South Lake Union Streetcar

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The acronym SLUT (written in capital letters) redirects here. For other uses, see Slut (disambiguation)
South Lake Union Streetcar
200px
A streetcar departing the Pacific Place
terminal, in downtown
Overview
Type Streetcar
Status Operational
Termini South Lake Union
Westlake Center, Downtown Seattle
Stations 11
Line number 98 (used on timetable, but not on headsign)
Website South Lake Union Streetcar
Operation
Opened December 12, 2007
Owner City of Seattle
Operator(s) King County Metro
Character At grade, in mixed traffic
Rolling stock 3 Inekon 12-Trio vehicles
Technical
Line length 1.3 miles (2.1 km)
Track length 2.6 miles (4.2 km)[1]
Track gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification Overhead lines, 750 V DC
Route diagram
Fairview & Campus Drive
Lake Union Park
16px to Fairview & Valley
Westlake & Mercer
Terry & Mercer
to maintenance facility
Westlake & Thomas
Terry & Thomas
Westlake & Denny
Westlake & 9th
16px to West Seattle
Westlake & 7th
Westlake Hub/McGraw Square
to Center City Connector (2018)
Seattle Center Monorail
Link Light Rail Link Light Rail (Westlake)
northbound only stop
southbound only stop
This diagram:

The Seattle Streetcar—South Lake Union Line is a 1.3-mile (2.1 km) streetcar line, covering a total 2.6-mile (4.2 km) route,[1] connecting the South Lake Union neighborhood to Downtown Seattle, Washington. Service began on December 12, 2007.[2] Currently it is the only operational line of the developing Seattle Streetcar Network.

History

The Seattle Electric Railway and Power Company laid streetcar tracks on Westlake Avenue, along which the present service primarily runs, in 1890.[3] In April 1941, the Seattle Municipal Street Railway converted its last two streetcar routes - 19 Eighth Avenue Northwest and 21 Phinney Avenue - to buses (now numbered 28 and 5, respectively);[4] both used Westlake Avenue to reach the Fremont Bridge from downtown.[5]

Restoration of rail service on Westlake Avenue was originally envisioned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen to help improve the South Lake Union neighborhood, in which his venture capital company, Vulcan Inc., is heavily invested.[6] Allen's main supporter from the beginning was Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, but he was not universally supported by the Seattle City Council, which was concerned about the lack of public support for the line and questioned if it should be moved ahead of Seattle's other transportation needs.[7]

After heavy lobbying by South Lake Union businesses, including Vulcan, the Seattle City Council approved the development of the neighborhood into a biotechnology and bio-medical research center. Included in that plan was funding to investigate a 1.3-mile (2.1 km), US$45 million streetcar line. The line was approved in 2005 at a cost of $50.5 million, with $25 million paid by property owners along the streetcar's route and the remainder paid by federal, state, and local funds.[8] The final cost was $56.4 million; additional costs were mostly utility work needed after the line opened.[9]

The majority of property owners along the alignment supported the project, despite being asked to pay increased taxes to fund its construction. Only 12 of 750 affected property owners formally objected to the proposed "Local Improvement District" tax.[10] The project was modeled after the Portland Streetcar, a similar modern-streetcar system that had opened in Portland, Oregon, in 2001.[11] Construction began in July 2006.[11]

Some local residents and business owners opposed to the streetcar claimed that it was originally called the South Lake Union Trolley, which abbreviates to S.L.U.T. While there is no evidence that this name was ever used as an official name, the acronym's popularity has caused it to become an unofficial one.[12][13]

Service was inaugurated on December 12, 2007, and until the end of the month, all rides were free.[14] Streetcars run every fifteen minutes, seven days a week. The line uses three 2007-built Inekon 12-Trio three-section articulated streetcars: one red, one orange and one purple, internally numbered 301, 302 and 303, respectively. There were minor collisions with motor vehicles and several service stoppages when the Seattle Streetcar first began service.[15][16][17]

In 2009, election candidates in local Seattle politics, including almost all for city council and both candidates for mayor, said the streetcar was a bad idea.[18] The City Council President, Richard Conlin, was an exception, and wants to expand the line through Fremont to Ballard and use stronger traffic signal preemption (as is used with Central Link) to allow the streetcar to move quickly through traffic.[19]

Operation

File:Streetcar 301 in South Lake Union, Seattle.jpg
Car 301 in South Lake Union.
File:Inside South Lake Union Streetcar 302.JPG
Interior of Car 302.

The system is owned by the City of Seattle, but currently is operated by King County Metro under a contract with the city government.[20] King County Metro Transit contributes 75% of the operating costs, net of farebox revenue, and the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) pays the remaining 25%.[21] The city retains sponsorship revenue and Federal Transit Administration funds.[citation needed]

During its inaugural period, December 12, 2007 to December 31, the streetcar was free to ride. The fare was then increased to US$1.50, was later increased to $1.75, and is $2.50 per trip as of December 2011.[22] The streetcar was again free to ride in the latter half of December 2008.[23]

In May 2011, increasing ridership led the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Group Health Cooperative, UW Medicine and Amazon.com to underwrite a third streetcar to operate during peak commuting hours, reducing headways from 15 minutes to 10.[24]

The Seattle Department of Transportation plans to convert two lanes of Westlake Avenue along part of the streetcar route from mixed-traffic to transit-only. This would improve reliability and speed along the line, and be the first upgrade of a streetcar line to exclusive lanes in the US.[25]

Ridership

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File:SLU Streetcar at maintenance facility.jpg
Two South Lake Union Streetcars at the maintenance facility before the line opened

Streetcar ridership started off slowly and has consistently risen as the redevelopment in South Lake Union has progressed. After an initial free ride period in December 2007, the city predicted 950 riders per day, 7.5% of the system's capacity of about 12,600 per day.,[23] which was met within the first year of operation. During the summer months, good weather and tourism boost streetcar usage. Ridership increased substantially as Amazon.com moved into its new campus beginning in 2010.[26] In June 2011, the streetcar recorded its highest-ever ridership level of 2,812 riders per weekday.[27]

Ridership statistics are provided in the table below. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100 riders.[28]

Year Per average
weekday		 Total
2013 2,600 760,900
2012 2,500 750,300
2011 2,500 714,700
2010 1,800 521,000
2009 1,400 451,000
2008 1,400 414,000

Stops

Location Neighborhood Direction Other
South Lake Union Streetcar
Westlake Center (Pacific Place station) Downtown North and South Connections to Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (Buses and Light Rail), Seattle Center Monorail. Serves Westlake Center, Pacific Place.
Westlake (Southbound) & Seventh Belltown South Serves Belltown
Westlake (Northbound) & Seventh Belltown North Serves Belltown
Westlake & Ninth Belltown/Denny Triangle South Serves Denny Park, Seattle Center, REI Flagship
Westlake & Denny Belltown /Denny Triangle North Serves Denny Park, Seattle Center, REI Flagship
Westlake & Thomas South Lake Union South Serves Cascade Playground, Seattle Times, Amazon.com
Terry & Thomas South Lake Union North Serves Cascade Playground, Seattle Times, Amazon.com
Westlake & Mercer South Lake Union South Serves University of Washington School of Medicine, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Amazon.com
Terry & Mercer South Lake Union North Serves University of Washington School of Medicine, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Amazon.com
Lake Union Park South Lake Union North and South Serves Lake Union Park, Center for Wooden Boats, Northwest Seaport.
Fairview & Campus Drive (Hutchinson Cancer Research Center station) Cascade North and South Serves Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Eastlake.
End of line

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Kit Oldham, HistoryLink.org, Officials break ground for Seattle's South Lake Union Streetcar on July 7, 2006
  4. ↑ University of Washington Libraries, Guide to the Seattle Municipal Street Railway Photograph Collection, accessed October 2009
  5. ↑ Seattle Municipal Street Railway, system map, January 26, 1941
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ "Streetcar cost overruns: What about the next line?", by Mike Lindblom, Seattle Times, December 23, 2009
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ "South Lake Union Streetcar -- a loser in this campaign season", by Susan Gilmore. Seattle Times, October 6, 2009
  19. ↑ "Meet Your New Mayor", by Dominic Holden, The Stranger, November 3, 2009
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Employers near South Lake Union streetcar offer to fund increased service
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ "Past, present, and future", By Oran Viriyincy, Crosscut, Oct. 10, 2008, accessed March 18, 2010.
  27. ↑ Seattle Transit Blog, SLU Streetcar Ridership Growing Fast, July 12, 2011
  28. ↑ APTA Ridership Report Archive. Accessed April 11, 2013

External links

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