A Sunday, Oct. 16 Seattle Times editorial recommends area voters reject what one Times columnist referred to as November’s "ginormous $18 billion Proposition 1." Most all of that tax increase would go toward building a fixed rail system. The editorial points out, "Much more could be done with bus service, particularly if high-occupancy lanes are kept flowing by the smart use of tolls. Light rail replaces buses, and at a much higher cost per rider. Rail soaks up money buses might have used. Rail funnels transit. Buses extend it. And most rail riders will be people who were already riding the bus."

The "ginormous $18 billion" figure might turn out to be low. On Oct. 15, the Evergreen Freedom Foundation published an overview of a Sound Transit agency performance audit. Amber Gunn writes, "The original [light rail] project approved by voters in 1996 is not what they ended up with. The project timeline has doubled, the length of the light rail line and number of stations on the line reduced and the project costs have far exceeded Sound Transit's original estimates." Gunn penned, "Sound Transit's cost estimates and time schedules cannot be relied upon for accuracy. The light rail project [already under way] is proving itself to be a mammoth public works disaster."