Mode fetishization is what got us in the monorail mess, and it's clouding transit supporters' judgment when it comes to the current streetcar debate. Do we need way more transit downtown? Yes. Does it need to be a ~$200M streetcar on 1st Ave? Debatable. theurbanist.org/2018/08/03/sea
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The center city connector will carry as many riders as the C and D Line combined though. At some point there is so much demand that buses are no longer efficient. Would agree if the streetcar didn't have exclusive right of way.
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What happens at the bottlenecks at both ends, where the streetcar goes into the street at Westlake and C/ID? It's a single line, so there's a limit to how many cars can be running at once to deal with the fact that the streetcar is slower than walking for most of its length.
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No streetcar. Put things below ground like a normal city. It’s sad how much money we wasted with the monorail debacle. Seattle loves tunnels so why not build five more?!
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I'm not a huge streetcar fan but I really hope the water main replacement and street repaving in Pioneer Square aren't included in costs. Both were badly needed w/out streetcar. Similar to Jackson St needing rebuild that FH line did. Connecting lines makes sense.
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If we hadn't had a city council intent on killing the monorail it would already be done and not subject to traffic.
It’s not mode fetishization, it’s politics.
Choosing a rail mode got exclusive lanes for 20k riders through the political process.
Meanwhile the buses on Third serve 100k+ riders and politicians still won’t displace cars for their sake.
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