Seattle Streetcar | |||
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Overview | |||
Owner | Seattle Department of Transportation | ||
Locale | Seattle, Washington | ||
Transit type | Streetcar | ||
Number of lines | 2 [1] | ||
Number of stations | 17 stops [1] | ||
Daily ridership | 4,200 (weekdays, Q4 2023) [2] | ||
Annual ridership | 1,326,500 (2023) [3] | ||
Website | Seattle Streetcar | ||
Operation | |||
Began operation | December 12, 2007 | ||
Operator(s) | King County Metro | ||
Character | Street running | ||
Number of vehicles | |||
Technical | |||
System length | 3.8 miles (6.1 km) [4] [5] | ||
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge | ||
Electrification | Overhead line, 750 V DC | ||
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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. The system carried 1,326,500 passengers in 2023.
The South Lake Union Streetcar is a 1.3-mile-long (2.1 km), seven-stop line [4] serving the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle. Its route goes from the Westlake transit hub to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in South Lake Union. The South Lake Union Streetcar connects with Link light rail (at the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel Westlake Station), the Seattle Center Monorail (at the 3rd floor of Westlake Center) and the RapidRide C Line (at several stops). The line opened to the public in 2007.
The First Hill Streetcar is a 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km), 10-stop line [5] that connects Pioneer Square and Capitol Hill via Chinatown, Little Saigon, Yesler Terrace, and First Hill. The First Hill Streetcar connects with Amtrak and Sounder Trains (at King Street Station) and Link Light Rail (at both the International District/Chinatown and Capitol Hill stations). The line opened to the public in January 2016. [6]
The Culture Connector project, formerly known as the Center City Connector, would connect the existing South Lake Union Streetcar at Westlake to the First Hill Streetcar with new tracks along 1st Avenue and Stewart Street in Downtown Seattle. [7] [8] It is planned to serve popular downtown destinations like Pike Place Market, the Seattle Art Museum, Colman Dock and Pioneer Square. [9] The two existing lines would overlap within downtown, increasing frequencies, and the streetcars would operate in an exclusive transit lane. The project is expected to greatly increase ridership on the Seattle Streetcar Network to 20,000–24,000 riders per day (compared to about 5,000 today). [10]
The project was scheduled to begin construction at the beginning 2018 (with utility relocation work starting in mid-2017) and be completed in 2020. [11] In June 2017, the city accepted a $50 million federal grant for the project. [12] In October 2017, members of the Seattle City Council debated cancelling the project and re-appropriating the funds for bus service, [13] [14] but no budget amendments were made. [15]
In March 2018, Mayor Jenny Durkan ordered an investigation of the project and a construction halt for the duration of the review—estimated to take up to three months—in the wake of rising capital costs that were estimated to leave a $23 million shortfall in an overall $200 million budget for building the line. [16] Mayor Durkan announced in January 2019 that the project would be revived if funding is found to cover the entire $286 million cost; due to new engineering and design work that would be required, its opening was pushed back to 2026 at the earliest. [17] As of 2023 [update] , the project remains on hold and unfunded. [18]
The currently halted Broadway Streetcar project would have extended the First Hill Streetcar a half-mile farther north on Capitol Hill into the commercial core of Broadway with two stops near Harrison Street and Roy Street at a cost of $28 million. The project would have also included an extension of the protected bike lanes to Roy Street and improvements to the surrounding streetscape. [19] In December 2016, the project was placed on an indefinite hold after the city had completed design work to the 90% stage at a cost of $3 million. The planned extension was halted due to a lack of support from businesses for the design (particularly a shortage of loading zones for delivery trucks) and the financial plan, which would involve taxing properties located along the alignment. [20] [21]
The city government approved the study of a larger, citywide streetcar network in December 2008, estimated to cost up to $600 million. [22] Among the lines studied were a central connector between Seattle Center and the Central District; an extension of the South Lake Union line to the University District; a line traveling to Fremont and Ballard; and an extension of the First Hill line via Rainier Avenue. [23]
Year | annual | weekday average | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
SLU line | FH line | total | ||
2007 | 78,325 [24] | 78,325 [24] | - | |
2008 | 414,200 | 414,200 | 1,300 | |
2009 | 451,300 | 451,300 | 1,400 | |
2010 | 520,800 | 520,800 | 1,800 | |
2011 | 714,700 | 714,700 | 2,500 | |
2012 | 750,300 | 750,300 | 2,500 | |
2013 | 760,900 | 760,900 | 2,600 | |
2014 | 707,700 | 707,700 | 2,200 | |
2015 | 622,000 | 622,000 | 1,800 | |
2016 | 518,249 | 840,049 | 1,358,298 | - |
2017 | 535,288 | 882,219 | 1,417,500 | 4,800 |
2018 | 513,523 | 1,159,904 | 1,685,700 | 5,500 |
2019 | 503,374 | 1,360,035 | 1,863,400 | 6,000 |
2020 | 89,414 | 660,029 | 743,600 | 1,700 |
2021 | 107,145 | 698,975 | 806,000 | 3,100 |
2022 | n.a. | n.a. | 1,093,500 | 3,600 |
2023 | n.a. | n.a. | 1,326,500 | 4,200 |
Sources: |
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
The Seattle Streetcar system uses a fleet of streetcars manufactured by Inekon Trams in the Czech Republic. The original South Lake Union fleet, consisting of three double-ended low-floor Inekon Trio-12 streetcars measuring 66 feet (20 m) in length were delivered in 2007 [27] and are numbered 301–303. [28] A decade later, six Trio Model 121 streetcars were manufactured for the First Hill line, along with an additional streetcar for additional service in South Lake Union; these are numbered 401–407. [28] Three of the model-121 streetcars were assembled in the Czech Republic and four were assembled, under contract, by Pacifica Marine in Seattle. The Trio Model 121 streetcars are equipped with electric batteries, which are used for a portion of the First Hill route. The delivery of the cars fell behind schedule, leading to delays in opening the First Hill Streetcar. [29]
Before the Center City Connector was put on hold, in 2018, it was planned that the original South Lake Union fleet would be replaced with battery-equipped streetcars when the new connection opened. To this end, in October 2017, the Seattle Department of Transportation awarded a contract to Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) to supply 10 100-percent-low-floor streetcars of CAF Urbos series for the Seattle Streetcar system. All were to be equipped with an on-board energy storage system enabling them to operate away from the overhead wires. [30] [31] Seven of the 10 were for the fleet expansion needed for the opening of the Center City Connector, then projected for 2020, and three for replacement of the oldest South Lake Union cars (Nos. 301–303, Inekon model Trio-12), which were to be sold after their replacements entered service. [31] Cars 301–303 lack the capability of "off-wire" operation, which means they can only be operated on the South Lake Union line. [31] However, SDOT canceled the contract with CAF in 2019 in view of the ongoing pause in the project amid escalating cost projections. [32] [33]
The Portland Streetcar is a streetcar system in Portland, Oregon, that opened in 2001 and serves areas surrounding downtown Portland. The 3.9-mile (6.3 km) NS Line runs from Northwest Portland to the South Waterfront via Downtown and the Pearl District. The Loop Service, which opened in September 2012 as the Central Loop, runs from Downtown to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry via the Pearl District, the Broadway Bridge across Willamette River, the Lloyd District, and the Central Eastside Industrial District and added 3.3 miles (5.3 km) of route. In September 2015 the line was renamed as the Loop Service, with the A Loop traveling clockwise, and the B Loop traveling counterclockwise. The two-route system serves some 20,000 daily riders.
The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority is the public transit agency for Cleveland, Ohio, United States and the surrounding suburbs of Cuyahoga County. RTA is the largest transit agency in Ohio, with a ridership of 22,431,500, or about 75,300 per weekday as of the fourth quarter of 2023.
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. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 78,121,600, or about 256,200 per weekday as of the fourth quarter of 2023. Metro employs 2,444 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.
The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) is the agency responsible for public transportation in the Charlotte metropolitan area. CATS operates bus and rail transit services in Mecklenburg County and surrounding areas. Established in 1999, CATS' bus and rail operations carry about 320,000 riders on an average week. CATS is governed by the Metropolitan Transit Commission and is operated as a department of the City of Charlotte. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 13,476,600, or about 42,600 per weekday as of the fourth quarter of 2023.
The 1 Line, formerly Central Link, is a light rail line in Seattle, Washington, United States, and part of Sound Transit's Link light rail system. It serves 19 stations in the cities of Seattle, SeaTac, and Tukwila, traveling nearly 25 miles (40 km) between Northgate and Angle Lake stations. The line connects the University District, Downtown Seattle, the Rainier Valley, and Seattle–Tacoma International Airport. The 1 Line carried over 26 million total passengers in 2023, with an average of nearly 80,000 daily passengers on weekdays. It runs for 20 hours per day on weekdays and Saturdays, with headways as low as six minutes during peak hours, and reduced 18-hour service on Sundays and holidays.
Link light rail is a light rail rapid transit system serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It is managed by Sound Transit in partnership with local transit providers, and consists of three non-connected lines: the 1 Line in King County, which travels for 26 miles (42 km) between Seattle and Seattle–Tacoma International Airport; the 2 Line in King County's Eastside region between Bellevue and Redmond; and the T Line in Pierce County, which runs for 4 miles (6.4 km) between Downtown Tacoma and Tacoma Dome Station. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 23.9 million, or about 78,600 per weekday as of the fourth quarter of 2023, primarily on the 1 Line. Trains run at frequencies of 6 to 24 minutes.
The T Line, formerly known as Tacoma Link, is a light rail line in Tacoma, Washington, part of the Link light rail system operated by Sound Transit. It travels 4.0 miles (6.4 km) and serves 12 stations between Tacoma Dome Station, Downtown Tacoma, and Hilltop. The line carried 934,724 total passengers in 2019, with a weekday average of over 3,100 boardings. Tacoma Link runs for nine to 18 hours per day, using streetcars at frequencies of 12 to 20 minutes.
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.
Light rail is a mode of rail-based transport, usually urban in nature. When compared to heavy rail systems like commuter rail or rapid transit (subway), light rail systems are typically designed to carry fewer passengers and are capable of operating in mixed traffic or on routes that are not entirely grade-separated. Systems typically take one of four forms: the "first-generation" legacy systems, the "second-generation" modern light rail systems, streetcars, and hybrid rail systems. All of the systems use similar technologies, and some systems blur the lines between the different forms.
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 the 1 Line, 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.
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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.
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The KC Streetcar is in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Streetcar system construction began in May 2014 and opened for service on May 6, 2016. It is free to ride, as it is funded by a transportation development district. As of December 2023, the streetcar has had 13 million rides since opening in 2016. Extensions north to the riverfront and south to University of Missouri-Kansas City have been funded, with the southern extension under construction.
The C Line is one of seven RapidRide lines operated by King County Metro in King County, Washington. The C Line began service on September 29, 2012, running between downtown Seattle, West Seattle, Fauntleroy and the Westwood Village Shopping Center in the Westwood neighborhood. The line runs mainly via Westlake Avenue, 3rd Avenue, Washington State Route 99, the West Seattle Bridge, California Avenue and Fauntleroy Way.
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