123-492: The South Lake Union Streetcar , officially the South Lake Union Line , is a streetcar route in Seattle , Washington, United States, forming part of the Seattle Streetcar system. It travels 1.3 miles (2.1 km) and connects Downtown Seattle to the South Lake Union neighborhood on Westlake Avenue , Terry Avenue, and Valley Street. The South Lake Union Streetcar was the first modern line to operate in Seattle, beginning service on December 12, 2007, two years after
246-509: A tail track continues north for a half-block to allow vehicles to switch tracks. The streetcar has eleven stations that are equipped with a high platform, a basic shelter and windscreen, ticket vending machines , real-time arrivals information, and rider information. Some stations have corporate sponsorships that are listed on shelter signage and raise additional revenue for operations. The stations on Westlake Avenue are shared with RapidRide C Line and Route 40 buses. The southern terminus at
369-622: A tram engine in the UK) at the head of a line of one or more carriages, similar to a small train. Systems with such steam trams included Christchurch , New Zealand; Sydney, Australia; other city systems in New South Wales ; Munich , Germany (from August 1883 on), British India (from 1885) and the Dublin & Blessington Steam Tramway (from 1888) in Ireland. Steam tramways also were used on
492-520: A Vermont blacksmith, had invented a battery-powered electric motor which he later patented. The following year he used it to operate a small model electric car on a short section of track four feet in diameter. Attempts to use batteries as a source of electricity were made from the 1880s and 1890s, with unsuccessful trials conducted in among other places Bendigo and Adelaide in Australia, and for about 14 years as The Hague accutram of HTM in
615-524: A facility on Harrison Street east of Fairview Avenue, which was constructed in 2006–07. The garage and storage tracks serve up to six vehicles and are connected to the streetcar line by a two-block spur track on Harrison Street. As part of the Center City Connector project, the operations and maintenance facility is planned to be expanded with a new building and set of storage tracks to accommodate up to ten vehicles. The city government received
738-412: A formal protest to the local improvement district during the month-long protest period; several property owners also discussed a potential lawsuit to halt construction, while others were skeptical of large landowners who benefited from reduced assessments before the vote. The streetcar project remained controversial due to forwarded information given to Vulcan and its pro-streetcar lobbying group, as well as
861-541: A frequency of 10 minutes during weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and 15 minutes at all other times. The streetcar does not operate on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day . The streetcar is occasionally disrupted or truncated on a temporary basis for events near the McGraw Square terminus, including state visits by political leaders at the Westin Seattle that require a security perimeter. The streetcar
984-768: A line serving Downtown Seattle and the Seattle Center on either 1st Avenue or 4th and 5th avenues. The Eastlake project, including a compatible replacement for the Fairview Avenue North Bridge, was prioritized for the next streetcar study, but it was delayed by the city council in favor of using its funds for bus service. The only addition to the network so far, the First Hill Line, began construction in 2012 and opened in January 2016 with funding from Sound Transit, as part of mitigation for
1107-713: A network of five-line streetcar network were approved for further development by the city council in December 2008 without allocated funding to cover the $ 600 million cost. The network plan included branches of the South Lake Union line that traveled northwest to Ballard via Fremont , and northeast to the University District via Eastlake . The lines would feed into a trunk along the South Lake Union Streetcar that would connect to
1230-752: A proposal from a private real estate developer to build an office tower atop the new building as part of a $ 13 million lease agreement, which was deferred for later consideration. Streetcar A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in the United States) is a type of urban rail transit consisting of either individual railcars or self-propelled multiple unit trains that run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way . The tramlines or tram networks operated as public transport are called tramways or simply trams/streetcars. Because of their close similarities, trams are commonly included in
1353-460: A redevelopment plan for South Lake Union to accommodate biotechnology and biomedical research in June 2003, but chose to defer the streetcar issue until funding sources were identified and approved. Vulcan and several businesses along the proposed streetcar route offered to pay $ 25 million towards the construction cost using a local improvement district levy, while the remainder would be funded by
SECTION 10
#17327876492521476-512: A separate heritage streetcar ceased operations. The streetcar line was conceived as part of the redevelopment of South Lake Union into a technology hub, with lobbying and financial support from Paul Allen and his venture capital firm Vulcan Inc. The $ 56 million project was funded using a combination of contributions from local property owners, the city government, and grants from the state and federal government. Construction began in July 2006 and
1599-726: A similar technology, Pirotsky put into service the first public electric tramway in St. Petersburg, which operated only during September 1880. The second demonstration tramway was presented by Siemens & Halske at the 1879 Berlin Industrial Exposition. The first public electric tramway used for permanent service was the Gross-Lichterfelde tramway in Lichterfelde near Berlin in Germany, which opened in 1881. It
1722-510: A statewide transit program that began in 2022. Fares can be paid using the regional ORCA card , a smartphone pass, or paper tickets printed by ticket vending machines at stations, which accept paper cash, coins, and credit cards. The streetcar system also offers a day pass option that allows for unlimited rides within the service day. ORCA card readers were added to the streetcar in April 2014, to replace an honor system used by cardholders. The fare
1845-946: A well-known tourist attraction . A single cable line also survives in Wellington (rebuilt in 1979 as a funicular but still called the " Wellington Cable Car "). Another system, with two separate cable lines and a shared power station in the middle, operates from the Welsh town of Llandudno up to the top of the Great Orme hill in North Wales , UK. Hastings and some other tramways, for example Stockholms Spårvägar in Sweden and some lines in Karachi , used petrol trams. Galveston Island Trolley in Texas operated diesel trams due to
1968-527: Is a Type 121 Trio that was manufactured in 2015 as part of the same fleet as the First Hill Line. The streetcars are 66 feet (20 m) long, weigh 66,000 pounds (30,000 kg), and have capacity for 140 passengers (30 seated, 110 standing). They are equipped with a mechanical bridge plate and ramp for wheelchairs that is deployed upon passenger request via a set of buttons. The first generation of vehicles lack bicycle racks , but bicycles are allowed on board. The streetcar vehicles are stored and maintained at
2091-621: Is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition , a bi-partisan group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets." The Coalition is co-chaired by former Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg . He was the key negotiator for the City of Seattle in accepting $ 45 million up front from the Bennett Group to move
2214-781: Is a member of the Washington State Democratic Party and served as the President of the United States Conference of Mayors , but left that post on the day he left office as Seattle mayor. Nickels served on the board of directors of Sound Transit . Since 2003, he has also been the chair of the Transportation and Communications Committee of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and served on the Conference's Board of Trustees. Nickels
2337-455: Is an American politician who served as the 51st mayor of Seattle , Washington. He took office on January 1, 2002, and was reelected to a second term in 2005. In August 2009 , Nickels finished third in the primary election for Seattle mayor, failing to qualify for the November 2009 general election, and losing his bid for a third term as mayor. He left office on January 1, 2010. Nickels,
2460-569: Is owned by the City of Seattle and is currently operated by King County Metro under a contract with the city government. The line's annual operating budget of $ 4.6 million (in 2024) is covered by a contribution from the King County government, an appropriation from the Federal Transit Administration, sponsorships, and the city's general fund. The county's contribution is meant to fund 75 percent of operating costs and
2583-640: Is still in operation in modernised form. The earliest tram system in Canada was built by John Joseph Wright , brother of the famous mining entrepreneur Whitaker Wright , in Toronto in 1883, introducing electric trams in 1892. In the US, multiple experimental electric trams were exhibited at the 1884 World Cotton Centennial World's Fair in New Orleans, Louisiana , but they were not deemed good enough to replace
SECTION 20
#17327876492522706-734: Is the sole survivor of the fleet). In Italy, in Trieste , the Trieste–Opicina tramway was opened in 1902, with the steepest section of the route being negotiated with the help of a funicular and its cables. Cable cars suffered from high infrastructure costs, since an expensive system of cables , pulleys , stationary engines and lengthy underground vault structures beneath the rails had to be provided. They also required physical strength and skill to operate, and alert operators to avoid obstructions and other cable cars. The cable had to be disconnected ("dropped") at designated locations to allow
2829-412: Is used on merchandise sold by local businesses. The use of the alternate moniker as an official name is an urban legend that has persisted in the years since the line opened. The original creators of the "Ride the S.L.U.T." T-shirts explained that their use of the moniker was a protest against the declining use of Cascade in favor of South Lake Union; at the streetcar's opening, Mayor Nickels referred to
2952-564: The 67th President of the United States Conference of Mayors earlier in 2009. With his defeat Elizabeth Kautz filled the remainder of his term until 2010. Nickels left Seattle to pursue a teaching position at Harvard University. In 2012 , Nickels ran for Washington Secretary of State as a Democrat. He received 15.85% for third place in the August 7 top-two primary, behind Kathleen Drew (D) and Kim Wyman (R). Nickels
3075-522: The Ballard Link Extension include a scheduled closure of a section of Westlake Avenue for up to eight years for construction. During this time, the streetcar is planned to be shut down or truncated. City officials saw the South Lake Union line as the first in a network of streetcar routes extending north to the University District, west to the Seattle Center, and southeast to First Hill and International District . Preliminary plans for
3198-713: The Bleecker Street Line until its closure in 1917. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , had its Sarah Street line drawn by horses until 1923. The last regular mule-drawn cars in the US ran in Sulphur Rock, Arkansas , until 1926 and were commemorated by a U.S. postage stamp issued in 1983. The last mule tram service in Mexico City ended in 1932, and a mule tram in Celaya, Mexico , survived until 1954. The last horse-drawn tram to be withdrawn from public service in
3321-549: The First Hill fleet in early 2015 and entered service later that year. Increased traffic on Westlake Avenue and a decline in streetcar reliability by 2015 prompted the Seattle Department of Transportation to propose the installation of transit-only lanes along the street, which would be paired with increased bus service. The new lanes were added to improve reliability and headways for the streetcar and required
3444-494: The King County Superior Court due to a lack of evidence of fault. High-rise development in South Lake Union opened alongside the streetcar, including offices to accommodate the then-upcoming relocation of Amazon , new condominiums, businesses, and retailers. Public opinion of the streetcar grew unfavorable in its first years of operation, in part because of its low ridership; all but one of the candidates in
3567-933: The Lamm fireless engines then propelling the St. Charles Avenue Streetcar in that city. The first commercial installation of an electric streetcar in the United States was built in 1884 in Cleveland, Ohio , and operated for a period of one year by the East Cleveland Street Railway Company. The first city-wide electric streetcar system was implemented in 1886 in Montgomery, Alabama , by the Capital City Street Railway Company, and ran for 50 years. In 1888,
3690-715: The Richmond Union Passenger Railway began to operate trams in Richmond, Virginia , that Frank J. Sprague had built. Sprague later developed multiple unit control, first demonstrated in Chicago in 1897, allowing multiple cars to be coupled together and operated by a single motorman. This gave rise to the modern subway train. Following the improvement of an overhead "trolley" system on streetcars for collecting electricity from overhead wires by Sprague, electric tram systems were rapidly adopted across
3813-756: The Seattle SuperSonics of the NBA to Oklahoma City . In 2005, Nickels announced an "Environmental Action Agenda" with the goal of protecting air quality and public health . The primary goal of the agenda is to reduce Seattle's greenhouse gas emissions "to meet or beat" the levels stipulated in the Kyoto protocols . Nickels spearheaded the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, an accord between over 600 US cities committed to reducing greenhouse emissions. Nickels won
South Lake Union Streetcar - Misplaced Pages Continue
3936-770: The University District to serve the Seattle Center and South Lake Union , at the time a low-rise industrial area. The neighborhood had previously been proposed for redevelopment into a technology hub as part of the Seattle Commons plan, which was supported by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and civic leaders. After the Seattle Commons plan was rejected by voters in a set of referendums in 1995 and 1996, Allen's venture capital holding company Vulcan Inc. acquired waterfront properties in
4059-824: The West Midlands Metro in Birmingham , England adopted battery-powered trams on sections through the city centre close to Grade I listed Birmingham Town Hall . Paris and Berne (Switzerland) operated trams that were powered by compressed air using the Mekarski system . Trials on street tramways in Britain, including by the North Metropolitan Tramway Company between Kings Cross and Holloway, London (1883), achieved acceptable results but were found not to be economic because of
4182-446: The $ 47.5 million cost. A consulting plan projected that the streetcar line would carry 350,000 passengers annually when it began operations in 2007 and double its ridership by 2016. Despite a city council analysis of the plan finding it to have funding risks and overstated promised ridership, the streetcar project was endorsed by the transportation committee and sent to the full council for a final vote. The city council voted 7–2 to approve
4305-494: The 1.2-mile (1.9 km) streetcar route would use a set of transit-only lanes in the center of 1st Avenue, stopping at Pike Place Market , the Seattle Art Museum , and near Colman Dock ; it would carry both the South Lake Union and First Hill lines, which would overlap for a frequency of five minutes and would have an estimated daily ridership of 20,000. The older fleet of Inekon streetcars would be incompatible with
4428-1241: The 1850s, after which the "animal railway" became an increasingly common feature in the larger towns. The first permanent tram line in continental Europe was opened in Paris in 1855 by Alphonse Loubat who had previously worked on American streetcar lines. The tram was developed in numerous cities of Europe (some of the most extensive systems were found in Berlin, Budapest , Birmingham , Saint Petersburg , Lisbon , London , Manchester , Paris , Kyiv ). The first tram in South America opened in 1858 in Santiago, Chile . The first trams in Australia opened in 1860 in Sydney . Africa's first tram service started in Alexandria on 8 January 1863. The first trams in Asia opened in 1869 in Batavia (Jakarta), Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia) . Limitations of horsecars included
4551-713: The 1894-built horse tram at Victor Harbor in South Australia . New horse-drawn systems have been established at the Hokkaidō Museum in Japan and also in Disneyland . A horse-tram route in Polish gmina Mrozy , first built in 1902, was reopened in 2012. The first mechanical trams were powered by steam . Generally, there were two types of steam tram. The first and most common had a small steam locomotive (called
4674-420: The 1980s. The history of passenger trams, streetcars and trolley systems, began in the early nineteenth century. It can be divided into several distinct periods defined by the principal means of power used. Precursors to the tramway included the wooden or stone wagonways that were used in central Europe to transport mine carts with unflanged wheels since the 1500s, and the paved limestone trackways designed by
4797-579: The 2009 city council and mayoral elections stated that the streetcar was a bad idea when asked during a public debate. By 2010, streetcar ridership had reached 500,000 annual boardings and was continuing to increase. Streetcar ridership rose in later years due to an increase in new businesses around South Lake Union, necessitating new service improvements. In May 2011, Amazon, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, UW Medicine , and Group Health contributed $ 65,000 to
4920-481: The Australian state of Queensland between 1909 and 1939. Stockholm , Sweden, had a steam tram line at the island of Södermalm between 1887 and 1901. Tram engines usually had modifications to make them suitable for street running in residential areas. The wheels, and other moving parts of the machinery, were usually enclosed for safety reasons and to make the engines quieter. Measures were often taken to prevent
5043-462: The British newspaper Newcastle Daily Chronicle reported that, "A large number of London's discarded horse tramcars have been sent to Lincolnshire where they are used as sleeping rooms for potato pickers ". Horses continued to be used for light shunting well into the 20th century, and many large metropolitan lines lasted into the early 20th century. New York City had a regular horsecar service on
South Lake Union Streetcar - Misplaced Pages Continue
5166-774: The Entertainment Centre, and work is progressing on further extensions. Sydney re-introduced trams (or light rail) on 31 August 1997. A completely new system, known as G:link , was introduced on the Gold Coast, Queensland , on 20 July 2014. The Newcastle Light Rail opened in February 2019, while the Canberra light rail opened on 20 April 2019. This is the first time that there have been trams in Canberra, even though Walter Burley Griffin 's 1914–1920 plans for
5289-440: The First Hill line, requiring a replacement; the Seattle Department of Transportation planned to sell the retired cars to Portland for use on its streetcar system. By late 2017, questions arose regarding the streetcar's ridership projections and increased cost of $ 177 million as it neared the start of construction. King County Metro was contracted to operate the route, but found the baseline operating budget to be too small to handle
5412-416: The Irish coach builder John Stephenson , in New York City which began service in the year 1832. The New York and Harlem Railroad's Fourth Avenue Line ran along the Bowery and Fourth Avenue in New York City. It was followed in 1835 by the New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad in New Orleans, Louisiana , which still operates as the St. Charles Streetcar Line . Other American cities did not follow until
5535-430: The Netherlands. The first trams in Bendigo, Australia, in 1892, were battery-powered, but within as little as three months they were replaced with horse-drawn trams. In New York City some minor lines also used storage batteries. Then, more recently during the 1950s, a longer battery-operated tramway line ran from Milan to Bergamo . In China there is a Nanjing battery Tram line and has been running since 2014. In 2019,
5658-436: The North Sydney line from 1886 to 1900, and the King Street line from 1892 to 1905. In Dresden , Germany, in 1901 an elevated suspended cable car following the Eugen Langen one-railed floating tram system started operating. Cable cars operated on Highgate Hill in North London and Kennington to Brixton Hill in South London. They also worked around "Upper Douglas" in the Isle of Man from 1897 to 1929 (cable car 72/73
5781-463: The Romans for heavy horse and ox-drawn transportation. By the 1700s, paved plateways with cast iron rails were introduced in England for transporting coal, stone or iron ore from the mines to the urban factories and docks. The world's first passenger train or tram was the Swansea and Mumbles Railway , in Wales , UK. The British Parliament passed the Mumbles Railway Act in 1804, and horse-drawn service started in 1807. The service closed in 1827, but
5904-413: The Second Street Cable Railroad, which operated from 1885 to 1889, and the Temple Street Cable Railway, which operated from 1886 to 1898. From 1885 to 1940, the city of Melbourne , Victoria, Australia operated one of the largest cable systems in the world, at its peak running 592 trams on 75 kilometres (47 mi) of track. There were also two isolated cable lines in Sydney , New South Wales, Australia;
6027-403: The Sound Transit Link light rail project in November, and signed an executive order in 2004 giving equal rights to everyone who is married and works for Seattle city government regardless of sexual orientation. Nickels' popularity began to decline in July 2008, when the Seattle SuperSonics NBA franchise relocated to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma after a lawsuit against the team's ownership group
6150-408: The South Lake Union and First Hill lines began in 2012 as part of a revival in streetcar studies under Mayor Mike McGinn . The project, named the Center City Connector , was approved in July 2014 by the city council and was planned to begin service on 1st Avenue by 2020; its $ 110 million cost would be primarily covered by a grant from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). Under the approved plan,
6273-457: The South Lake Union area with plans to create a new commercial neighborhood. Allen and Vulcan Inc. envisioned a streetcar on Westlake Avenue to link the redeveloped neighborhood to Downtown Seattle, similar to the Portland Streetcar 's role in the revitalized Pearl District . The city government also studied the use of a streetcar and other modes on several major transit corridors, including Westlake Avenue. The $ 45 million streetcar project gained
SECTION 50
#17327876492526396-562: The UK at Lytham St Annes , Trafford Park , Manchester (1897–1908) and Neath , Wales (1896–1920). Comparatively little has been published about gas trams. However, research on the subject was carried out for an article in the October 2011 edition of "The Times", the historical journal of the Australian Association of Timetable Collectors, later renamed the Australian Timetable Association. The world's first electric tram line operated in Sestroretsk near Saint Petersburg invented and tested by inventor Fyodor Pirotsky in 1875. Later, using
6519-410: The UK took passengers from Fintona railway station to Fintona Junction one mile away on the main Omagh to Enniskillen railway in Northern Ireland. The tram made its last journey on 30 September 1957 when the Omagh to Enniskillen line closed. The "van" is preserved at the Ulster Transport Museum . Horse-drawn trams still operate on the 1876-built Douglas Bay Horse Tramway on the Isle of Man , and at
6642-429: The Westlake Avenue corridor in 2016. By 2021, daily ridership on the streetcar had declined to 300 passengers due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ridership is estimated at 500 daily passengers as of early 2024. Both streetcar lines charge a single-ride fare of $ 2.25 for adults and $ 1 for low-income passholders, seniors, and qualified disability card carriers; passengers under the age of 18 ride for free as part of
6765-557: The Westlake Hub was renovated and expanded in 2011 to connect with McGraw Square, previously separated by a section of Westlake Avenue. The new plaza has two streetcar platforms, seating areas, a bicycle repair station, and food truck spaces. The South Lake Union Streetcar runs for 15 to 17 hours per day on weekdays and Saturdays, with trains from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. from Monday to Thursday and 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and nine hours per day on Sundays and holidays, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The line has
6888-699: The Westlake transit hub, which includes the Seattle Center Monorail terminal at Westlake Center and the Westlake station in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel for 1 Line trains. The dual-tracked line travels north via a set of curbside transit-only lanes on Westlake Avenue and stops at 7th Avenue to serve the Amazon headquarters campus (including the Amazon Spheres ) and the U.S. Courthouse . The streetcar passes several high-rise office and residential buildings before reaching its next stop, located between 9th Avenue (Blanchard Street) and Denny Way just east of Denny Park . The northbound track splits from Westlake Avenue at Thomas Street, running parallel one block to
7011-508: The advantages over earlier forms of transit was the low rolling resistance of metal wheels on steel rails, allowing the trams to haul a greater load for a given effort. Another factor which contributed to the rise of trams was the high total cost of ownership of horses. Electric trams largely replaced animal power in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Improvements in other vehicles such as buses led to decline of trams in early to mid 20th century. However, trams have seen resurgence since
7134-440: The area. Ridership increased by 15 percent from 2009 to 2010 and reached the half-million milestone; the line reached its highest-ever ridership levels in 2013, carrying a total of 760,900 passengers and averaging 2,600 on weekdays with peaks of over 3,000 during the summer months. Ridership has declined since 2014 to below 2,000 daily passengers, in part due to schedule unreliability and the introduction of increased bus service along
7257-460: The busiest tram line in Europe, with a tram running once per minute at rush hour. Bucharest and Belgrade ran a regular service from 1894. Ljubljana introduced its tram system in 1901 – it closed in 1958. Oslo had the first tramway in Scandinavia , starting operation on 2 March 1894. The first electric tramway in Australia was a Sprague system demonstrated at the 1888 Melbourne Centennial Exhibition in Melbourne ; afterwards, this
7380-439: The capital then in the planning stage did propose a Canberra tram system. In Japan, the Kyoto Electric railroad was the first tram system, starting operation in 1895. By 1932, the network had grown to 82 railway companies in 65 cities, with a total network length of 1,479 km (919 mi). By the 1960s the tram had generally died out in Japan. Two rare but significant alternatives were conduit current collection , which
7503-458: The car up the hill at a steady pace, unlike a low-powered steam or horse-drawn car. Cable cars do have wheel brakes and track brakes , but the cable also helps restrain the car to going downhill at a constant speed. Performance in steep terrain partially explains the survival of cable cars in San Francisco. The San Francisco cable cars , though significantly reduced in number, continue to provide regular transportation service, in addition to being
SECTION 60
#17327876492527626-402: The cars to coast by inertia, for example when crossing another cable line. The cable then had to be "picked up" to resume progress, the whole operation requiring precise timing to avoid damage to the cable and the grip mechanism. Breaks and frays in the cable, which occurred frequently, required the complete cessation of services over a cable route while the cable was repaired. Due to overall wear,
7749-507: The city government to fund a one-year pilot to use the line's spare streetcar during rush hours to increase frequency to 10 minutes. Amazon announced plans in 2012 to build a new high-rise headquarters campus in Denny Triangle near the streetcar line and offered to purchase a fourth streetcar and fund its operations for ten years at a cost of $ 3.7 million, allowing trains to arrive every 10 minutes during midday hours on weekdays. The streetcar, painted in Amazon's corporate orange, arrived as part of
7872-409: The city's hurricane-prone location, which would have resulted in frequent damage to an electrical supply system. Although Portland, Victoria promotes its tourist tram as being a cable car it actually operates using a diesel motor. The tram, which runs on a circular route around the town of Portland, uses dummies and salons formerly used on the Melbourne cable tramway system and since restored. In
7995-429: The city. The city council released $ 2.4 million in state and federal funds for the project's design and engineering work in April 2004; this was increased by an additional $ 4.3 million by the Puget Sound Regional Council . Mayor Nickels proposed a financing plan for the streetcar project in April 2005, using federal grants, the selling of naming rights at stations, land sales, and redirected transit operating funds to pay
8118-468: The classic tramway built in the early 20th century with the tram system operating in mixed traffic, and the later type which is most often associated with the tram system having its own right of way. Tram systems that have their own right of way are often called light rail but this does not always hold true. Though these two systems differ in their operation, their equipment is much the same. Greg Nickels Gregory James Nickels (born August 7, 1955)
8241-416: The combined coal consumption of the stationary compressor and the onboard steam boiler. The Trieste–Opicina tramway in Trieste operates a hybrid funicular tramway system. Conventional electric trams are operated in street running and on reserved track for most of their route. However, on one steep segment of track, they are assisted by cable tractors, which push the trams uphill and act as brakes for
8364-477: The company was awarded the city government's first streetcar franchise in October 1890. The Westlake streetcar line continued north from Downtown Seattle to the Fremont Bridge and was privately operated until being acquired by the city during the formation of the Seattle Municipal Street Railway in 1918. The streetcar system was gradually replaced with buses and the Westlake Avenue line ended service on April 13, 1941. Streetcar service in Seattle resumed in 1982 with
8487-430: The downhill run. For safety, the cable tractors are always deployed on the downhill side of the tram vehicle. Similar systems were used elsewhere in the past, notably on the Queen Anne Counterbalance in Seattle and the Darling Street wharf line in Sydney. In the mid-20th century many tram systems were disbanded, replaced by buses, trolleybuses , automobiles or rapid transit . The General Motors streetcar conspiracy
8610-432: The east on Terry Avenue; a set of platforms between Thomas and Harrison streets serve the center of South Lake Union's office district. The northbound track is also connected to a spur track along Harrison Street that travels east to the line's operations and maintenance facility. After stopping between Mercer and Republican streets, the parallel streetcar tracks pass through the under-construction Google campus and rejoin on
8733-446: The engines from emitting visible smoke or steam. Usually the engines used coke rather than coal as fuel to avoid emitting smoke; condensers or superheating were used to avoid emitting visible steam. A major drawback of this style of tram was the limited space for the engine, so that these trams were usually underpowered. Steam trams faded out around the 1890s to 1900s, being replaced by electric trams. Another motive system for trams
8856-429: The entire length of cable (typically several kilometres) had to be replaced on a regular schedule. After the development of reliable electrically powered trams, the costly high-maintenance cable car systems were rapidly replaced in most locations. Cable cars remained especially effective in hilly cities, since their nondriven wheels did not lose traction as they climbed or descended a steep hill. The moving cable pulled
8979-455: The expected staffing that it needed. Mayor Jenny Durkan ordered an independent review of the Center City Connector project's cost estimations and halted all ongoing construction on the line in March 2018. The independent review was delivered several months late and found issues with vehicle procurement, including exceeding the project's limits for vehicle weight and size. The review estimated that
9102-439: The fact that any given animal could only work so many hours on a given day, had to be housed, groomed, fed and cared for day in and day out, and produced prodigious amounts of manure, which the streetcar company was charged with storing and then disposing. Since a typical horse pulled a streetcar for about a dozen miles a day and worked for four or five hours, many systems needed ten or more horses in stable for each horsecar. In 1905
9225-464: The financing plan on June 27, 2005, allowing for contributions from the general fund to pay for the city's share of streetcar costs. The formation of a local improvement district to contribute $ 25.7 million of the project's costs was approved by the city council in October 2005, despite some property owners opposing due to higher-than-expected assessments. Of the 750 affected property owners, 12 filed
9348-526: The first rails for the line. Track construction was completed on the Terry Avenue and Fairview Avenue sections first before moving on to Westlake Avenue between Denny Way and Valley Street; construction reached its halfway point in June 2007 and moved to Valley Street and further down the Westlake Avenue corridor. Westlake Avenue was originally a northbound-only street until September 2007, but
9471-496: The incumbent mayor, showing that 31% approved of Nickels's performance as mayor while 57% disapproved. Nickels' low popularity numbers did not recover by August 2009, when he was defeated in the primary election in his bid for a third term as Seattle's mayor. In Nickels' concession defeat, he thanked Seattle voters and noted, "Twice they gave me the honor of doing this. They want a new generation of leadership." Shortly before his defeat in his re-election campaign he had been appointed
9594-551: The late 19th and early 20th centuries a number of systems in various parts of the world employed trams powered by gas, naphtha gas or coal gas in particular. Gas trams are known to have operated between Alphington and Clifton Hill in the northern suburbs of Melbourne , Australia (1886–1888); in Berlin and Dresden , Germany; in Estonia (1921–1951); between Jelenia Góra , Cieplice , and Sobieszów in Poland (from 1897); and in
9717-402: The late 19th and early 20th centuries. There was one particular hazard associated with trams powered from a trolley pole off an overhead line on the early electrified systems. Since the tram relies on contact with the rails for the current return path, a problem arises if the tram is derailed or (more usually) if it halts on a section of track that has been heavily sanded by a previous tram, and
9840-550: The line's low ridership and redundancy with existing bus routes on Westlake Avenue; he also supported an amendment from councilmember Bob Kettle to remove a study of the Culture Connector from the city budget. The proposal was met with criticism from the Downtown Seattle Association and was rejected by the city council's select budget committee. Plans for a light rail station near Denny Way on
9963-530: The longest period of time snow had remained on the ground in Seattle since the mid-1980s. Seattle did not use salt to clear its roads, citing environmental concerns, which led to severe problems with the city's public transit system. Due to disapproval of Nickels' handling of illegal tent cities in Seattle, a tent city community in the Seattle area was known colloquially as " Nickelsville ". A late 2008 poll of likely Seattle voters reflected dissatisfaction with
10086-507: The loss of a planned light rail station serving First Hill. The First Hill line generally runs south from Capitol Hill station to Yesler Terrace on Broadway and west on South Jackson Street to the International District and Pioneer Square . The two streetcar lines do not intersect and leave a gap across downtown Seattle that was planned to be filled by a later extension. Planning of a third streetcar project to connect
10209-534: The necessity of overhead wire and a trolley pole for street cars and railways. While at the University of Denver he conducted experiments which established that multiple unit powered cars were a better way to operate trains and trolleys. Electric tramways spread to many European cities in the 1890s, such as: Sarajevo built a citywide system of electric trams in 1895. Budapest established its tramway system in 1887, and its ring line has grown to be
10332-475: The nickname by saying "I don't care what you call it, as long as you ride it." Streetcar service between the Pacific Place shopping center, South Lake Union, and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center began on December 12, 2007, with 600 people at the ribbon-cutting ceremony and each train carrying a hundred people throughout the day. Rides were free through the end of the month and a $ 1.50 adult fare
10455-477: The north side of Valley Street, stopping at the entrance of Lake Union Park near the Museum of History & Industry and Center for Wooden Boats at a former naval armory. The tracks briefly travel east before turning northeast onto Fairview Avenue, traveling in the street's median for one block. It reaches the streetcar's northern terminus at Campus Drive on the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center campus, while
10578-597: The oldest of six siblings, was born in Chicago to Bob and Kathie Nickels. In 1961, his family moved to Seattle, where he graduated from St. Joseph's Catholic Primary School and the Jesuit Seattle Preparatory School . He attended the University of Washington but left before graduating to pursue his passion for politics. Nickels was legislative assistant to Seattle City Council member and future mayor Norm Rice from 1979 to 1987. Nickels
10701-533: The oldest operating electric tramway in the world. Also in 1883, Mödling and Hinterbrühl Tram was opened near Vienna in Austria. It was the first tram in the world in regular service that was run with electricity served by an overhead line with pantograph current collectors . The Blackpool Tramway was opened in Blackpool, UK on 29 September 1885 using conduit collection along Blackpool Promenade. This system
10824-516: The opening of the Waterfront Streetcar line along Alaskan Way , but the heritage streetcar ceased operations in 2005. Restoration of streetcar service within the city was proposed in the 1990s to complement the planned light rail network put forward by Sound Transit and a proposed municipal monorail system . One streetcar proposal from Mayor Paul Schell in 1998 included re-routing a surface light rail line between downtown and
10947-637: The poor paving of the streets in American cities which made them unsuitable for horsebuses , which were then common on the well-paved streets of European cities. Running the horsecars on rails allowed for a much smoother ride. There are records of a street railway running in Baltimore as early as 1828, however the first authenticated streetcar in America, was the New York and Harlem Railroad developed by
11070-474: The project would cost $ 252 million to construct. The streetcar project remained suspended due to a $ 286 million funding shortfall, which would have needed to be resolved to open the extension by 2026. A downtown revitalization plan released by mayor Bruce Harrell in May 2023 included the streetcar connector, renamed the "Culture Connector", but no funds to build it. A report released in January 2024 estimated that
11193-539: The project would take seven years to construct and cost $ 410 million—a 43 percent increase from the 2018 estimate. The South Lake Union Line is 1.3 miles (2.1 km) long and connects Downtown Seattle to Denny Triangle and South Lake Union. Northbound trains begin at McGraw Square in Downtown Seattle, located next to the Westlake Center and Pacific Place. The terminal is also part of
11316-402: The streetcar cost $ 2 million and had to be covered by further loans in 2007 and 2009 due to low advertising revenue and higher costs. The streetcar was criticized for its slow speeds due to the lack of dedicated lanes and widespread transit signal priority , as well as disruptions because of cars that were improperly parked adjacent to the track. A transit priority intersection at Mercer Street
11439-530: The streetcar was shut down as part of large cuts to transit services amid the local outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic . Service resumed on September 19 with reduced frequencies and hours of operations in the evenings. A week-long closure is scheduled for September 2023 to allow for accessibility work on sidewalks and transit stops along the route. Service was reduced in July 2024 after King County Metro discovered issues with circuit breakers at one of two substations;
11562-674: The streetcar's corridor since 2011 have increased service and improved schedule reliability, but ridership has declined since peaking in 2013. A planned streetcar project to connect the South Lake Union Line with the First Hill Line via Downtown Seattle was placed on hold by the city government in 2018. The first electric streetcar to run along Westlake Avenue was operated by the Seattle Electric Railway and Power Company and opened five days after
11685-483: The streetcar's service was suspended indefinitely after a power outage at the other substation on August 9. Replacement control units for the circuit breakers were expected to take "several weeks" to acquire and install. The streetcar resumed full service on September 4. In November 2024, city councilmember Rob Saka proposed the full suspension of service on the South Lake Union Streetcar beginning in late 2025 to save $ 4.4 million in annual operating costs. Saka cited
11808-542: The suburban tramway lines around Milan and Padua ; the last Gamba de Legn ("Peg-Leg") tramway ran on the Milan- Magenta -Castano Primo route in late 1957. The other style of steam tram had the steam engine in the body of the tram, referred to as a tram engine (UK) or steam dummy (US). The most notable system to adopt such trams was in Paris. French-designed steam trams also operated in Rockhampton , in
11931-778: The support of Mayor Greg Nickels , but its cost was criticized by members of the Seattle City Council and political activists who saw other unfunded transportation needs, including street maintenance and bus improvements. The proposed 2.5-mile (4.0 km) streetcar would travel from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to the Westlake Center , where it would connect to the Seattle Center Monorail , buses, and light rail trains. The city council approved
12054-564: The temporary suspension of mid-day service for several weeks in early 2016. The new lanes took effect on March 21, 2016; a service change went into effect five days later to increase streetcar frequency to 10 minutes, add bus service on Route 40, and reroute the RapidRide C Line to terminate in South Lake Union. Similar lane restrictions on two blocks of Terry Avenue during rush hours went into effect in November 2018 and are planned to be extended south by another block in 2020. On March 23, 2020,
12177-558: The tracks. Siemens later designed his own version of overhead current collection, called the bow collector . One of the first systems to use it was in Thorold, Ontario , opened in 1887, and it was considered quite successful. While this line proved quite versatile as one of the earliest fully functional electric streetcar installations, it required horse-drawn support while climbing the Niagara Escarpment and for two months of
12300-416: The tram and completing the earth return circuit with their body could receive a serious electric shock. If "grounded", the driver was required to jump off the tram (avoiding simultaneous contact with the tram and the ground) and pull down the trolley pole, before allowing passengers off the tram. Unless derailed, the tram could usually be recovered by running water down the running rails from a point higher than
12423-466: The tram loses electrical contact with the rails. In this event, the underframe of the tram, by virtue of a circuit path through ancillary loads (such as interior lighting), is live at the full supply voltage, typically 600 volts DC. In British terminology, such a tram was said to be 'grounded'—not to be confused with the US English use of the term, which means the exact opposite. Any person stepping off
12546-427: The tram, the water providing a conducting bridge between the tram and the rails. With improved technology, this ceased to be an problem. In the 2000s, several companies introduced catenary-free designs: Alstom's Citadis line uses a third rail, Bombardier's PRIMOVE LRV is charged by contactless induction plates embedded in the trackway and CAF URBOS tram uses ultracaps technology As early as 1834, Thomas Davenport ,
12669-497: The use of public money to subsidize a billionaire's project. The city council gave its final approval to the streetcar project and its $ 50 million cost in March 2006, pledging public money that would cover all but $ 2.8 million of the construction costs. Construction on the South Lake Union streetcar began with a groundbreaking ceremony on July 7, 2006, during which Mayor Nickels, U.S. Senator Patty Murray , State Representative Ed Murray , and county council chair Larry Phillips laid
12792-804: The wider term light rail , which also includes systems separated from other traffic. Tram vehicles are usually lighter and shorter than main line and rapid transit trains. Most trams use electrical power, usually fed by a pantograph sliding on an overhead line ; older systems may use a trolley pole or a bow collector . In some cases, a contact shoe on a third rail is used. If necessary, they may have dual power systems—electricity in city streets and diesel in more rural environments. Occasionally, trams also carry freight . Some trams, known as tram-trains , may have segments that run on mainline railway tracks, similar to interurban systems. The differences between these modes of rail transport are often indistinct, and systems may combine multiple features. One of
12915-409: The winter when hydroelectricity was not available. It continued in service in its original form into the 1950s. Sidney Howe Short designed and produced the first electric motor that operated a streetcar without gears. The motor had its armature direct-connected to the streetcar 's axle for the driving force. Short pioneered "use of a conduit system of concealed feed" thereby eliminating
13038-532: The world's first hydrogen fuel cell vehicle tramcar at an assembly facility in Qingdao . The chief engineer of the CSR subsidiary CSR Sifang Co Ltd. , Liang Jianying, said that the company is studying how to reduce the running costs of the tram. Trams have been used for two main purposes: for carrying passengers and for carrying cargo. There are several types of passenger tram: There are two main types of tramways,
13161-401: The world. Earlier electric trains proved difficult or unreliable and experienced limited success until the second half of the 1880s, when new types of current collectors were developed. Siemens' line, for example, provided power through a live rail and a return rail, like a model train , limiting the voltage that could be used, and delivering electric shocks to people and animals crossing
13284-682: Was a case study of the decline of trams in the United States. In the 21st century, trams have been re-introduced in cities where they had been closed down for decades (such as Tramlink in London), or kept in heritage use (such as Spårväg City in Stockholm). Most trams made since the 1990s (such as the Bombardier Flexity series and Alstom Citadis ) are articulated low-floor trams with features such as regenerative braking . In March 2015, China South Rail Corporation (CSR) demonstrated
13407-491: Was built by Werner von Siemens who contacted Pirotsky. This was the world's first commercially successful electric tram. It drew current from the rails at first, with overhead wire being installed in 1883. In Britain, Volk's Electric Railway was opened in 1883 in Brighton. This two kilometer line along the seafront, re-gauged to 2 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 825 mm ) in 1884, remains in service as
13530-603: Was completed over a year later by the Seattle Department of Transportation . The line is owned by the City of Seattle, with operation and maintenance contracted out to King County Metro . The line is popularly known by its nickname, the South Lake Union Trolley (abbreviated as "SLUT"), which is used on unofficial merchandise sold by local businesses. The streetcar was controversial in its first few years due to its slow speed, low ridership, public funding, and connections to real estate development. Improvements to
13653-510: Was converted to two-way traffic for the streetcar; in October, Terry Avenue was converted from two-way traffic to become northbound-only. The Czech -built Inekon streetcars began arriving in September 2007 and street testing began at the end of the following month. The streetcar line is officially named the South Lake Union Streetcar, but it is also known by a popular moniker – the South Lake Union Trolley (abbreviated as " SLUT "), which
13776-588: Was elected to the King County Council in 1987, defeating longtime incumbent Bob Grieve, and reelected in 1991, 1995 and 1999. In 2001, he was elected Mayor of Seattle (defeating Seattle City Attorney Mark Sidran ) and was re-elected in 2005. Nickels ran for a third term in 2009, but he failed to advance to the general election after coming in third place in the primary election held in August 2009. He had several notable events during his tenure as mayor of Seattle. In 2003, he helped to break ground for
13899-438: Was enacted in 2009 after the start of Link light rail service. King County Metro refers to the line using the internal designation of Route 98. Streetcar ridership began with a daily average of 950 passengers in early 2008, increasing to an average of 1,300 by the end of the year for a total of 413,000 passengers. Usage of the streetcar increased as development in South Lake Union progressed and large employers like Amazon moved to
14022-487: Was installed as a commercial venture operating between the outer Melbourne suburb of Box Hill and the then tourist-oriented country town Doncaster from 1889 to 1896. Electric systems were also built in Adelaide , Ballarat , Bendigo , Brisbane , Fremantle , Geelong , Hobart , Kalgoorlie , Launceston , Leonora , Newcastle , Perth , and Sydney . By the 1970s, the only full tramway system remaining in Australia
14145-541: Was introduced in January 2008; the streetcar carried an average of 3,900 passengers per day by late December. The final cost to construct the streetcar was $ 56.4 million, with the overrun blamed on additional utility work after the line opening. The local improvement district contributed $ 25.7 million to its cost (including $ 8.6 million from Vulcan), while federal grants paid for $ 14.6 million, state grants contributed $ 3 million, and proceeds from land sales and property exchanges with Vulcan yielded $ 5.3 million. Operating funds for
14268-578: Was last changed in March 2015, with a slight reduction to match bus and light rail fares. Fares are enforced with random checks by Metro personnel through a proof of payment system. The South Lake Union Streetcar uses four streetcars built by Inekon in the Czech Republic. The first three vehicles, numbered 301 to 303, were manufactured in 2007 and are based on the 12 Trio model. The vehicles were colored red, orange, and purple before being wrapped in advertisements. The fourth vehicle, numbered 407,
14391-407: Was removed in 2009 during the street's reconstruction, which added several minutes to scheduled travel times. The streetcar tracks were also identified as a hazard for cyclists riding on Westlake Avenue or intersecting streets, causing crashes and injuries within the first year of operation. A group of six cyclists sued the city government in 2011 over the streetcar hazard, but the case was dismissed by
14514-566: Was restarted in 1860, again using horses. It was worked by steam from 1877, and then, from 1929, by very large (106-seat) electric tramcars, until closure in 1960. The Swansea and Mumbles Railway was something of a one-off however, and no street tramway appeared in Britain until 1860 when one was built in Birkenhead by the American George Francis Train . Street railways developed in America before Europe, due to
14637-439: Was settled out of court – an outcome in which Nickels' administration, as well as Washington State lawmakers were faulted by many Seattle sports fans for not doing enough to keep the team in Seattle. In December 2008, Nickels was criticized after an unusual snowstorm blanketed the city with the greatest snowfalls it had seen since 1996. The Seattle "snowpack", which began accumulating on December 13, did not melt until December 27,
14760-628: Was tested in San Francisco , in 1873. Part of its success is attributed to the development of an effective and reliable cable grip mechanism, to grab and release the moving cable without damage. The second city to operate cable trams was Dunedin , from 1881 to 1957. The most extensive cable system in the US was built in Chicago in stages between 1859 and 1892. New York City developed multiple cable car lines, that operated from 1883 to 1909. Los Angeles also had several cable car lines, including
14883-635: Was the Melbourne tram system. However, there were also a few single lines remaining elsewhere: the Glenelg tram line , connecting Adelaide to the beachside suburb of Glenelg , and tourist trams in the Victorian Goldfields cities of Bendigo and Ballarat. In recent years the Melbourne system, generally recognised as the largest urban tram network in the world, has been considerably modernised and expanded. The Adelaide line has been extended to
15006-411: Was the cable car, which was pulled along a fixed track by a moving steel cable, the cable usually running in a slot below the street level. The power to move the cable was normally provided at a "powerhouse" site a distance away from the actual vehicle. The London and Blackwall Railway , which opened for passengers in east London, England, in 1840 used such a system. The first practical cable car line
15129-878: Was widely used in London, Washington, D.C., and New York City, and the surface contact collection method, used in Wolverhampton (the Lorain system), Torquay and Hastings in the UK (the Dolter stud system), and in Bordeaux , France (the ground-level power supply system). The convenience and economy of electricity resulted in its rapid adoption once the technical problems of production and transmission of electricity were solved. Electric trams largely replaced animal power and other forms of motive power including cable and steam, in
#251748