Seattle Streetcar Opens
On December 12, elected officials joined the public to commemorate the official start of streetcar operations between Seattle's downtown core and the fast-growing South Lake Union neighborhood.
Published January 3, 2008 in Transit
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The 11 stop/2.6 mile South Lake Union line is the first of five potential streetcar lines to help reconnect Seattle's urban neighborhoods. It is expected to carry 330,000 passengers in its first year. Running in approximately 15-minute intervals, a one-way trip is expected to take less than 15 minutes.
When Sound Transit's light rail comes online in 2009, there will be a complete rail link from South Lake Union to downtown to the airport, with connection via bus and rail to the University of Washington. The Adult fare is $1.50. Youth, ages 6-17, can ride one-way for $0.50. Children under 5 ride for free.
map provided by Cooladdict at Flickr.com
images above provided by Winter Hawk at Flickr.com
image provided by Kcl Seattle at Flickr.com
images above provided by JoJo Tran at Flickr.com
image provided by GlennFleishman at Flickr.com
image provided by Veluongo at Flickr.com
image provided by Scarequotes at Flickr.com
image provided by Exp at Flickr.com
The South Lake Union line was constructed in 15 months for $52.1 million or $20 million per mile. $25.7 million of the cost was paid for by property owners along the line who agreed to contribute toward the project through an approved Local Improvement District (LID) fund. The remainder came through federal, state and local government funds. Streetcar and station sponsorships will provide 25 percent of the service cost for operations. The three streetcar vehicles were designed and manufactured by the Czech Republic based Inekon Group. Each streetcar carries approximately 140 passengers. The environmental friendly trains have regenerative braking so that each time the brakes are applied, an electric motor sends electricity back into the grid, thus saving energy.
Based off the general capital construction cost of recent street running light rail lines, a four mile streetcar route connecting Downtown with Five Points, Brooklyn, the Sports District and Springfield could cost anywhere from $60 to $80 million. By comparison, the 2.5 mile Skyway was constructed for $184 million nearly a decade ago.
For more information visit www.seattlestreetcar.org
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downtownparks
January 03, 2008, 08:32:33 AMAh yes, the SLUT... Nice work Seattle!!!!
second_pancake
January 03, 2008, 09:40:21 AMroflmao. Yup, leave it to Seattle. Hey, do you think if Jax implemented this, we could get away with Firstcoast Urban Commuter Rail? Just a thought
My husband is from Seattle and he didn't have good comments about this one. Apparantly it was many years in the making but when it was approved the citizens were up and arms about the cost and length of time about the project. They also were concerned with the initial route and the cost:benefit ratio. I guess they created a BRT not too long ago that failed miserably and didn't move nearly the number of people they had originally projected. He said the only time it was ever fully utlized was during Seahawk games. Only time will tell how this will fair.
avonjax
January 03, 2008, 12:09:41 PMI find it funny that the citizens of Seattle were up in arms about the cost of their new streetcar, yet the citizens of Jax are completely apathetic about the extreme cost of the BRT.
second_pancake
January 03, 2008, 12:49:19 PMI don't think many people know about it. I didn't know about it until last month or so when I came across this site...and I have a house in Riverside right next to Roosevelt. The "notice" I got in the mail was just something saying that the city was looking into the possibility of a rapid transit system and listed when the meeting would be. It seemed pretty insignificant.
If there were more publicity surrounding this and the news media got involved, listing the cost of the project and just how many businesses/residents would be impacted based on the enormous amount of land the city wants to purchase, citizens here would be just as, if not more, outraged.
Matt
January 03, 2008, 03:38:14 PMmatt=jelous
DemocraticNole
January 04, 2008, 02:57:49 AMI've been to Seattle and I must say, I don't like the fact that many of their buses and apparently this street car use the wires above the highway method for powering the vehicle. All of those wires overhanging the street look very tacky and distracts from the view. There are better ways of doing it.
gatorback
January 04, 2008, 03:24:34 AMThat's just not right on so many levels. Let's talk about the record fire seasons since 1997. Seven of the 10 record seasons as a result of global climate change. We need street cars like this. That's the first thing that comes to mind. Second, congestion...gosh, don't you want to be able to get around in the quickest way without all that black crap being filtered by your lungs? And last, yes, the wires are there but look at the alternative. Gotta have those wires. How else would you get power to the motors given it's 2008.
The cars are good looking. Look at the wires as a beauty mark.
So you think this looks soooo much better?