The Sounder Train.... changes a-coming? (Seattle: rich, cars, money)

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by BellevueNative

It was cute, and convenient. It probably would have been ripped up by now anyway because of the Viaduct construction. But I hope they consider bringing it back once the new waterfront is complete.

Back in 2005, the Port Of Seattle offered land for a new streetcar maintenance shed, and offered to pay for extending the tracks north through the edge of Myrtle Edwards/Elliott Bay Park to Pier 88/Interbay. It would have been great, and it wouldn't have needed to shut down. But it didn't jibe with the plans for modern, trendy streetcars, so King County rejected the offer, saying they were looking for a different location for a maintenance shed.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by BellevueNative

Light Rail IS going to be built along the I-5 corridor to the north of the city. Light Rail is NOT the Sounder. The Sounder is an Amtrak train using Amtrak's tracks. I was saying that there are no plans to build new heavy rail (Amtrak) tracks, nor should there be. The focus for Sound Transit is the Link Light Rail, which it should be. The Central Link is already in place, University Link is being built right now and will open in 2015, North Link and East Link are in final design stage and will open in 2023, and South Link (to Federal Way) is planned and is in the appropriations stage. All of this is public information easily found on the Sound Transit website. Do a little research.

It goes without saying that Seattle is a very different place than when you lived here as a child.

I guess the place would have changed. I haven't been in the Seattle area since the 1990s.

I see planning and development being done, which is more than what I can say for the Atlanta area. I was trying to brainstorm ideas for transit improvement.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by Ira500

Oddly enough, Seattle had a chance to build a light rail system 40+ years ago. Voters turned it down in 1968 and then again in 1970. The money the feds had set aside for it they then gave to Atlanta to build MARTA.

Seattle might have rejected it at first, but when it started, and the suburbs were let in on it, the suburbs said yes. When Atlanta gave it a try, the acronym "Moving Africans Rapidly Through Atlanta", was used among some suburbanites, particularly in Cobb, Gwinnett, and Clayton counties.

Persoanlly, I think that the more public transit options that are available, the better. It doesn't eliminate or even reduce congestion, and I don't think that is or should be the goal. The goal is to give people choices. If I can take the light rail into town, or I can sit in my car on the freeway fighting traffic, I'll take the train.

Everything I've been saying all over these years

But in the transit industry, the decisions they make aren't always the best. They go with what's trendy in the industry. They got rid of the waterfront streetcar in Seattle, despite it's very high ridership, because it wasn't new and shiny. Now they've got plans for a modern streetcar network, which will run slowly, in the street, and stop every few blocks. It'll get you where you're going, but barely above walking speed. It's more of an economic engine for the businesses in an area than a practical transportation choice, but it's trendy. The waterfront streetcar had exclusive right of way along the waterfront and made some pretty good time once north of the Pike Place Market/ Aquarium. But it's not trendy, and it's maintenance shed was demolished to make way for the sculpture park. But that's trendy. And it's parent, the Seattle Art Museum, was run at the time by Bill Gates's stepmom. People with that kind of money tend to get what they want, despite what the wishes of most of the citizens. Don't get me started.

From what I've gathering, the citizens want better mass transit.

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by green_mariner

I guess the place would have changed. I haven't been in the Seattle area since the 1990s.

I see planning and development being done, which is more than what I can say for the Atlanta area. I was trying to brainstorm ideas for transit improvement.

Well, you'd have to be here to experience and know our transit in order to effectively brainstorm ideas here. You don't even know what and where our weaknesses are.



I am surprised you haven't been back to visit Seattle though. I thought that would be something you'd do given your reverence for Seattle.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by Inkpoe

Well, you'd have to be here to experience and know our transit in order to effectively brainstorm ideas here. You don't even know what and where our weaknesses are.



I am surprised you haven't been back to visit Seattle though. I thought that would be something you'd do given your reverence for Seattle.

I'm actually not surprised I haven't come back. I want to come back to Seattle, not for a visit, to live there once again. I haven't been back because of hotel money and travel costs. Once I get a decent jobs and get a few paychecks under my belt, I can come back to Seattle.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by green_mariner

As for the monorail, I'm looking at this from a very "just do it" mentality, mainly because I now live in a metro that has been slow to improve on mass transit.

Ah, a metro that isn't stuck in the 1800's mode of thinking.

Folks, fixed rail is going the way of the horse 'n buggy and whale oil lamps. Self driving cars are the future. Safer, faster, flexible, more capacity without adding more traffic lanes, etc.

They should phase out Sounder north, and allocate that money to the snail rail to the north end of Seattle. Hopefully when that is built out the 1800's fixed rail fad will have died out again.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by Andy

Ah, a metro that isn't stuck in the 1800's mode of thinking.

Folks, fixed rail is going the way of the horse 'n buggy and whale oil lamps. Self driving cars are the future. Safer, faster, flexible, more capacity without adding more traffic lanes, etc.

They should phase out Sounder north, and allocate that money to the snail rail to the north end of Seattle. Hopefully when that is built out the 1800's fixed rail fad will have died out again.

Are you talking about Seattle metro or the metro I live in?

[Andy]

Originally Posted by green_mariner

Are you talking about Seattle metro or the metro I live in?

Where you live. Horse & buggy, fixed rail, and whale oil lamps are or will soon be relics of the past. Self driving cars are the future. There will still be a need for a spine system serving super dense core areas, but Seattle will have that soon with the north link and trans lake lines while Atlanta already has theirs built. Any further expansion should entirely occur within and be funded exclusively by Seattle. The rest of the area will better served by self driving cars. Ditto metro Atlanta.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by Andy

Where you live. Horse & buggy, fixed rail, and whale oil lamps are or will soon be relics of the past. Self driving cars are the future. There will still be a need for a spine system serving super dense core areas, but Seattle will have that soon with the north link and trans lake lines while Atlanta already has theirs built. Any further expansion should entirely occur within and be funded exclusively by Seattle. The rest of the area will better served by self driving cars. Ditto metro Atlanta.

Okay. I didn't chose to live in the Atlanta area. I'm here because I moved here as a child(with the parents) and I don't have the money to leave. We don't have horse and buggy, or whale oil lamps. We have the same things other cities might have. However, Seattle is moving faster on its mass transit system than Atlanta is, even though Seattle got started later. Atlanta built its system back in 1979. However, it hasn't expanded anywhere since.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by green_mariner

But here is a difference. Seattle is moving faster on these things than Atlanta is.

No, Atlanta is already done. They have their relic, inflexible fixed rail spine system to the core. There is no further need for wasting more money and lining the pockets of connected rich people in that market. The $ would be better spent on other endeavors. Self driving cars are the future, and the road infrastructure is already built.