Anonymous Group SDOTransformation Challenges the Car Power of SDOT

"Seattle made me beg to cross this street." Courtesy of @dodge_an

Who put these stickers on pedestrian call buttons around the city? An anonymous group of "indeterminate size" called the Seattle Department of TRANSFORMation . They told me over email that they have day jobs and are associated with organizations that can't "publicly speak truth to SDOT power." The fact of the matter is that SDOT, the actual Seattle Department of Transportation, pretends to be the bureau of all forms of transportation but is really just the bureau of the automobile. SDOT's employees are paid to make sure the automobile is always in motion, always has enough room, always has its many needs meet. The organization does not conform the city to the human but to this massive machine that makes less and less sense in an increasingly dense Seattle. Anyone who walks or rides a bike soon realizes that, at the abundant table of transportation (the SDOT's budget), anything that is not an automobile (the rich man) is basically left with the crumbs ( the Lazurus ).

Seattle Department of TRANSFORMation writes:

We are tired of the City of Seattle's anemic-at-best implementation of #VisionZero and complete lack of political will to make the on-the-ground changes needed to back up political statements about prioritizing transit/walking/bicycling/safety.

Can you feel that? Can you?

And how did the organization begin?



You may have seen our first implementation which was a painted stencil in the crosswalk at 65th and Roosevelt where a woman was killed in the crosswalk. The city dragged their feet on the NE 65th Street Vision Zero project which still does not provide protected bike lanes and safe crossings all the way to Bryant Neighborhood Park and PCC at 65th and 40th. In fact, the project doesn't even include 40th, it ends at 39th. And even then, there are no bike lanes east of 20th in order to preserve parking on both sides of the street. Almost a year after this woman's death, SDOT installed some flex posts at the intersection of 65th & Roosevelt in a minimal effort to have some minimal effect.

Their next set of "beg button stickers" will include the name of their anonymous organization—this was "inexcusably forgotten when ordering the first set."