How the leaders of Seattle’s mayoral race feel about traffic

Seattle’s next mayor will likely be either Jenny Durkan, Nikkita Oliver, or Cary Moon.

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Durkan took a strong lead in the primary election, taking 31.5 percent of the vote. Moon is in second, with 15.7 percent; Oliver trails closely behind with 13.8 percent.

They all talked about how they would handle Seattle’s traffic problems prior to the election.

Durkan, a former U.S. attorney, says the city needs a phased approach that will eventually lead to more people on public transportation and fewer delays on the roads.

“Number one, looking into the future, [it’s about] getting more people out of single-occupancy vehicles,” she told Seattle’s Morning News in the weeks leading up to the primary. “Right now, people drive for a lot of different reasons, but the only way they are going to get out of their cars is if they have good, reliable transit going where they want it.”

“We have to make sure that light rail comes in on time and on budget and goes where people want it to. That buses are more efficient. And, in downtown, traffic lights work like they are supposed to so people can get through the city and pedestrians can be safe.”

Moon, an urban planner, admitted cars are necessary. But…

“I would like to keep investing in transit because we simply don’t have enough room. With all the growth we’re experiencing, not everybody can come with another car. We have got to give people alternatives to driving that work better. Transit [needs to be] more reliable, faster, more convenient.

She also wants to see a “bike network.”

“So that we give people viable alternatives to driving so that those who need to drive can, the freight deliveries that need to be made can happen, and the rest of us can have easy transit or protected safe bike lanes to use.”

Moon says tackling housing affordability and transportation problems needs to happen at the same time. The more affordability isn’t addressed, she said, the more the city pushes workers out, which exacerbates traffic issues. Light rail, she said, is the long-term solution.

Oliver says everyone should be able to get around the city how they wish, and fixing Seattle’s congestion problems requires more than just more bike lanes. In fact, bikes didn’t really factor into her campaign much at all.

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“They said, Nikkita, this would really add to your campaign. And I said, you know you’re not getting me on a bike,” she told KIRO Radio’s Dave Ross earlier in the campaign. “But I do take the bus, the light rail. I drive a lot. Because I’m downtown so much, it’s easy to take the bus … But traffic is an incredible problem in our city.

“I think it’s about how do we make transit accessible? How do we make transit something we want people to be on? That’s going to require thinking about where we’re building density. This is where I think our density conversation and our transportation conversation have to be intertwined.”

She says there would be no “war on cars” with her.

“No. I mean, I think we have to come up with strategies that allow people to live the life they want to live.”

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