Drivers complained about the bus lane on NB Elliott Ave W between Mercer and the Magnolia Bridge. So SDOT is going to remove the bus lane and make it a right turn lane for the Magnolia Bridge. It is temporary until more bus service is added to the corridor (i.e. RapidRide), then they’ll restore it.

Note that the new bike lane on the south-bound hill of Eastlake (just east of FHCRC) was installed adjacent to ONE lane of uphill traffic, with parking to the right of the bike lane. This allowed a bicyclist to move past traffic stopped at the light at the top of the hill and positioned the bicyclist well to merge with traffic at the top, where the bike lane ends and the traffic lanes “jog” to the left.

Drivers complained to SDOT about having to queue up at the light a minute or two longer than normal (ONLY DURING EVENING RUSH HOUR BTW). Next thing you know, in spite of bicyclists urging no change, the bike lane was moved to the far right, another lane for traffic was added (only 200 ft long) and bikes are now relegated, as the old configuration forced them to do, to trying to merge left into traffic at the top of the hill, or run into the back of cars parked in the parking strip at the “jog.”

This is only one example of drivers complaining about being slowed down by improvements for the general good. Another? Drivers complaining that buses on the West Seattle Bridge eastbound, using the dedicated bus lane and then “cutting in” to the exit to 99 northbound. Result? Drivers were told by Metro/SDOT to not use the bus lane because drivers were complaining (heard this directly from bus drivers when I asked them about it)!

Rule: single occupancy drivers get priority in this town.

I agree with your sentiment but driver and pedestrian behavior in the US is different from that in Europe. Most countries around the world don’t use all-way stops so they handle uncontrolled intersections better than we do. We’re also a more litigious society. Even if they’re dumb drivers, they’ll still sue the city and Metro if they can.

1. Schedule recovery time, to prevent traffic delays from affecting the next trip
2. Layover is the operator’s break time, the labor agreement requires at least 5 minutes layover at the end of every trip although in this case it is not required since the trip is shorter than 15 minutes.
3. It is not possible to maintain reliable service with shorter headways than 15 minutes without sacrificing the above or making service improvements.

The reason behind 4-way stops is safety. If you make it a 2-way stop or yield for cross streets, the risk of someone getting hit by a streetcar while crossing the street in a vehicle or on foot increases. The traffic volumes probably don’t warrant a signal there either.

The thing about streetcars, though, is they’re not about speed. If they were, you’d just beef up the traction motors and go faster. But they’re not. It’s all about headways, and any old street railwayman could tell you the goal- “A car in sight at all times”.

It’s an important point to remember about streetcars. They run in an environment filled with pedestrians, cyclists and other traffic, and if they run fast, they make noise and kick up dust like other vehicles. Streetcars never were very fast and, in the absence of grade-separation, never will be very fast. It’s all about headways.

I don’t know the signal timing plan for Mercer but the streetcar should not have to sit through another 1-2 minute cycle (typical) because there was no priority to hold the light green. Worse case, if traffic is heavy on Westlake then it might have to wait through two cycles. The line crosses Mercer twice so double the time lost waiting for a green at Mercer. You quickly add minutes this way. If it takes 15 minutes to make the trip, there will be no time left for a break or for schedule recovery. Then they’ll have to add another train to service or reduce the frequency.

Removing priority will definitely make it less reliable, otherwise what’s the point of having it in the first place?