As the First Hill Streetcar celebrates a decade carrying riders, questions mount about the future of the Seattle Streetcar network as a whole. With a plan to finally connect the two existing lines being declared dead, the status quo is likely not sustainable.
At first glance, the deal appears to be heavily lopsided in favor of Sound Transit, which will trade aging Skoda streetcars for ones that are essentially brand new. But the Brookville cars leaving Portland experienced significant issues that could follow them to Tacoma.
Urbanism-focused Youtuber Fourth Place delved into Portland’s streetcar extension planned to its Montgomery Park neighborhood, just northwest of its existing streetcar loop.
With right turns set to be prohibited from Westlake Avenue onto Denny Way, streetcar vehicles and buses will no longer be stuck behind turning car traffic. The change will also benefit the high numbers of pedestrians who use this major intersection.
Restoring transit routes to First Avenue, after they were removed in 2011 to make way for the demolition of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, is a needed step in downtown mobility as the neighborhood enters a new era.
A proposed 75-cent streetcar fare increase could bring in $100,000 to $200,000 in additional revenue per year. However, without an extension to connect Seattle’s two short lines, the streetcar system faces a bleak future and the need for millions in annual City support.
The Seattle City Council again voted against completing the Center City Streetcar. But it remains a prudent investment, vastly improving the Seattle Streetcar network and First Avenue walkability.
By a 5-3 vote last week, the Seattle City Council said it wasn’t ready to plan for the decommissioning of the South Lake Union Streetcar. But unifying the city’s two streetcar lines into one system seems less likely than ever before.
A proposal to be considered this week at the Seattle City Council’s budget committee asks for a plan to wind down service on the South Lake Union Streetcar, which has operated since 2007.
The South Lake Union Streetcar has been out of operation since August 9 due to electrical issues, and there is more trouble down the line.
Support is dwindling for the Center City Streetcar project. Failing to connect two disconnected streetcar lines could spell a death spiral for Seattle streetcars, which are limping along without the central link.
A new consultant report on the long-planned streetcar shows costs up 43% with several new project elements now assumed necessary. Connecting Seattle’s two existing streetcar lines could cost the City $410 million dollars and take a full seven years, according to a newly released consultant’s report on the
The City of Seattle is officially on track to return $7.3 million in grant funding that had originally been awarded to the Cultural Connector Streetcar, formerly called the Center City Connector, after a local match to advance project plans was not included in the City’s 2024 budget. The
The City of Seattle will be required to return two sizable federal grants, both of which had already been awarded to fund the long-planned Center City streetcar extension between the city’s two disconnected streetcar lines, if a local match isn’t provided in the next few weeks to be
Transportation was essentially a footnote this week as Mayor Bruce Harrell announced his proposed changes to Seattle’s 2024 city budget, with housing, police tech, and human service employee wages taking center stage. But the Seattle City Council will still need to grapple with a $706 million budget proposed for
Sound Transit has announced a “celebration” marking the opening of the Tacoma Link Hilltop Extension for September 16th. The agency does not stipulate that the 16th is the official opening of the line, stating only that the extension is opening “very soon.” Wilbert Santos, a Sound Transit representative, tells The
Seattle’s long-planned but much-delayed attempt to connect its two existing streetcar lines via a downtown extension along First Avenue is once again in trouble. This week, a City Council committee voted three to two to divert funding earmarked to get the project, dubbed the Center City Connector, back on
The transit system of the Tacoma area is at a critical juncture. As I have documented in previous articles, should long-range plans advance unmodified, ours will become a degraded transit network at a cost rising into the billions. Major transportation investments will either miss our key centers and corridors, which
The Downtown Seattle Association and new SDOT head are seeking ways to jumpstart the shelved Center City Streetcar project, such as a Cultural Connector program. Seattle’s Center City streetcar has been in limbo ever since Mayor Jenny Durkan halted the project in 2018 right as construction was beginning. Nonetheless,
The Hilltop extension of Tacoma’s T Line streetcar will not be opening in the first quarter of 2023 as planned due to construction defects, Sound Transit revealed today. The exact length of the delay is not known and the exact nature of the “quality issues” was not revealed, but
Mayor Bruce Harrell’s first proposed budget for the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is undoubtedly the biggest window into how the nine-month-old Harrell administration views and prioritizes transportation issues. With the release of that proposal this week, all signs point toward an administration largely interested in keeping things headed
Modern tram systems are increasingly seeing the use of grassy tracks. Many North American transit agencies may be loath to follow suit, but there are a lot of practical and positive reasons to implement grassy tracks. And it may not be as complicated to do as it might seem. Reece Martin explains in
This week’s Transpo Notes roundup covers recommended federal funding that could accelerate Sound Transit 3 (ST3) projects, the King County Water Taxi’s summer sailing schedule, King County Metro’s launch of new battery-electric buses, the new Tacoma Link streetcar, and revised on-street paid parking rates in Seattle. Recommended
It almost seems like every other week these days you hear about another light rail-involved collision in Rainier Valley. And the reason for why is obvious: at-grade running trains cross more than a dozen intersections on Martin Luther King, Jr. Way S. Each of those crossings introduce risk for collisions
As we move into New Year’s Eve, temperatures remain somewhat cold and the remnants of this week’s winter storm are everywhere in Puget Sound. That’s placed two major strikes against the regional transit system. Transit agencies are treating today as a holiday, further reducing or suspending service
A fresh set of snow has hit Puget Sound and temperatures remain low, extending winter weather conditions and hampering transit operations in the region. Here’s today’s morning service update: Agency/ServiceDetailsKing County MetroFor a fourth time this week, Metro extended the Emergency Snow Network last night, which consolidates
Over the weekend, Puget Sound transit agencies reduced or cut service because of the Christmas holiday but also due to the snowstorm beginning in earnest on Sunday. Snow led to challenging operations with many delayed and canceled trips and some ending with a stuck and jackknifed articulated bus. Some transit
The Seattle Police Department (SPD) has a special privilege granted to no other department in the City. The City allocates funding to SPD for positions the agency admits it cannot fill next year. Using rosy projections for hiring and separations, Mayor Jenny Durkan hopes to boost the agency to 1,
Councilmember Herbold has proposed shelving the Center City Connector streetcar project once again and diverting $2.4 million in funding to Citywide hiring incentives. The Seattle City Council released its consent package of amendments yesterday with 205 amendments included in four voting groups and will hold a final public hearing
Staffing levels at transit agencies continue to remain a challenge due to pandemic impacts. That could mean parts of Sound Transit’s 2022 Service Plan may go unrealized for a period of time next year and possibly longer. That would be disappointing to riders who would otherwise see big improvements
As a regular reader who lives in Downtown Tacoma, I’m always excited to see articles that address the challenges and opportunities in our city. The recent article proposing a Central Tacoma Link Extension (CTLE) to improve transit service into Downtown Tacoma was no different. However, I’d like to
A discussion on possible changes to Mayor Durkan’s proposed budget for the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) was dominated Friday by further relitigating of the case for finally connecting Seattle’s two existing streetcar lines. Effectively on pause since 2018, the Center City Connector has been in development since
In an earlier article, I argued Seattle should expand its streetcar network and ensure high quality service with dedicated transit lanes starting in Belltown. Now I’m going to describe a few more places where extension of the planned network could yield significant benefits to neighborhoods likely to be overlooked
Line extensions into neighborhoods like Belltown and the Central District are part of a set of solutions that would improve Seattle’s streetcars. Seattle has had a troubled recent history with streetcars. The popular Benson Waterfront Streetcar was closed in 2005 without public input. The South Lake Union Streetcar was
Puget Sound transit agencies have announced an end of pandemic-era capacity limits on buses, trains, and ferries. In a joint notice, the agencies said that regular capacity will return as soon as July 1st for most and July 3rd for others as ridership has started to rebound in earnest and
Sound Transit is pursuing introduction of Tacoma Link fares. The 1.6-mile streetcar line has operated fare-free since 2003 when it opened. But an extension of the line is set to open next year to the Hilltop Neighborhood, leading the agency to come up with a sustainable way to fund
Dave Amos visited Seattle very recently and rode seven kinds of transit in Seattle. He wanted to see how long it would take to get a taste of each type. Amos talks about his journey and a bit of local transit history, plans, and facts — though forgive him for some
In 2018, Mayor Jenny Durkan made a splash by embracing the idea of enacting downtown cordon tolling to reduce car congestion, pledging to realize the scheme in her first term. On Tuesday, reporting from KUOW confirmed her administration was no longer pursuing that plan. In its place, they are offering
A tram line along Sand Point Way could speed up transit connections in Northeast Seattle and loosen the apartment bans blanketing much of the area. In the past two hundred years, industrial capitalism has altered the earth’s climate in ways only nature had previously been capable of, and at
Sound Transit is running up against staffing challenges due to the pandemic, which has led the agency to temporarily cut back light rail and streetcar service. On Friday, the agency issued an advisory notice that Central Link service, operated by King County Metro, would be cut at weekday peak times
Fares are coming back to King County Metro buses in October. The agency has been busy putting September service changes into effect and rolling out new onboard Covid-safety features. To lower transmission risk, Metro is not doing fare enforcement for the remainder of the year. Metro also has indicated programmatic
Sound Transit has allocated additional funding to the Tacoma Link extension project to shore up the budget. Costs have primarily risen from unforeseen right-of-way ground conditions. The agency’s board of directors also approved a betterment agreement with King County for a portion of the East Link corridor and were
Nothing stops the chorus of a city’s urban dance than a parking garage or surface lot. In the booming age of Seattle’s downtown core, with cranes becoming mainstay images of our skyline, it’s amazing that any parking lot still exists in this city. For some major sites
The Seattle City Council passed next year’s budget Monday and added a flurry of amendments making the Mayor’s budget more progressive and heed advocates like the Move All Seattle Sustainably (MASS) coalition. Funding the progressive priorities is a ridehailing fee hike of 51 cents per trip and one-time
Yesterday Mayor Jenny Durkan revealed her plan to increase Seattle’s ridehailing fee by 51 cents per ride and direct the first five years of proceeds toward two immediate needs. One is plugging a hole in the Center City Connector streetcar project budget; the Mayor says $56 million will do
On Monday, the Seattle City Council voted 6-1 in favor of a $9 million appropriation to continue work on the Center City Connector streetcar, with Councilmember Lisa Herbold casting the sole no vote. Councilmembers M. Lorena González and Kshama Sawant were absent. González was in Copenhagen taking urbanism classes, and
Last week the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) requested $9 million to keep the Center City Connector streetcar project moving. Yesterday, the Council’s transportation committee voted in favor of making the appropriation and moved it to the full Seattle City Council, which will vote on Monday. The $9 million
We asked Seattle City Council candidates to fill out a questionnaire before meeting with The Urbanist Election Board as we decided which candidate to endorse in each race. We have posted features on candidates’ responses on a few key questions: affordable housing strategies, Vision Zero, and evictions/displacement. As the
On Tuesday, the Seattle City Council’s transportation committee will consider a proposal to continue work on the Center City Connector by authorizing $9 million in engineering work. The proposed funding mechanism is an inter-agency loan from the Information Technology department, backed potentially by proceeds from the sale of the
The Port of Seattle is planning a new cruise terminal at South King Street, just steps away from the Occidental Square streetcar station and the First Avenue Streetcar line extension also known as the Center City Connector. The project, Terminal 46, is located just south of Colman Dock and is
On Tuesday, the Seattle City Council was briefed on the Center City Connector project, which was recently backed by Mayor Jenny Durkan. The project was put on hold after modest project cost increases and dispute over future operating costs with King County Metro came to light in early 2018. Over
The Downtown Seattle Association has released as short video celebrating Mayor Jenny Durkan’s decision to move forward on building the Center City Connector. The short video highlights how an integrated streetcar system will support business activity, residents, and future growth of the central city
Yesterday Mayor Jenny Durkan released the long-awaited engineering review of the Center City Connector streetcar project and announced she was supporting the project. The Mayor pledged she’d work with the Seattle City Council to find funding to close the budget shortfall, estimated at $65 million for the Seattle Department
In November, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) rolled out the first of three rounds of planned speed and reliability improvements to the north end of the streetcar line in South Lake Union. The changes impose new lane and turn restrictions along Terry Ave N, including three intersections. From Thomas
The long-awaited consultant report on the Center City Connector is finally out, and while sticker shock has been dominating the headlines, the case for building the streetcar extension remains strong. That may be why Mayor Jenny Durkan chose to release the initial summary of the report on a Friday afternoon
The Urbanist has been banging the drum for following through on long-laid plans to build the Center City Connector to connect Seattle’s two orphan streetcar lines. The wheels were well in motion–$75 million in federal grants are secured to fund it–yet politicians vacillate and Very Serious People
Modern American streetcars have a bad rap. Partially this is self-inflicted. Several American transit agencies have planned streetcars doomed with routes that are too short, illogical, mixed with traffic, and infrequent. Immediately expected to succeed, first-time streetcar agencies often run into design and construction snafus and instead open lines immediately
Within a year, 1,400 new housing units will come online in First Hill, which is already one of Seattle’s densest neighborhoods, as well as a major employment center that continues to add more workers and jobs. Since the chances for the expansion of light rail into First Hill
Pioneer Square has the most to potentially lose–but also gain–from the connection of Seattle’s downtown streetcar lines. During her daily commute into Pioneer Square on Link light rail, Lauren Davis, who is assistant director of ArtXchange Gallery, noticed a change in ridership after the completion of the
‘Streetcar’ seems to be a dirty word in Seattle. In January, I proposed my own redesign of NE 65th St to the city, which received overwhelming support from Seattle’s bike and car communities alike–the Seattle Bike Blog went so far as to declare my design better than the
The front page of yesterday’s The Seattle Times read “Seattle’s new streetcars may be too big for tracks.” It was a shocking headline–too shocking to be true. Both the South Lake Union and First Hill Streetcars use standard gauge tracks (1.435 meters) and so too will
Yesterday’s scoop published by The Urbanist showing that Mayor Jenny Durkan has refused to meet with more than 100 groups supporting the Center City Connector, and rejects data showing the project is worth building, was a shocker. It also flies in the face of statements Durkan made in the
While the city awaits Mayor Jenny Durkan’s decision on the fate of the Center City Connector, scores of business owners, individuals, and organizations have waited for weeks to speak face-to-face with her about the project. On June 19th, the coalition sent a letter to the mayor outlining why the
Hear what John and Calvin have to say about operating and maintaining the Seattle Streetcar system.
Mayor Jenny Durkan’s outside budget review of the Center City Connector streetcar project is ten days past due. The consultant KMPG delivered a draft of the report on June 7th, ahead of the June 19th deadline, David Gutman reported in The Seattle Times. Mayor Durkan, however, asked for more
The news on One Center City has not been very uplifting. The effort to keep Seattle moving during coming transit logjams got a re-brand to “Imagine Seattle,” but it appears to still be lacking for bold imagination and timeliness. The problem, dubbed the “Period of Maximum Constraint,” stems from convergence
In 2012, Zaragoza, Spain resurrected trams in the city using the CAF Urbos 3 series. If the pause on City Center Connector is ever lifted, Seattle would purchase 10 similar Urbos 3 vehicles, several of which would replace aging Inekon trams on the South Lake Union Streetcar line.
Last Friday’s KUOW’s Week in Review ended up being an excellent discussion of popular recent urbanism topics: decongestion pricing, the center city streetcar, and parking reform. The Stranger’s Charles Mudede delivered a powerful call to arms for taking the city back from cars. Q13’s C.R.
The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) estimates Center City Connector’s budget shortfall is $23 million, which prompted Mayor Jenny Durkan to put a six-month hold on the project to conduct an independent review. To meet Seattle’s transportation needs, the City should build the streetcar one way or the
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan has put a pause on construction of Center City Connector (CCC): The only high capacity transit project planned within downtown Seattle between now and 2035. Seattle is expected to see nearly 50% job growth over the next two decades. After a decade of work to make
In case you missed the Friday afternoon news dump, Mayor Jenny Durkan announced she is halting work on the Center City Connector streetcar because of mounting costs, but delay would have a high cost in its own right. Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) Interim Director Goran Sparrman revealed at a
In a surprise move, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan halted construction work on the Center City Connector streetcar today. She cited rising costs and an error estimating the cost of streetcar vehicles to justify her pause and reassess move. “There are too many questions about the true costs of this project
On Tuesday, the Sustainability and Transportation Committee of the Seattle City Council received updates on the downtown circulator and streetcar system speed and reliability improvements. Ben Noble, director of the the city budget office, was also on hand to address operations cost dispute for the Center City Connector project. Downtown
In this video, advocacy director Abigail Doerr from Transportation Choices Coalition talks about the benefits of the Seattle Streetcar and in particular how the Center City Connector will improve the system.
Changes could be headed to Broadway this summer and transit riders are poised to benefit. The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is considering several traffic revisions to improve the performance of the First Hill Streetcar on Capitol Hill. SDOT wants to create a new business access and transit (BAT) lanes
On October 14th, former Seattle City Councilmember Nick Licata wrote a blog post that may mislead enough people to stop an excellent local transit project that Seattle Subway has supported since its inception. Since publishing his post, “The Center City Connector Streetcar–A Solution Looking for A Problem,” the Seattle
The long-awaited Center City Connector is finally moving forward to construction. The 1.25-mile streetcar project in Downtown Seattle will get underway in January with early construction. As the name suggests, the Center City Connector is meant to bridge the gap between the South Lake Union Streetcar (SLUS) and First
Seattle’s new streetcar route, the First Hill line, finally opened on Saturday. Despite the cold and rain, months of tantalizingly empty test runs and the promise of free rides drew large crowds along the entire route. The new line runs from Pioneer Square and the International District on Jackson
At approximately 11.00am yesterday, the first trip on the First Hill Streetcar departed its Pioneer Square station at Occidental Avenue & Jackson Street with Mayor Ed Murray, SDOT Director Scott Kubly, City Councilmembers Rob Johnson and Tim Burgess, and a few other Seattle notables on board. Some of our
Back in September, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) held their latest round of public open houses on the Seattle Streetcar to discuss the updated design of the Center City Connector (CCC) Streetcar line. This was the last round of open houses before the project enters the Final Design phase.