Streetcar on track even if trains look empty

Some are confused on how to pay. Others think it should be free. And through it all the South Lake Union Streetcar line is doing exactly what the City of Seattle expected it would do by this point - move 1000+ people per day. More riders are anticipated as the weather gets better and as the streetcar becomes more of a neighborhood fixture.

One interesting point about this line. While never meant to cover the whole ride, a streetcar fare covers more than twice as much of the operating costs as a bus fare.

Locomotives Move More Stuff Per Gallon than Trucks

According to AAR.org and FactCheck.org, a locomotive on average can haul one ton of stuff over 430 miles...on one gallon of diesel fuel. Efficient? Darn straight it is. As fuel prices rise, we are finding that railroads can displace a large number of trucks with a single train. This should bode well for them in the future, and possibly create more track in an era when track has been pulled for decades.

Locally I think this may have railroads here evaluating all the right-of-way in the state to see how portions can be upgraded for more efficiency and service.

West Seattle Weighs In on Streetcar Service

View Map of West Seattle

Some folks in West Seattle have given up on ever seeing streetcar service return. Sad to think that streetcars could be gone entirely from the area, since historically West Seattle had them and thrived with them in place.

The big sticking point is that a streetcar system would have to go over "the Low Bridge" from the east. That bridge can sometimes be open to ships for an hour. Long time, when you're keeping a transit schedule. This is probably why extending service back to West Seattle is low on the priority list, because of costs to the area and logistics at the bridge.

As gas gets more expensive, the trolleys of Seattle's old days are looking better and better!

Amtrak train collides with bike; woman killed

Fatality number eight for Washington this year. A tragic - and often avoidable - situation.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004428802_webbiketrain21m.html

Seattle Times: A pause for the cause of light rail

This opinion piece offers that the best way to get Central Puget Sound behind light rail is to wait until 2010 for another vote on improvements, which would be after the light rail line to Sea-Tac is in place and also when people have become fed up with the cost of fuel for their cars. The writer states a time like that would be ripe for bringing the region's people a new option for creating options to congestion.