Sound Transit.
To accommodate more trains, Sound Transit's board has given the green light to a $13 million expansion of the Sounder rail yard in Lakewood.
Another improvement on the way for commuters in Kent and Auburn: better access for pedestrians and cyclists, and more parking at the station.
"They have really run out of parking capacity," Reason said.
Sound Transit put those station improvements on hold because of the recession.
With tax revenue rebounding, the agency is now moving ahead with design work.
The number of new parking spaces has not been decided and Reason said there's no timeline yet for station improvements.
Cox Media Group
