While I’m busy bashing King County today…
Commenter Shotsix asked about the Waterfront Streetcar today. It’s something I’ve been wondering about myself, as it was a nice way to get down to the waterfront on a partially separated right-of-way. My brother-in-law is considering switching to transit to get to work and asked me about it. So I did a little Googling:
It looks like the Streetcar is dead. UPDATE: No it’s not. See below.
What drives me nuts about this is the lack of priorities. The city decides to build a sculpture park, and they have to move the streetcar barn. That’s fine, but a jurisdiction that actually prioritized transit would get the replacement facility constructed first, or at least finalize the plans for that replacement.
With typical skill, our fearless leaders had no such plan. Instead, their vague notions of a replacement got mired in Seattle process, and it’s taken so long they’d now rather wait to restore service until the viaduct replacement is done in the year 2175.
Meanwhile, its replacement, bus route 99, has one-fifteenth the ridership that the streetcar had. (scroll to near the bottom on the link).
UPDATE: Thanks to commenter “Pantograph Trolleypole”, who pointed out a summer post from this very same blog (D’oh!).
That gave me some new search terms, which pointed me to this newer (Jan 2007) article, which suggests that the trolley will return in 2009. Damn you Google!
Of course, that could still be a very short run indeed. If the viaduct rebuild is chosen, the new viaduct would swallow up the streetcar line. I’m no civil engineer, but I suspect the retrofit and surface/transit options could leave the streetcar unharmed.
UPDATE 2: Commenter Brian Bundridge, piling on, gives a more precise date of Summer 2009, just in time for light rail. Mea culpa, mea culpa!
But I don’t want to lose the larger point. Sculpture parks are not high on any citizen’s priority list. Regardless, to get one, they tore down part of our transit infrastructure with no replacement and no firm plan for one in place. These are not the actions of a leadership focused on transportation issues. The fact that they haven’t even started building the barn yet is outrageous.
I can’t say I’m surprised about that kind of drop in usage. When I was in Seattle last month, the streetcar stations are nice and obvious, but that there is a replacement bus is not, and I only remember seeing that bus maybe once on the 3-4 times I was on the waterfront this trip.
That’s depressing, I bet the city can come up with the money if we really need it to.
Ballot referendum?
Thanks for the update Martin. So, basically (at least in the near term) we’re tallying a net loss in track miles? That’s just great! I know the waterfront streetcar appeared to be more of a tourist thing than a commuter option, but it seems like a shame to lose (as Martin put it) grade separated rail transit. But, at least we have one of those classy busses painted like a trolley…woohoo!
A referendum seems possible, since I remember quite a fracas when it was revealed that KC was shutting it down. They moved pretty fast to come up with a solution after the initial negative publicity. Too bad they dropped the ball.
Check back in this blog to July 07. That article you posted is from 06. Buildings take a little while but someone should go by and see whats going on at Greg Smith’s place.
http://seatrans.blogspot.com/2007/07/waterfront-streetcar-coming-back.html
Jeez, yes, the trolley isn’t dead. It’s just waiting on a development in the Pioneer Square area to replace the barn. I haven’t read that article yet, but the last I heard, a developer has offered a barn as part of a new project.
That’s good news. They need to update the KC Metro waterfront streetcar page… since the “news release” still says their goal is to re-open for the 2007 tourist season (which, led to my original question since I think we’re past that date).
Hey all,
The Waterfront Streetcar is not dead. Construction starts on Greg Smith’s building in Jan 2008 which is going to include the streetcar barn, mix housing and retail shops and upper level parking. It will be a unique building when it is done. I’ve been given an estimated date of Summer 2009 for operations.
I’ve posted pictures of the site on railroadforums.com
http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20253
Shotsix,
I was thrown off by the same uninformative webpage. Metro’s public information is but a shadow of Sound Transit’s, but that’s a topic for another post.
It may be mostly for tourists, but that doesn’t make it less important. Most cities spend effort on promoting tourism (and the money that comes with it). Right now we’re providing the experience of nice trolly stations with the promise of a good transit system, but with a sign telling you to cross the busy street and wait for a bus.
Actually, that’s a fairly good representation of the Seattle experience.
“Sculpture parks are not high on any citizen’s priority list.”
I don’t know, I am a very pro transit person, I even voted yes on Prop 1, but I value the sculpture park more than the waterfront trolley. Now, both at once? That would be gravy.
Heck, you could continue the line up the old “right of way” all the way to the Interbay area… but that would require tearing out a bike trail…
I talked to a certain KC council member and he mentioned that until a viaduct solution has been finalized, we are unlikely to see the street car brought back, with or without a maintanence base.
I actually haven’t been to the sculpture park yet….my own petty “pro waterfront streetcar” boycott. The sculpture park people really rubbed me the wrong way when they had their little “no compromise” tantrum after people starting questioning the trolley closure. It was like, geez, art is cool, but you don’t have to get so uppity about one little trolley barn….
“Sculpture parks are not high on any citizen’s priority list.”
Funny then that the sculpture park is overflowing with visitors on any given weekend. They must have gotten all of their high-priority to-dos done earlier in the day.
Also funny: that the citation for the trolley=>bus ridership dropoff is a link to…some webpage that doesn’t cite its source. Hyperlinks by themselves do not much increase the validity of evidence.
Anonymous,
And, the statement that “the sculpture park is overflowing with visitors on any given weekend” is from what source?
…as far as I could tell, the waterfront streetcar was overflowing with riders on any given weekend.
I don’t disbelieve your stone throwing, I’m just saying that unless you have some visitor figures, and relate that to the square footage of the park, the “overflowing” value is pretty glass house-y.