The last train to Hooterville
If you're trying to get from the Cheesecake Factory to South Lake Union, this SLUT's for you.
Steve Scher of KUOW-FM and I recently walked from Seattle's University District to Hooter's and jumped the SLUT. It was a nice little ride, my first. Now that the hoopla's died down, it was a chance to get a sense of how Seattle's streetcar of dreams is doing trundling along the streets of Allentown.
Some impressions. The first is that the area at the end of the line on Fairview Avenue North feels like parts of Bellevue: all density and no people. Fairview is not exactly pedestrian friendly; much of the South Lake Union neighborhood still has that yet-to-be-inhabited boomtown feel. The fact that the end of the line is right outside Hooters just adds to the impression. Plus, the area is still designed to accommodate cars. All those restaurants along the shore are separated from the street by huge parking lots. This isn't a place scaled for pedestrians.
On the SLUT, my first reaction: Where is everybody? Aimee Curl of Seattle Weekly reports that ridership is under 1,000 boardings per day. It's clear why. The SLUT doesn't go anywhere. Well, that's not quite right. It seems like a way to shuttle office workers to and from lunch or dentist appointments. On the lunch hour trip we took, however, there were only about six passengers – most having a hard time figuring out how to get the fare machine to take dollar bills.
It seems clear that the SLUT's biggest appeal, in the short term, will be tourists – an easy way to get from the Cheesecake Factory end of town to Hooterville.
The streetcar interior is comfortable, spacious, the ride pleasant. It is also a reminder of why this type of travel is agreeable, if you're not in a hurry (which tourists and office workers returning from lunch usually aren't). On Metro buses, you ride way above street level, and looking out the window you see mostly signs, awnings, etc. On the SLUT, the generous visibility through multiple windows is like looking at the frames of a film about urban streets. In fact, because of what is cropped out of the picture (mostly unremarkable buildings), the impression you get of Westlake Avenue from inside the streetcar is of a very urban place – liveliness, people, doorways, city clutter. In other words, the SLUT is a built-in sales tool for the developers who are trying to transform South Lake Union. It's as if you're traveling through Vulcan's scale model of the district.
We know, of course, that being a sales tool is the SLUT's primary purpose. The history of railroads is not so much to get people from point A to point B as to make money on the adjacent real estate. At one time, the cities of Puget Sound fell all over themselves to get rail lines. Some historians of urban planning suggest that Seattle was lucky not to become the terminus of the Northern Pacific because it never became hostage, as Tacoma did, to a single band of railroad robber barons. Ronald Boyce, professor emeritus of urban planning at Seattle Pacific University, has called it a "godsend." Seattle tried to sell its soul, but there were no takers.
So it will be interesting to see how the SLUT experiment plays out. Will it make the robber barons of South Lake Union happy? Will the farebox do well enough to keep it on track? Will the operators raise enough advertising and sponsorship money to avoid becoming a financial black hole? How will the Monorail do now that's its got street-level competition for tourist dollars? Will the SLUT change the way we see South Lake Union and downtown?
Part of the argument you hear already is that the SLUT only makes sense if we extend the system. You'll hear that argument if it fails financially (we must extend it to make it viable) and if it succeeds (it's a great model that should be adopted everywhere). It's the classic policy gambit: No outcome justifies retreat! Just like Iraq.
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Comments:
Posted Fri, Jan 18, 7:34 a.m. inappropriate
Will anything work?: If I remember correctly Knute, you are also against region-wide rail, the monorail (of course!), wider and more highways and now I see that you can't see the value of neighborhood-scaled systems. Are you a bus guy?
Criticizing without having an alternative is OK but I am curious if you see any plausible alternatives?
Posted Fri, Jan 18, 8:30 a.m. inappropriate
Riding the S.L.U.T: Well Knute, I thought the S.L.U.T kind of sucked, until you pointed out the Hooters - to - Cheesecake Factory aspect. This may have improved my opinion of it actually.
Posted Fri, Jan 18, 8:55 a.m. inappropriate
History could repeat itself, but will we be smart enough to take advantage?: Most all of Seattle's original streetcar lines were paid for by or in partnership with developers to get folks to their housing developements.
It is ironic that the city ended up holding the bag last time, and this time is paying for it from the get go.
The question is, will the lines be seperate enough, or have their own turn at stoplights to make it worth riding. It is not only WHERE they go, but how fast. One can bus the same route almost faster. Bike and car ARE faster.
IF you ran the SLUT with more trains, and extended the line SOUTH on Westlake, through Westlake Mall to Pike, then down Third (already a Bus Only street 8 hours a day) to Yesler, then down to Pioneer Square through Occidental to the Stadiums, you would have something. Especially if the lights were Syncronized on 3rd to move the trolly faster.
Same issue with the Monorail. Instead of a HUGE new system from Ballard to West Seattle, how about finishing what was originally envisioned... continue to run the monorial, again through Westlake to Pike, then down 3rd or 2nd to the Stadiums. Imagine parking at the Center to attend Seahawk and Mariner games, or getting on at the Pike Place Market and going to the Space Needle...
Lastly, the waterfront trolly. Mr. Benson must be very angry. The Port was going to build a new trolly barn by the grain terminal for 40 plus million. Last we heard, the city was going to build one in Pioneer Square. Take a map, and look at where the Trolly ends on 5th Avenue and Jackson. Head south on Jackson 4 blocks, angle 1 block past the Immigration Building, now one more block south and you have about 7 ACRES of METRO TROLLY BARNS. Please tell me why that would not make sense.
The Port of Seattle is about to AGAIN build another Cruise Ship Terminal. This time, we move from Pier 30 to Piers 90 and 91. IF you extended the trolly line NORTH, through the Sculpure Park, then Myrtle Edwards Park, you could run the line to the new facility. This would offer a splendid way to assist moving the 4,000 to 6,000 folks who visit the city every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, ALL SUMMER LONG, which should MORE than pay to extend the line NORTH. A lot more tourists would travel that Benson Line Extension North then will step on SLUT for years to come.
Maybe the Port and the State would assist in helping to underwrite the cost as an evironmentally friendly way to move people instead of all the traffic that will now be on Elliot Avenue...
Anyone paying attention? Anyone at ALL?
Posted Fri, Jan 18, 9:51 a.m. inappropriate
WWHSS - What would Homer Simpson say?: mmmm. Cheescake on the beach.
Posted Fri, Jan 18, 9:51 a.m. inappropriate
A month ago I was in Memphis where they have a trolley that runs downtown and along the MIssissippi River. I asked a local whether the trolley was vintage or a relatively recent addition more for tourists, and he said the latter. Since I was there on business, did I qualify? To resolve doubt, one evening I took the trolley from my hotel to one of Memphis' famed BBQ restaurants thence to Beale Street, which makes the Seattle music scene sound like so much elevator music, the sidwalk availability of Jell-O shots notwithstanding.
The first thing that struck me was that the trolley was heated! While most folks in the PNW don't automatically associate the mid-south with chilly temperatures, I'm here to tell you that western Tennessee in December can get damn cold! A heated trolley for $2 beat a $10 cab.
Not having gotten intimate with our SLUT and before I do, I need to know: is the SLUT hot? If not, then why bother? A cold experience can be had a million places, but a hot SLUT is the stuff of which dreams are made.
Please advise...
The Piper
Posted Fri, Jan 18, 10:58 a.m. inappropriate
RE: Will anything work?: David, et al-
Light Rail and Modern Streetcars are the same guage. This technological kismet offers us an opportunity to proceed with light rail development on region wide basis that is also pedestrian friendly.
Those two goals are not easily meshed, but I believe it possible - and desirable.
At this point the only light rail expansion that can be justified are short lines in decentralized urban centers, following upon the Tacoma Link model. The construction of these lines should be routed in a manner **consistent** with existing regional planning.
This does however change the nature of the regional network - should it ever be justifed to be completed. It will not, necesarilly, be the fastest way to get around. It might be the best for a tourist.
Right now are regional alternative is the Sounder Commuter rail. Way sooner than the **promised** completion of regional light rail under Prop. 1 a replacement technology will likely emerge for commutter rail - a bullit train, maglev, or the like.
Construction of shorter light rail lines serving both Everett and Bellevue should begin soon - consistent with other regional objectives - including the Everett UW Campus and a circulator serving a Bellevue to Renton expansion of heavy commuter rail.
And heck, a Bullit trained named Dorothy might just sell, who knows?
-Douglas Tooley
Lincoln, Tacoma
Posted Fri, Jan 18, 11 a.m. inappropriate
RE: WWHSS - What would Homer Simpson say?: my faith in you, though challenged, is restored
Posted Fri, Jan 18, 11:17 a.m. inappropriate
About George Benson: Uh, I just checked, and Mr. Benson is still dead...
Posted Sat, Jan 19, 9:49 a.m. inappropriate
Took my 3 year old son for a ride on the SLUT: Two buses roared past us as we waited at the stop. I caught a glimpse of one of the drivers, and I swear it was Richard Morrill.
Just when I made up my mind to get on the next bus that came by, the SLUT finally picked us up. We stopped short of Hooters (both of us consider shorts and pantyhose to be a fashion don't) and got off near the center for wooden ships. We spent a solid hour goofing around on the piers and in the park, and then scored a free tour around Lake Union on an electric boat.
It was a nice time, so I'm holding out hope this will actually SLUT get used.
Posted Sat, Jan 19, 10:01 a.m. inappropriate
The Piper
Posted Sat, Jan 19, 10:39 a.m. inappropriate
RE: Took my 3 year old son for a ride on the SLUT: That's the million dollar question, isn't it?
Posted Sat, Jan 19, 11:08 a.m. inappropriate
RE: History could repeat itself, but will we be smart enough to take advantage?: Hacknflak, your concept for creating a linkage between the SLUT and the Benson trolley line near the waterfront sounds very intriguing. Would you have the SLUT run the route past the Sculpture Park to the north piers, or would it be the old Benson trolleys? Perhaps you could map it out for further dissemination? Certainly, no one else in this city is thinking so holistically about the problem / opportunity.
Posted Sat, Jan 19, 11:43 a.m. inappropriate
RE: Took my 3 year old son for a ride on the SLUT: One thing I didn't mention: On our SLUT ride, there was a father and son sitting next to me (boy older than three, but still small) and the lad was looking out the window and peppering his dad with questions. He was full of wonder at the streetcar ride, and it reminded me of the thrill I felt when I first rode the monorail in 1962-or maybe the mini-train around Woodland Park. That kid was really enthralled.
Posted Sat, Jan 19, 12:28 p.m. inappropriate
As to what will work? I don't know, but I think market-driven boomtowns tend to get screwed over. Part of the puzzle is taming the beast of the all-consuming market. Another is throwing lots of small-scale solutions out there. Yes, I like the bus and BRT and the 1,000 little things approaches: bike trails and lanes, more and better sidewalks and paths, infrastructure repair and maintenance, passengers ferries etc. etc. I believe in concurrency--making development pay as it goes. I'd like to see more adaptive re-use, more preservation of perfectly wonderful, affordable existing apartment buildings instead of allowing them to be torn down for bigger, newer, more expensive stuff. On and on.
But yes, I do think the scale of the streetcar is a very positive attribute and I think it could work elsewhere, depending on cost.
Posted Sat, Jan 19, 1:08 p.m. inappropriate
And exactly what do rails have to do with it?: There's nothing about the SLUT that wouldn't be done just as well by an extension of Seattle's trackless trolley system (called buses by many). Bigger windows? A minor redesign. Cost, zillions less, approximately. A trackless trolley is essentially the very same thing as a streetcar, except you don't have to tear up the street and put in rails, and the cars can go around obstacles a little better.
We in Seattle have a great resource in our trackless trolley system, a fine method of low-pollution transportation that could be extended at very low cost compared to other options. Let's stop calling it a "bus" system. Buses are those internal-combustion vehicles that smell bad and make lots of noise. They have a role in public transportation, certainly. But Seattle's trackless trolley system, especially with a few more interesting station/stops that have cool sculptures, could be the envy of the post-oil economy!
Posted Sat, Jan 19, 1:13 p.m. inappropriate
Well....: Back before the whole Commons thing local business owners had a plan to connect South Lake Union to Seattle Center with an expanded Parkway kind of thing. Extending the Benson Trolley to Seattle Center has been batted around for quite some time as well.
Posted Sun, Jan 20, 9:20 p.m. inappropriate
Railroads in Seattle/Tacoma: I don't take Boyce's point. Both Tacoma and Seattle were served by the same roads: Northern Pacific, Great Northern, Union Pacific and the Milwaukee Road. Later Burlington Northern became the successor to the NP and the GN. And I worked in Tacoma for both the Milwaukee Road and the B.N. so I am pretty confident that they were both there. But then mainline railroading has absolutely nothing in common with streetcars. So why was it even mentioned?
John Crosby
Fremont
Posted Mon, Jan 21, 10:36 a.m. inappropriate
RE: Took my 3 year old son for a ride on the SLUT: Ditto the thrill on the mini-train around Woodland Park!.
Posted Mon, Jan 21, 3:54 p.m. inappropriate
real questions seeking serious answers: The S.LU.T. is so much fun in so many ways that it is easy to overlook the serious questions in the post just above, which innocents phrase– this slut's naked! And we adults phrase:
1. Seattle trolley wires are not strung in a day, why aren't they permanent enough?
2. They now make rubber tired trolleys low(er) to the ground and paint and detail them up to look just like a S.L.U.T. Why is this fact ignored ?
3. The cost comparision between one of the above, installed and operating, and the S.L.U.T. is known somewhere, are electeds doing the math when they recommend adopting the S.L.U.T technology for village circulators?
4. If they are, why the focus on the more costly rail circulators in relation to the increasing need to prioritize all needs and the many other still lacking, but mandated village amenities, as planners call what others call City Comforts?
I am especially puzzled because of correspondence now 10 years old.
2/3/98 from Jan Drago: "I am intrigued by your conceptual drawings of what improved bus service in Seattle would look like to support the comprehensive plan. I think we will see more circulators in the future to support the comp plan and transit oriented development... "
2/4/98 from Richard McIver: "Thank you for your letter dated 1/24/98 to Jack Whisner [Metro] about transit links for urban villages. I think you bring up some excellent points... and it is my goal, along with ...Drago and Licata, to ensure Seattle residents receive better transit service from Metro...."
2/9/98 from Jack Whisner: "Thanks for calling. I'm sorry...enclosed please find the draft I gave to my supervisor. ... [Mayor] Rice's linc proposal was flawed in several ways: ...unfunded,...too much coverage, ie. the routes were too close together, so it was targeted to walk trips. Healthy urban villages have many pedestrians. ..." Needless to say the offical response never came. Furthermore my proposal was not the Rice
proposal.
My proposal, I do admit, used "routes too close together" as its centerpiece: each loop route overlapping like a chain along (major) east/west streets where the loops link loop to loop. One could walk a little–make transactions, ride a little, loop north or south along those common east/west streets, then take a more direct line home if one happened to exist where one ended up. I had only done the more archipelago like villages Denny northward, with a connection to what is only labeled South Seattle Link @ south Cap. HIll.
Like S. L.U.T., I envisioned a catchy name, an unmistakeable identity, and short headways--15 minutes. Unlike S.L.U.T, it would take much less subsidy (and be cheaper to ride) as villages developed, (actually speeding up village development) and have the TRUE virtue of being mistake proof-- that is, costly, but not prohibitively so, to correct routing mistakes.
Were I to convert my old drawing to a pdf, is anyone interested in my making it available? I'm with those who'd like Crosscut to be more than just another team sport where environmentalists jap libertarians and vice versa. So here's hoping.
Posted Mon, Jan 21, 4:01 p.m. inappropriate
real questions seeking serious answers: Sorry, it's probably obvious, but my post with this same name was attempting to respond to the post two above--the one on rubber tired trolleys. I guess I got outside the thread or it no longer works that way.