[mhays]

Seattle's system isn't that admirable. It's much more disjointed than RTD. We have one system for regional rail and bus transit (longer routes) called Sound Transit that does well. Local service is county-based. After state-level a tax revolt long ago, the counties each tried to replace its revenue via its county's voters, with varying success over the years. King County (the big one) failed to pass a measure, so the City of Seattle ran its own measure which restored/expanded service within the city limits but didn't cover the other 1.4 million people in the county. The local agencies still run regional buses into Seattle to augment Sound Transit's service. That's before you get to the ferry systems.

Operationally it's also complicated. For starters, Sound Transit runs in downtown tunnels operated by King County Metro and Burlington Northern. The latter is why we have miniscule commuter rail service to the north. A similar issue on ground-level tracks means the south is hampered as well. Denver also has a lot more in terms of existing rail corridors, a huge factor in its far larger mileage of light rail etc. at much lower cost.