The street layout of Seattle is based on a series of disjointed rectangular street grids. Most of Seattle and King County use a single street grid, oriented on true north. Near the center of the city, various land claims were platted in the 19th century with differently oriented grids, which still survive today. Distinctly oriented grids also exist in some cities annexed by Seattle in the early 20th century, such as Ballard and Georgetown. A small number of streets and roads are exceptions to the grid pattern.
The Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (DSTT), also referred to as the Metro Bus Tunnel, is a 1.3-mile-long (2.1 km) pair of public transit tunnels in Seattle, Washington, United States. The double-track tunnel and its four stations serve Link light rail trains on Line 1 as it travels through Downtown Seattle. It runs west under Pine Street from 9th Avenue to 3rd Avenue, and south under 3rd Avenue to South Jackson Street. Line 1 trains continue north from the tunnel to the University of Washington station and south through the Rainier Valley to Seattle–Tacoma International Airport as part of Sound Transit's light rail network.
The Waterfront Streetcar, officially the George Benson Waterfront Streetcar Line, was a heritage streetcar line run by King County Metro in Seattle, Washington, United States. It traveled for 1.6-mile (2.6 km) along Alaskan Way on the city's waterfront facing Elliott Bay, under the Alaskan Way Viaduct. The Waterfront Streetcar used a fleet of five W2 trams from Melbourne, Australia.
King County Metro, officially the King County Metro Transit Department and often shortened to Metro, is the public transit authority of King County, Washington, which includes the city of Seattle. It is the eighth-largest transit bus agency in the United States, carrying an average of 395,000 passengers each weekday on 215 routes. Metro employs 2,716 full-time and part-time operators and operates 1,540 buses.
Transportation in Seattle is largely focused on the automobile like many other cities in western North America; however, the city is just old enough for its layout to reflect the age when railways and trolleys predominated. These older modes of transportation were made for a relatively well-defined downtown area and strong neighborhoods at the end of several former streetcar lines, now mostly bus lines.
Streetcars or trolley(car)s were once the chief mode of public transit in hundreds of North American cities and towns. Most of the original urban streetcar systems were either dismantled in the mid-20th century or converted to other modes of operation, such as light rail. Today, only Toronto still operates a streetcar network essentially unchanged in layout and mode of operation.
The South Lake Union Streetcar, officially the South Lake Union Line, is a streetcar route in Seattle, Washington, United States, forming part of the Seattle Streetcar system. It travels 1.3 miles (2.1 km) and connects Downtown Seattle to the South Lake Union neighborhood on Westlake Avenue, Terry Avenue, and Valley Street. The South Lake Union Streetcar was the first modern line to operate in Seattle, beginning service on December 12, 2007, two years after a separate heritage streetcar ceased operations.
International District/Chinatown station is a light rail station that is part of the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel in Seattle, Washington, United States. The station is located at the tunnel's south end, at 5th Avenue South and South Jackson Street in the Chinatown-International District neighborhood, and is served by Line 1 of Sound Transit's Link light rail system. The station is located adjacent to Sound Transit headquarters at Union Station, as well as intermodal connections to Amtrak and Sounder commuter rail at King Street Station, the First Hill Streetcar, and intercity BoltBus service.
Pioneer Square station is a light rail station that is part of the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel in Seattle, Washington, United States. The station is located under 3rd Avenue at James Street, between University Street and International District/Chinatown stations. It is served by Line 1, part of Sound Transit's Link light rail system, and provides connections to local buses and Colman Dock, a major ferry terminal serving areas west of Seattle.
Westlake station is a light rail station that is part of the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel in Seattle, Washington, United States. The station is located under Pine Street between 3rd and 6th avenues in Downtown Seattle, near Westlake Center and Westlake Park. It is served by Line 1, part of Sound Transit's Link light rail system, and also connected above ground by buses at several stops, the South Lake Union Streetcar, and the Seattle Center Monorail.
The First Hill Streetcar, officially the First Hill Line, is a streetcar route in Seattle, Washington, United States, forming part of the modern Seattle Streetcar system. It travels 2.5 miles (4.0 km) between several neighborhoods in central Seattle, including the International District, First Hill, and Capitol Hill. The line has ten stops and runs primarily in mixed traffic on South Jackson Street and Broadway.
The Seattle Streetcar is a system of two modern streetcar lines operating in the city of Seattle, Washington. The South Lake Union line opened first in 2007 and was followed by the First Hill line in 2016. The two lines are unconnected, but share similar characteristics: frequent service, station amenities, and vehicles. Streetcars typically arrive every 10–15 minutes most of the day, except late at night. The streetcar lines are owned by the Seattle Department of Transportation and operated by King County Metro.
Streetcars in St. Louis, Missouri operated as part of the transportation network of St. Louis from the middle of the 19th century through the early 1960s. During the first forty years of the streetcar in the city, a variety of private companies operated several dozen lines; from the start of the 20th century, most of these companies consolidated into the St. Louis Public Service Company, which served both the city of St. Louis and neighboring St. Louis County, Missouri. Other private companies, such as those serving the Metro East region or St. Charles, Missouri, continued separate operations. Starting in the 1930s and continuing through the 1960s, St. Louis Public Service ended all streetcar service, while other regional operators also ended their services.
Streetcars originally operated in Atlanta downtown and into the surrounding areas from 1871 until the final line's closure in 1949.
The Seattle trolleybus system forms part of the public transportation network in the city of Seattle, Washington, operated by King County Metro. Originally opened on April 28, 1940, the network consists of 15 routes, with 174 trolleybuses operating on 68 miles (109 km) of two-way overhead wires. As of spring 2016, the system carries riders on an average of 73,200 trips per weekday, comprising about 18 percent of King County Metro’s total daily ridership. At present in Seattle, a very common alternative term for trolleybus is trolley.
Broadway is a major north–south thoroughfare in Seattle, Washington. The 1.6-mile-long (2.6 km) arterial runs north from Yesler Way at Yesler Terrace through the First Hill and Capitol Hill neighborhoods to East Roy Street. Broadway East continues north to East Highland Drive. North of there the street is made up of shorter segments: one from just south of East Blaine Street to just north of East Miller Street, another from East Roanoke Street to East Shelby Street, and the last from East Allison Street to Fuhrman Avenue East.
The RapidRide G Line is a future RapidRide bus service in Seattle, Washington, operated by King County Metro on Madison Street between Downtown Seattle and Madison Valley. The line is projected to open for service in 2024 and cost $133.4 million.
Westlake Avenue is a major street in Seattle, Washington, connecting Downtown Seattle to the neighborhoods of South Lake Union, Westlake and northeastern Queen Anne. The street runs north–south along the west side of Lake Union for 2.5 miles (4.0 km) from McGraw Square to the Fremont Bridge.
The Queen Anne Counterbalance was a funicular streetcar line operated by the Seattle Electric Company, serving the steep slope along its namesake street on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle, Washington, from 1901 to 1940. It replaced an earlier cable car line built by the Front Street Cable Railway in 1891.
