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Amazon did help build the South Lake Union Streetcar and in my mind it's been a huge success: "The majority of property owners along the alignment supported the

by drewrv 10y ago

Amazon did help build the South Lake Union Streetcar and in my mind it's been a huge success: "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." Without having to tax anyone, some private organizations just pitched in to improve the service: "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 evening hours (4pm – 6pm), reducing headways from 15 minutes to 10." [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Lake_Union_Streetcar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Lake_Union_Streetcar The thing was cheap and quick to build. I wish we could just build streetcars all over the whole city instead of this ST3 mess.

techsupporter 10y ago
> I wish we could just build streetcars all over the whole city instead of this ST3 mess. Amen to this but I want them only in dedicated lanes, preferably lanes separated from general purpose traffic by more than just paint. A streetcar would be great on, say, 23rd Ave between University Station and Mt Baker Station. Or replace route 7 down Rainier and connect it to the south side of the First Hill Streetcar. (As an aside: the Broadway segment of the FHSC is an example of how not to build them.) Or, if I'm wishing for ponies, start at Carkeek Park and go south on 8th Ave NW, turn right onto NW 85th St to go west until either the terminus of the most northern Ballard Link stop (and that's where you plant the maintenance and operations base for this streetcar) or continue on to the foot of the Ballard Bridge and run the M&O shop into the run down area just south of Ballard Blocks.
sleepybrett 10y ago
Except it isn't integrated into anything and so just as pointless as the monorail. It's not worth using for 99% of the residents.
loeg 10y ago
Streetcars in shared lanes have some downsides, especially (as a cyclist here) cycle safety. That said, if streetcars are how we're going to get on-time, effective mass transit, I'm for it. Even as a cyclist. Anything to get cars off the road.

by drewrv 10y ago

techsupporter 10y ago

> I wish we could just build streetcars all over the whole city instead of this ST3 mess. Amen to this but I want them only in dedicated lanes, preferably lanes separated from general purpose traffic by more than just paint. A streetcar would be great on, say, 23rd Ave between University Station and Mt Baker Station. Or replace route 7 down Rainier and connect it to the south side of the First Hill Streetcar. (As an aside: the Broadway segment of the FHSC is an example of how not to build them.) Or, if I'm wishing for ponies, start at Carkeek Park and go south on 8th Ave NW, turn right onto NW 85th St to go west until either the terminus of the most northern Ballard Link stop (and that's where you plant the maintenance and operations base for this streetcar) or continue on to the foot of the Ballard Bridge and run the M&O shop into the run down area just south of Ballard Blocks.

sleepybrett 10y ago

Except it isn't integrated into anything and so just as pointless as the monorail. It's not worth using for 99% of the residents.

loeg 10y ago

Streetcars in shared lanes have some downsides, especially (as a cyclist here) cycle safety. That said, if streetcars are how we're going to get on-time, effective mass transit, I'm for it. Even as a cyclist. Anything to get cars off the road.