(The Center Square) – Despite sitting $34.5 billion short on a 2016 voter-approved system expansion, Sound Transit still has millions to spend on billboard advertising.
The Board of Directors will consider punting billions of dollars in projects and extending ST3’s financial plan through 2052 at the end of the month. This isn’t the first time Sound Transit has moved the goal posts; the board realigned the plan in 2021, pushing the potential completion date from 2041 to 2046.
Staff blame the $34.5 billion ST3 shortfall on highway construction costs increasing 70% since 2020.
Meanwhile, Sound Transit’s quarterly financial report for January to March 2026 paints a good picture for the agency’s books. In fact, it’s actually spending less and generating more than it budgeted for 2026.
The Sound Transit Executive Committee discussed the proposed ST3 reset on Thursday, ahead of the board’s vote on May 28, with several members and constituents pressing the agency on its spending.
“Last question, I think it’s something that we need to pursue,” said Seattle City Councilmember Dan Strauss, noting that a high schooler had interviewed him on Wednesday night about the ST3 delays.
“He wanted to know, why are we spending money on billboards in Greenwood while we don’t have the money to get to Ballard?” Strauss asked, as the project approved a decade ago now faces new delays.
The billboard that Strass and the high schooler were referring to was part of Sound Transit’s May 2025 marketing campaign, “Break a Mindless Habit.” The advertisements are spread across the Puget Sound and social media, depicting commuters as zombies on their drive to work to generate more ridership.
In 2019, Sound Transit officials approved a five-year contract with a local advertising agency for $9.94 million, with two one-year extension options. That funding came out of the agency’s Communications Department’s operating budget, which isn’t included on Sound Transit’s financial documents webpage.
The Center Square has requested Sound Transit’s records on advertising spending and the account used, but the agency says it will take another five to six weeks to gather the responsive records.
“We have certain marketing campaigns to encourage ridership onto the system. It’s a policy choice,” one staff member, who didn’t identify herself, responded to Strauss on Thursday, noting that the board could change direction.
Sound Transit’s spending on system expansion projects, such as ST3, and general operating expenses are lumped into separate categories. From January to March, Sound Transit spent only 83% of its total Q1 2026 budget. When specifically looking at system expansion projects, the agency only spent 76%.
Meanwhile, total revenues came in at 108%, or $51.7 million above what Sound Transit expected to generate by March 2026. The agency underspent by $115.5 million systemwide for the first quarter.
Sound Transit expects to finish the year with an estimated unrestricted cash balance of $7.6 billion.
Several community members have testified at recent meetings, saying they’ve lost trust in the agency.
Strauss said as much when responding to the staff member who said advertising is a “policy choice.”
“It feels misaligned in our community, where trust has been eroded over the last month, so I’ll make my last statement again: We need to get construction dollars to Ballard,” he said regarding the advertising.
