Transportation takes a long time to get right, and the first thing you don't do is give up.

That's what California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lee County, Fla., and Sound Transit have in common right now. They're just moving forward in different ways to attack a problem that increasingly is becoming a drag on our economy: traffic congestion.

Our own Sound Transit, which serves urban King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, is thinking about going back to voters alone with a new light rail plan. Looks like it didn't take long for the agency to shrug off the pain of rejection that came with the defeat of Proposition 1, the roads and transit tax proposal. According to The Herald newspaper of Everett the results of a survey show public support for Sound Transit to take a light-rail proposal, sans a road element, to voters next year.

Meanwhile, the Governator, Schwarzenegger, is making waves in California by recently announcing he will push changes in state law to enable private companies to work with public agencies to build and maintain new roads and transit projects. Details are few. There will be more to come in January during Schwarzenegger's state of the state speech. But the Governator says we can't afford to rely on public monies anymore to build transportation projects and California will aggressively pursue businesses to chip in. If this gains traction in California, Washington may be next.

Finally, Lee County, Fla., has implemented a "queue-jumper" lane, where traffic-addled drivers paying a 25-cent toll can get around backed-up intersections. Could this be far behind for Washington, where legislators already are talking about passing toll plans next year?

What is clear is that the long path toward building good transportation systems goes in different directions to find success. And the key is: Don't give up.