Waiting to Start, by Stephen De Vight
Less than a month to go!
A Link Car is 29 meters long.
According to urbanrail.net, there are 29 American cities with rail systems prior to Link opening. I might quibble with the number (why count Detroit’s tiny system, but not Tacoma or the Seattle Monorail?), but given that we’re the 14th largest metro area it’s pretty sad.
This is an open thread.
Seems like this song is fitting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv–b4zS-Dg
And it’s exactly one month to go, not less. You’re going to have the 0 days post on the day before it opens.
Well, it’ll be a “aren’t you excited for tomorrow” post. :)
And we will be! I just saw a post on skyscrapercity claiming that they had gotten tickets for the first Link train on opening day at 7am. Is this bs, or are they actually running a train that you can get tickets for at 7am?
Service begins at 10:00 AM with simultaneous departures from each end of the line. Tickets are not required, waiting in line is.
The *first* train is VIP, you’ll need a ticket, yeah.
If the stations are totally full of people waiting for LINK trains, what will Metro do for the people wanting to board the tunnel routes?
Has ST and Metro thought about this?
Should they just run the tunnel routes down 3rd during the opening weekend??
I plan on picking up an orange safety vest and doing my best imitation of the ST logo on the back in black Sharpie. People ought to let me ahead in line with that outfit.
Erik, I believe the tunnel routes will run on third, and the platforms won’t be thronged – ST will hold people back and only allow forward onto the platform the number of people allocated for the next train. I’ll have a post soon about opening day plans from ST.
I really don’t care about being on the first train. I can’t brag about it if I did since the people I know already rode Link like at least twice before it opened ;)
Exactly one month from this post is July 18, 2:30pm. Light rail will be open before then. Therefore, it’s less than one month.
I think the Skyscrapercity part is your first indication its BS. The whole first weekend is free, you wont need a ticket.
Plus the first train is going to be full of campaigning politicians…
I post on ssc sometimes. I think the first train will have tickets.
If you follow @ST_TravelLight on Twitter they announced: Several local radio stations will be giving away tickets to Link’s Inaugural ride on July 18. We’ll have a list of stations out soon.
I’m volunteering, hopefully that morning. They’ve been recruiting volunteers at SDOT.
As a general note to photographers interested in shooting the link, Metro/ST/King County is really protective of the DSTT. Myself and another photographer were standing on the sidewalk (and WELL back from the RoW) just north of the Stadium station photographing the Link as it went past. That is until one Link operator stopped in the station, shut off his lights, and called us into dispatch; tying up the line as he sat there for a good ten minutes. We were quickly approached by a sheriff and harassed/questioned for quite some time, including taking down our information and asking a lot of prying questions. I guess they’re fairly jumpy about the *evil freedom hating terrorists* trying to blow up the tunnel.
So, if you don’t want to put up with bored cops with nothing better to do than harass people on public property, I would suggest staying away from that area. It would also be nice if ST had an official photography policy. As it stands, their position, according to Doug Zack from Sound Transit is: “Photography on Sound Transit property is allowed as long as the photography does not raise suspicion, cause an unsafe act or condition for the photographer or other patrons; or interfere with the operation of transit vehicles.” Since “suspicion” is very ambiguous their policy is simply that photography is allowed unless the security guard in question thinks you’re “suspicious” then it’s game over. At least Portland’s TriMet has no problem letting you photograph from public spaces provided you shoot them an e-mail or give them a call a day or two before hand.
Last Time I was on Sounder, they specifically made sure I didn’t photograph the interior of the cab car. I was at Westlake station with my Flip camcorder the other day, and two security guards walked past. I smiled at them, and they told me to “make sure the flash is off.” You can see it all go down on Youtube. Skip to 0:50.
I’ve got a big camera and some pro lenses. I’ve been starting to ask about the ‘raise suspicion’ part of the wording, and if I’m stopped, I’ll be raising hell about it – here and in every other media outlet I can.
I do like the transit agency, but it’s not up to them to determine ’suspicion’ when people are taking photos. People get to take photos in public areas, PERIOD.
Same here, I think people get more worried the larger your lenses are ;) Normally I thank the Securitassholes Sound Transit hires for “suggesting” that I leave, but it doesn’t really fly with the REAL police. Anyway, with things like Google Street View it’s easy to get detailed “surveillance” photographs of the area. I would also imagine that if someone was actually planning an attack they wouldn’t do it by sending two guys to stand on a sidewalk with DSLRs for a good 20 minutes in full view of security and police… just a thought…
Ditto for the intelligence gathering agencies. What ever happened to the practice of espionage, concealing your activities?
I have a point-and-shoot and love it for the fact that I can be more discreet.
You have a G9 or G10, right? That’s barely a point and shoot. :)
Ha ha, you’re right but it fits in my pockets.
http://www.krages.com/phoright.htm
Downloadable PDFs on Photographers’ rights
D’oh! Should’ve read further down the thread
I took photos of the Sounder cab car numerous times without hassles, even one with the speedo at 80 mph.
I wanted to place my camera on the Westlake platform to grab a low shot of an incoming Link train and the guards shouted at me from the other platform. Later I smiled at them and we were cool.
Legally the security guards don’t have the rights to do anything to you but call the cops. I recommend Bert P. KragesThe Photographer’s Right. Print out a copy and keep it with you.
I shot video from the area between the tracks at the Stadium station entrance and stood in the center with my tripod. A supervisor, who happened to know me from Flickr, told me I should be okay if I stayed at least 10 feet away from the tracks.
Unrelated to Link, I was taking photos of a bus with people getting off the 120 at Burien Transit Center. This guy walked up to me and demanded that I delete that photo with him getting off the bus. He claims that I need permission from him to be in my photo and I argued it was a public place (with no expectation of privacy). Didn’t convince him, and he started shouting at me that I need a license and threatened to call the sheriff and take my camera away. OK, I deleted the photo and he kept going on and on calling me names while running to catch his bus. I should’ve pointed to the sign clearly notifying that Metro is recording your every move. They don’t have to ask for your permission so why do we?
The guy was clearly over reacting and he sounds like a jerk, but I get uncomfortable when people in the street take my picture.
I’ve been involved in public events and usually the photog will approach me after, give me his card, and ask if he can use my photo on his website. In that case, I’ll say yes. But someone snapping my pic as I’m stepping off a bus? I can see how that could be awkward. Just sayin’.
As for security guards getting angry about people taking photos of trains, screw ‘em. Don’t give them any of your information. Wasn’t there a UW prof who was harassed and even arrested for taking pics of a power substation in Snohomish for an art project?
Yeah, I understand in that case. I wasn’t aiming the camera and zooming in at him. He was barely identifiable and I don’t think that justifies the need to ask. It would be absurd to request permission for everyone caught in the background of a photo I shoot. I’m not a professional photographer and I don’t intend to make any money off my photos.
The UW prof was wrongly arrested and decided to sue. The police settled and the prof got around $3000.
I understood she was awarded $25k in damages.
OK, I think I pulled that number out of air but it was in the thousands.
Woo! I can’t wait.
Well, urbanrail.net is pretty incomplete. They mark Caltrain in San Francisco but not the West Coast Express in Vancouver or Westside Express in Portland. I think there’s a lot of info missing on that site.
I heard some of the Link announcements in the tunnel coming from the train itself. There was one announcing that “this is the train to Tukwila International Boulevard Station” and another one announcing “Pioneer Square Station” and more. I recorded them as MP3s. Feel free to listen to them at http://oran.hoshiru.net/transit/snd/
Also, some of the Link schedules have been posted in stations. Here’s a sample:
Westlake Station
==========
Monday-Friday
First train to-
Tukwila Int’l Blvd 5:19 am
Last train to-
Tukwila Int’l Blvd 12:34 am
SODO 12:54 am
Saturday/Sunday/Holidays
First train to Tukwila 5:19 am (Sat), 6:18 am (Sun/Hol)
Last train to-
Tukwila 12:36 am (Sat) 11:35 pm (S/H)
SODO 12:51 am (Sat) 11:52 pm (S/H)
No evening deadheads on the weekends. Interesting.
And the “ding” heard before the Link announcements sounds like the Windows XP “Low Battery Alarm”.
And the Tukwila International Blvd still annoys me. There is no such thing as Tukwila International Blvd. There’s an International Blvd though. Why can’t it be slashed, like SeaTac/Airport?
Much like the “ding” on Translink next stop announcements is the Windows 95 ding. They recently changed it to a trolley ding sound.
Apparently there is such a thing as Tukwila International Blvd if this map is correct http://www.ci.tukwila.wa.us/dcd/zoning_map.pdf. Searching it on the Tukwila city website yields a bunch of results. Maybe they just renamed the street.
I don’t see wht ST finds it necessary to say Station on the end of things. The signs on the trains would be much more efficient if they didn’t have to scroll through the word Station at the end every time.
I am annoyed by the scrolling signs and the “Station” suffix. Adding Station to the end is redundant and sounds old-fashioned. We know a train has to stop at station to let people on and off. “This is the train to Tukwila International Blvd” PERIOD. Same for the Wikipedia articles, [[Beacon_Hill_Station_(Link_station)]] should be [[Beacon_Hill_(Link_station)]] or [[Beacon_Hill_Station_(Link)]].
…on 1st impressions, at least, I’m not a fan of these announcements. They sound too fast, hard to understand when it’s noisy. I also think that her voice is too high pitched…deeper voices seem to do better. Not just male voices–the female voice on Portland’s MAX does quite well.
I agree, they were much faster than I expected. The IDS announcement was way to fast.
Does anyone know if they are for sure going to be running the shuttle buses from the airport to the end of the line opening weekend?
No, it won’t start running until Monday. (source)
And this part should be interesting:
The shuttle buses will be contractor buses and not ST or Metro buses. I’m not yet sure how they’ll figure out I have a valid monthly pass. The “ORCA card” is pretty vague. Maybe I can just show them my unvalued ORCA card?
Any bets on Sodo becoming the next big “dive bar destination” when we get closer to U-Link’s opening? I’m betting that lots of people will be interested in opening bars down there. Manufacturing is flagging, which is the bulk of shops from 4th Ave S eastward.
Dirty 70s-style gay bars, a REAL punk rock bar, a new brewpub, I can see it now.
That’s been happening in Georgetown already! :)
Yesterday (Thursday) at 16:30 the tunnel was full of test trains. Maybe a training exercise for bus weaving?
The amusing bit was the “Test Train” signs were few and widely spaced, which resulted in some passengers moving to stand near a door and waiting for it to open.
I just made an arrangement to rent an apartment from a guy for the 4 nights my wife and I will be in Vancouver for the Olympics. Turns out he’s an engineering tech working on the new SkyTrain extension (Evergreen Line) up there. He was late calling me becuase he was in meetings to narrow it down to the final design alternatives. Way cool.
Does it make me a horrible person that, as excited as I am for my Olympic trip–and trust me, I’m jumping out of my shoes here waiting–I’m nearly as excited to see the Canada Line?
Want to ask him if he’d be interested in doing an interview for us? Email us if you plan to!
The Link “timetables” that show first and last train times and service frequences are kind of disappointing. That’s a bit of addition to figure out when a mid-day train is going to arrive, and 14 minutes is a long time to wait.
Mid-day trains run every 10 minutes and 9 minutes is not a very long time to wait. It’s like the 71-73s from the U-District. Early morning and late evening (after 10 pm) trains run every 15 minutes which border on the threshold of not requiring a timetable.
Anything less than 10 minutes doesn’t need a timetable. People won’t bother to read them when they’re so frequent. Besides, there will be displays showing when the next train will arrive. That helps.
I guess it’s not disappointing to most people, but I would bother to read it. I like to show up like a minute before something leaves.
We’ll speed up as ridership goes up. Build an apartment building next to the line! ;)
ST just sent out their Photo of the Week. It’s of the Concourse level of Mount Baker Station. I’m struck by how big this space is and seems quite empty. I’m wondering if ST have plans to program this space. It would be great if they allowed some espresso carts to set up here. Sure Starbucks is right across Rainier Ave, but that can be a bit of a detour if your not coming from the SE of the station.
Why is it pretty sad?