Seattle Transit

Seattle has chosen to head in its own direction on rapid transit. A narrow majority of voters in the city voted to tax themselves in order to build the longest monorail transit system in North America.

The current monorail runs one and a half miles between downtown Seattle's Westlake Center to Seattle Center, the former world's fair site that is now a civic, culture, and recreation center. The base of the 605 foot Space Needle greets visitors as they exit the old monorail terminal.

The Alweg designed Seattle Monorail was built at a cost of 3.5 million dollars in 1962. During the eight month run of the fair, more than eight million people rode the futuristic form of transit. Fares from the one mile ride easily paid for the construction costs. The city later bought the system from Alweg and has operated it ever since.

Though various expansion plans have been floated over the past three decades, none ever advanced past the paper stage. Then, in 1997 a Seattle cab driver led a coalition of artists, poets, environmentalists, and dreamers who placed a citizen's initiative on the ballot to study the option of extending the monorail throughout Seattle.

Two years later, the Seattle City Council killed the funding for the voter created Elevated Transportation Company. Again, a grass roots movement created another citizens' initiative which required the city to fully fund the ETC while a full proposal was generated and placed before city voters.

That brings us to the present day. Seattle is now in the final design stage having narrowly passed the final monorail expansion and funding plan.

Heading south on Fifth Avenue from the Seattle Center and Space Needle

The view north along the center of tree lined Fifth Avenue.

The monorail now travels through the Experience Music Project, Seattle Center's latest addition.

The ground level view of the monorail, looking toward downtown Seattle.

The Monorail Plan:

The Seattle Monorail Project is an independent transit authority charged with collecting taxes, planning, and constructing the monorail's initial and any subsequent routes. Two members of the Monorail Board are elected. The majority are appointed by the City Council and the Mayor. The agency is in the final design process. Thousands of people have attended public meetings, open houses, and hearings. The Monorail Board is scheduled to approve the final route in winter of 2004. A construction bid should be accepted in Summer 2004 and it is hoped that construction will begin in the fall.

The Opposition:

Despite the initiative's passage, there is still a group that opposes the Monorail Project. In my opinion, this is a group of people with little foresight. As in most cities, there are always naysayer groups who do not want to follow the popular will because they seem to think their way of thinking is the only valid way. They have little interest in compromise or acceptance. It's sad that people like this who are against the Monorail Project often hide their identity because they are afraid to face public scrutiny. If they head into court, ultimately they end up costing the project money which hurts us all.

Light Rail

There is also another transit agency called Sound Transit that is building an initial 14 mile light rail segment between downtown and the entrance to SeaTac Airport. They are also planning to add an underground segment between downtown and the University of Washington and ultimately the Northgate Mall and Transit Center. This agency has been through a great deal of controversy and mismanagement. Thankfully, Joni Earl, the current CEO, has cleaned up the agency's act - restoring Sound Transit to firm financial footing. Construction is now proceeding. The opening is scheduled for 2009.