Traffic Lab is a Seattle Times project that digs into the region’s transportation issues to explore the policies and politics that determine how we get around and how billions of dollars in public money are spent.

Each day at Capitol Hill Station, light rail riders pass a red and white mural of a playfully downturned hand, titled “Walking Fingers,” on their way down to the underground trains or up onto Broadway.

The scene below isn’t so whimsical, because riders have to sidestep glops of bird droppings that coat the tiles, walls and escalator frames.

Sound Transit has struggled for years to keep this and a few other white-streaked train stops clean, and recently stepped up its efforts. International soccer fans will converge on Seattle in mid-2026 for six FIFA World Cup matches.

“For s

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