SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Ron: Like it or not, Seattle still loves cars

Jul 20, 2017, 4:36 PM | Updated: Jul 21, 2017, 2:19 pm

Seattle parking, seattle parking rates, window stickers...

(KIRO 7)

(KIRO 7)

WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT HERE — People in Seattle still like to use their cars. There, I said it.

I know there are those who want nothing more than to shoe horn Pacific Northwestners into light rail or bike shorts, but the fact remains that most people still prefer to get in their automobile and drive to where they need to be.

In a place that seems to clamor to see how quickly they can spend tax dollars on services for any group that might vote for them, the City of Seattle now ranks in the top five cities in America for most time spent looking for parking.

The average is 58 hours — 58 hours!

RELATED: Seattle Mayor Murray is pulling all the levers of distraction

What are we talking about here? In 58 hours you could drive straight to New York City and be a third of way back to the West Coast.

Come on!

And while we’re in our cars, let’s talk about traffic lights.

Pretty simple, yes? Red, green, yellow. Been around for years.

Are you telling me that 200 feet away from a company that has programmed a device that can listen to you talk (Amazon), understand English, and deliver you diapers in under two hours, the City of Seattle can’t find a programmer to optimize a few traffic lights?

What are we talking about here?

Services for the citizens come in all sizes. Yes, many people are in dire straits and need some serious intervention. But the vast majority of people just need for things to work. Fix a pothole and a sidewalk, create more parking spaces, time the traffic lights.

Quit gouging me. I’m more than willing to carry my share of the road, but I deserve some services too.

WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT HERE airs every day on the Ron and Don Show at 4:50 and 6:50 p.m.

Please follow our Community Guidelines

Firefighters spray water in a burning forest near Lacanau, southwestern France, Saturday, July 25, ...

Associated Press

Wildfire forces another 55,000 people to evacuate in southwest France

LEGE-CAP FERRET, France (AP) — A raging wildfire in southwest France forced the evacuation of 55,000 people overnight Sunday, taking the total forced out of their homes to 220,000 as the flames have crept ever closer to the wine region city of Bordeaux. Authorities in the Gironde region, where Bordeaux is located, issued overnight evacuation […]

4 hours ago

Two people embrace near others wearing thermal blankets as they stand near emergency personnel in B...

Associated Press

Authorities in Germany issue a wanted notice for suspect in the Berlin Pride van ramming

BERLIN (AP) — German authorities on Sunday issued a wanted notice for a fugitive suspect in the van ramming near Berlin’s Pride festival that left one person dead and injured at least 16 others. Police and prosecutors asked for help in finding the 21-year-old, whom they identified as Abdul B. Police had said earlier that […]

5 hours ago

Visitors at the booth for Chinese AI Startup Moonshot's Kimi K3 during the World AI Conference in S...

Associated Press

Cheaper, open and intelligent: Chinese AI models gain ground, as they make inroads in the US

HONG KONG (AP) — China has a hot new product in the United States: artificial intelligence. San Francisco-based Raffi Krikorian, the chief technology officer at Mozilla, which runs the Firefox browser, switched to Chinese AI startup Moonshot’s Kimi K3 for many of his day-to-day activities within days of the new, powerful model’s launch more than […]

6 hours ago

FILE - The sun sets behind the Space Needle as a small plane flies by on the first day of spring, T...

Associated Press

Seattle police are searching for two men who parachuted from the Space Needle

The Seattle Police Department is searching for two men who climbed over the glass wall of the city’s iconic Space Needle on Friday, flipped over the edge and parachuted down from the 605-foot structure. The jumpers face trespassing charges, according to a report provided by Public Affairs Officer Brian Pritchard. The BASE jumpers purchased tickets […]

8 hours ago

Associated Press

Airstrikes have paused and talks are pressing forward. But can the US and Iran take the off-ramp?

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military has paused its airstrikes on Iran after nearly two weeks of intensifying bombing, while diplomatic efforts have pushed forward to try to avert a return to all-out war. But it remains to be seen whether the U.S. and Iran are at an inflection point in a mercurial conflict that […]

10 hours ago

An air tanker drops retardant while battling the Bench fire on Saturday, July 25, 2026, in Jefferso...

Associated Press

Fast-moving wildfires burn in central Oregon, in photos

Wind-driven wildfires burned across central Oregon, where firefighters worked to contain fast-moving flames threatening nearby communities. ___ This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

11 hours ago

Ron: Like it or not, Seattle still loves cars