Traffic around Seattle is bad and getting worse. Solutions are scarce. But a groundbreaking local study — now a decade old — and the experience of other cities may point toward a remedy, albeit an unpopular one: Pay to use the roads.
Eastside
The Seattle Times' Eastside section covers the news of Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Woodinville, Issaquah, Sammamish, Mercer Island, Newcastle and other suburban cities in King County. Coverage areas include government, crime, community events and neighborhoods.
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![Traffic builds along the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 Wednesday afternoon as dark rain clouds loom over the city. The forecast calls for rain this afternoon and on Thursday with highs in the upper 40s. Photographed on November 23st, 2016.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170701163453/https://static.seattletimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/0f8ee8e8-584f-11e7-ba48-b48d4b26961b-780x501.jpg)
Traffic alert: Expect long delays on I-5 and I-90 this hot summer weekend
Go early or go late if you expect to drive across the state this hot weekend, through lane closures in I-5 and I-90 work zones.
![Clerk Emily Eastern, 18, reads a citation during Youth Court, hearing area high school students’ traffic tickets in the courtroom at City Hall South in Issaquah Monday May 22, 2017. Each incident is reviewed by a judge, jury and clerk of fellow students. To be eligible for the program, students must attend Issaquah, Skyline or Liberty High Schools, and their ticket must be filed in Issaquah municipal court, and not involve negligent driving charge or a traffic accident. They can make a written request to have their citation reviewed in Youth Court.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170701163453/https://static.seattletimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/1ba3052e-5773-11e7-9def-a071a1057b75-780x501.jpg)
Issaquah student was doing 102 mph — and didn’t get a fine. Should fellow students be the judges?
Some teens in the Puget Sound region can arrange for traffic tickets to be diverted to student-run court and those infractions removed from their driving...
![Chariot is a commuter ride-sharing startup owned by Ford.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170701163453/https://static.seattletimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/1d5b1d24-5620-11e7-8831-1c076669710f-780x501.jpg)
Micro-transit firm Chariot to join Seattle market
The latest transportation option in busy Seattle will be Chariot, 14-seat minibuses for direct commuting and last-mile employee shuttles.
![Andrea Pardo plays with her baby daughter, Noemi, in their Issaquah, Wash., home in June. Pardo was infected with the Zika virus while pregnant. Though she was tested earlier in her pregnancy, she didn’t receive the results confirming the potentially devastating infection until she was 37 weeks along. (Dan DeLong/for Kaiser Health News)](http://web.archive.org./web/20170701163453/https://static.seattletimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/fa08e78e-5534-11e7-bfa1-ee867c885496-780x501.jpg)
A clinic mix-up leaves pregnant Issaquah woman in dark about Zika risk
The woman didn’t find out for months that she was likely infected with the virus that can cause serious birth defects. Clinic officials say they’ll...
![MARATHON 12012013
Runners cross the Interstate 90 floating bridge during the Seattle Marathon Sunday, Dec. 1, 2013.
134675](http://web.archive.org./web/20170701163453/https://static.seattletimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/d3767108-350f-11e7-9ae2-514bd2b54438-780x501.jpg)
Life without I-90 express lanes: traditional commutes longer, reverse commutes shorter
The traditional commute for I-90 drivers working in Seattle got tougher, and the reverse commute to the Eastside quicker, in the first week after express...
![After a life journey that included two teen pregnancies, domestic violence and homelessness, Deambra Johnson, 30, is about to graduate with a bachelor’s in psychology. She’ll be starting her master’s in special education in September. Her children are, clockwise from top left, Robert, 8; Carson, 14; Nicholas, 11; and twins Suhkari and Bukhari, 8.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170701163453/https://static.seattletimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/de5ea858-52ea-11e7-b3ed-a9ec6ce3ad8d-780x501.jpg)
‘I just knew I had to keep moving’: A Bellevue woman’s journey from teen mom to grad student
Deambra Johnson of Bellevue, a single mother who saw education as her path, pushed through poverty, violence and abuse to graduate from college. Now, she’s...