The Seattle Streetcar is a system of two modern streetcar lines operating in the city of Seattle, Washington. The South Lake Union line opened first in 2007 and was followed by the First Hill line in 2016. The two lines are unconnected, but share similar characteristics: frequent service, station amenities, and vehicles. Streetcars typically arrive every 10–15 minutes most of the day, except late at night. The streetcar lines are owned by the Seattle Department of Transportation and operated by King County Metro. The system carried 1,326,500 passengers in 2023.
The Culture Connector project, formerly known as the Center City Connector, would connect the existing South Lake Union Streetcar at Westlake to the First Hill Streetcar with new tracks along 1st Avenue and Stewart Street in Downtown Seattle.[7][8] It is planned to serve popular downtown destinations like Pike Place Market, the Seattle Art Museum, Colman Dock and Pioneer Square. The two existing lines would overlap within downtown, increasing frequencies, and the streetcars would operate in an exclusive transit lane. The project is expected to greatly increase ridership on the Seattle Streetcar Network to 20,000–24,000 riders per day (compared to about 5,000 today).[9]
The project was scheduled to begin construction at the beginning 2018 (with utility relocation work starting in mid-2017) and be completed in 2020.[10] In June 2017, the city accepted a $50 million federal grant for the project.[11] In October 2017, members of the Seattle City Council debated cancelling the project and re-appropriating the funds for bus service,[12][13] but no budget amendments were made.[14]
In March 2018, Mayor Jenny Durkan ordered an investigation of the project and a construction halt for the duration of the review—estimated to take up to three months—in the wake of rising capital costs that were estimated to leave a $23 million shortfall in an overall $200 million budget for building the line.[15] Mayor Durkan announced in January 2019 that the project would be revived if funding is found to cover the entire $286 million cost; due to new engineering and design work that would be required, its opening was pushed back to 2026 at the earliest.[16] As of 2023[update], the project remains on hold and unfunded.[17]
Broadway Extension
The currently halted Broadway Streetcar project would have extended the First Hill Streetcar a half-mile farther north on Capitol Hill into the commercial core of Broadway with two stops near Harrison Street and Roy Street at a cost of $28 million. The project would have also included an extension of the protected bike lanes to Roy Street and improvements to the surrounding streetscape.[18] In December 2016, the project was placed on an indefinite hold after the city had completed design work to the 90% stage at a cost of $3 million. The planned extension was halted due to a lack of support from businesses for the design (particularly a shortage of loading zones for delivery trucks) and the financial plan, which would involve taxing properties located along the alignment.[19][20]
Other proposals
The city government approved the study of a larger, citywide streetcar network in December 2008, estimated to cost up to $600 million.[21] Among the lines studied were a central connector between Seattle Center and the Central District; an extension of the South Lake Union line to the University District; a line traveling to Fremont and Ballard; and an extension of the First Hill line via Rainier Avenue.[22]
APTA Ridership Reports[24] - years 2008-2015 and 2017-2022 (annual total and weekday average)
SDOT 2021 Annual Streetcar Operations Report[25] - year 2016 and 2017-2021 (annual SLU and FH line)
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
Rolling stock
An Inekon 121-Trio streetcar operating on battery power on the First Hill Streetcar line in 2016
The Seattle Streetcar system uses a fleet of streetcars manufactured by Inekon Trams in the Czech Republic. The original South Lake Union fleet, consisting of three double-ended low-floor Inekon Trio-12 streetcars measuring 66 feet (20 m) in length were delivered in 2007[26] and are numbered 301–303.[27] A decade later, six Trio Model 121 streetcars were manufactured for the First Hill line, along with an additional streetcar for additional service in South Lake Union; these are numbered 401–407.[27] Three of the model-121 streetcars were assembled in the Czech Republic and four were assembled, under contract, by Pacifica Marine in Seattle. The Trio Model 121 streetcars are equipped with electric batteries, which are used for a portion of the First Hill route. The delivery of the cars fell behind schedule, leading to delays in opening the First Hill Streetcar.[28]
Before the Center City Connector was put on hold, in 2018, it was planned that the original South Lake Union fleet would be replaced with battery-equipped streetcars when the new connection opened. To this end, in October 2017, the Seattle Department of Transportation awarded a contract to Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) to supply 10 100-percent-low-floor streetcars of CAF Urbos series for the Seattle Streetcar system. All were to be equipped with an on-board energy storage system enabling them to operate away from the overhead wires.[29][30] Seven of the 10 were for the fleet expansion needed for the opening of the Center City Connector, then projected for 2020, and three for replacement of the oldest South Lake Union cars (Nos. 301–303, Inekon model Trio-12), which were to be sold after their replacements entered service.[30] Cars 301–303 lack the capability of "off-wire" operation, which means they can only be operated on the South Lake Union line.[30] However, SDOT canceled the contract with CAF in 2019 in view of the ongoing pause in the project amid escalating cost projections.[31][32]
See also
Seattle Street Railway – The streetcar network that operated in Seattle between 1884 and 1941
Waterfront Streetcar – A streetcar line that operated in Seattle between 1982 and 2005
Link light rail – Regional light rail network operated by Sound Transit
