How perfectly ironic that one of the first tweets about last night's Community Idea Lab was inspired by traffic on I-90.

Tweeter Pat Dunn and more than 100 others braved the congestion and made their way (by car, bus and bike) to Mercer Island Community Center for a wide-ranging conversation about the future of transportation in Puget Sound. Our emcees, State Sen. Pramila Jayapal and Rita Brogan, PRR board chair and Washington State Transportation Commission member, kicked things off with presentations on the current state of the state's transportation system and what needs to change.
After learning that transportation was a big concern for her constituents in the 37th District, Jayapal asked to serve on the Senate's transportation committee — and was told by Senate aides that she was the first representative from the 37th to ever do so. Jayapal reported that, alas, her colleagues in Olympia are still a ways from a vote on a statewide transportation package.