Seattle: Central Link Light Rail

Its the second official day of light rail for Seattle. Now that the weekend festivities are over, this is the real, harsh test whether Central Link was designed well, and whether riders find it useful. Light rail is also supposed to be "fast, frequent, and reliable". Let's see.

Experienced a bit of trouble finding the Tukwila Station on International Blvd, (While driving on 518W, take the sea-tac airport exit, then bear right at the fork to go on S 154th St. Straightahead through the lights and to the right, is the only parking lot on the Central Link route.)

First, about the parking lot.

On a Tuesday evening during rush hour, the lot was very full, surprisingly. Only 10-20 spots were open. Peering up at the glistening Tukwila Intl. Blvd terminal, the true beauty of the station shined. Parking lot is pretty well layed out, with two way lanes in most places.

Tukwila Station: after climbing up a set of stairs, one reaches a middle level where two (yes, only 2), ticketing machines are. First major complaint: Too few ticket stations. However, the line cleared up pretty fast, and there were many friendly sound transit security and staff on hand to assist.

Trains: Air conditioning units dominate the soft spoken noise offellow passengers. For some it is their first and perhaps last time. For others this is just the second day out of thousands. The train hums and shoots off-accelerating smoothly but steadily. Cars slow down and look up. Kids with frizzy hair jump up and down waving to the train as if they've seen a celebrity. Wow. Trains are spotless. Although i had doubts before, the beginning of my ride has me hopeful. Route maps are in place throughout the train, as well as very clear screens telling you the next stop and which door to disembark.

The good thing and the bad thing is that there are not many people on this tuesday afternoon heading into seattle from tukwila. However, that is understandable, as most traffic at this time is going out of seattle, but we shall see whether the return has more riders.

Blasting through elevated trackway at near 60 mph, the train descends to street level on MLK Blvd. The train has multiple stops in the Rainier Valley area includin

g: Rainier Beach, Othello, Columbia City, and Mount Baker. This is a slower section, as the train crosses streets and naturally goes slower. Art is abundant here including the 35 foot shovel at Columbia City, and the dancer statues South of Othello. Ridership around here is surprisingly good, as many people head from these neighborhoods to downtown.

Mount Baker Station, Reflection of Train

Trains are two cars connected to e/o.

No way to get in between the two cars.

After climbing up onto more elevated track to the Mount Baker Station, we shoot through the Beacon Hill Tunnel. This is where the poker cards flash at you inside the tunnel, and you have to see if you are lucky today. Waste of money to install 6 or so electronic displays flashing random poker cards? You decide.

Exiting the tunnel which houses Beacon Hill Station, i finally got a view of downtown Seattle. Bending slowly to the north, the track once again descends to street level to the stops of SODO and Stadium. I noticed not many people use these stations when there aren't sporting events.

Maintenance Center for Lightrail

Finally we descend into the Downtown Bus Tunnel. Ridership is definitely highest around here. Trains going Southbound had standing room only. Good sign. Finally i get off at Westlake Station, after a mere 33 minutes. Too fast, if you ask me. This feels like a whole new city.

The car's at Tukwila. So I get to get to go on a return trip to pay attention to more fine details. I'll spare everyone reading this from repeating everything i said, but instead i will try a different method. Station by station notes. Ridership will be marked with a -(extremely low), \-(low), \(medium), \+(high), +(very high). Notes include symbol of station on map, type of station, design of station, speed of train going into station, and general notes.

Downtown bus tunnel: tunnel, integrated with bus services, bit slow, +
Stadium: torch, semi covered, doors on left -
SODO: table symbol, mostly covered, doors on right \-
Beacon hill: kite symbol, tunnel station, doors on left, separate one way sections for trains. \+
Mount baker: mountain symbol, covered, elevated station, doors on right, partial brick on ends \
Columbia city: dove symbol, doors on right, mostly covered, 35 foot shovel, magnifying glass, \+
Othello: deer symbol, doors on right, halfly covered, metal statues, \+
Rainier beach: crane symbol, doors on left, hardly covered, \
Tukwila: rowboat symbol, all glass station, doors on right, fast section, fully covered, +

In summary: Is light rail worth it? More worth it then stuffing a bunch of buses down I-5?

I am not a strategist. I cannot know that.

However, what i do know is that riders seemed to be happier and generally more comfortable. I certainly was. Each station is well designed with signage and long platforms for future longer car trains. Although much money was spent, i personally think it was spent fairly well. There is always room for improvement. Additional lines are being planned as of right now, and they seem definite in the near future. Keep in mind that the Central Link is a foundation. So maybe everyone should not judge it so harsh. I firmly support where this city is going with light rail. Boardings are efficient, trains are fast, trains are very frequent, as i only had to wait 3 minutes each time (trains come in 7.5 minute increments during rush hour, 15 during non peak hours), and the trains are notably reliable as traffic is not a problem. My roundtrip travels stretching the whole current line were finished in just over an hour. Whether or not people like light rail for whatever reason, it is here. This is change, causing less pollution, and more convenience for wheelchairs over buses. This is the future. Maybe you could get a chance to "ride the future". It boards frequently. "Hop on", is my opinion.

Thank you everyone for reading. Comments always welcome.

-cssounders