I’d be lying if I told you that I hadn’t voted for every initiative and every politician who said he’s support the light rail, the monorail, or any other attempt to add mass transit to our metropolis. So it goes without saying that I was among the first to board the first light rail train on its inaugural day. Sadly, I can’t use it to commute to work because my office is on East Marginal Way, next to Boeing field. No matter what transit combination I come up with, I am standing in the dark somewhere waiting for a transfer to a connecting bus and it takes an hour; which compares badly with a 10 minute drive to work. But I won’t be working forever; my retirement is not so far off that I can’t see myself taking a lot more mass transit.
The light rail has made Martin Luther King Way a bit of a nightmare, particularly if you have to turn left. More than once, we’ve already driven the two extra miles on Interstate 5 to avoid the long annoying waits at the lights on that street. I have also noticed a new level of traffic infractions as cars and Metro buses rush through red lights in fear of being stuck at a red light for the rest of their life. My husband is convinced that our intersection is the very worst, the city clearly screwed up and put a 2-minute wait instead of a 1 minute wait on just our turn. As I sit there wishing I’d timed the wait because it seems even longer than ever, I think of all the gallons of gasoline that are being wasted while we sit there waiting to turn left to go up to our neighborhood.
And then finally the link to the airport was made. It happened a couple days after our guests flew in, so I was not able to try it out until after Christmas. My out of town guests needed to rent a car with an airport pickup. So we walked the mile down the hill and hopped on a train. While travelling south unobstructed by traffic, I rhapsodized about the convenience of some day being able to go all the way to the University on this train. In no time at all we were at the airport. Contrary to what I had believed, the train dropped us off right at one of the parking garages, convenient and fairly close. If I had driven; I would not have been able to get much closer. If we’d had baggage, it would have been very easy to walk, ahead of us was all ramps, elevators and escalators.
The logistics on the other end are harder; if we are actually going somewhere with luggage; we either have to park our car somewhere and roll our bags over city streets, or we can drive down the hill and drop all but one person at the light rail station with our belongings while the driver takes the car back home and then walks down the hill. For us, this added about 20 minutes to the process. Of course, the best thing would be if someone could give you a ride down the hill; but that convenience isn’t always available.
Here’s other half of the equation: my kids called us at 10pm one night and wanted us to pick them up at the airport. We said “Take the light rail, we’ll pick you up at Henderson Station – call us when you’re close” – Now THAT was convenient. Instead of the nightmarish gauntlet of driving to the airport and then through the airport fiasco of detours and delays through swarms of bad drivers and parked vehicles in moving lanes, we just drove down the hill and watched them get off the bright little train, and we took them back home; total time; less than 10 minutes.
My observations on the train have all been positive. So many people are smiling, strangers are talking to each other; in fact, the day after a mass murderer was shot down in my neighborhood I was feeling a bit traumatized. I sat across from a teenaged boy of color. He looked up at me and shyly said “hello”. We smiled at each other as yet another person boarded the train and said “Is this the way to downtown? This is my first time on the train.”
People on the light rail seem happier. Maybe it’s a trend.
I have gotten to know Train Security too. One day I couldn’t refill my Orca card at the kiosks in the Westlake Station. I tried and tried and finally gave up, they wouldn’t take my money and they wouldn’t take my credit card. So I boarded the train without paying a fare. Sure enough, the Security guys came through our car and I told them I was the law breaker on the train. I still had my credit card, money, and Orca card in my hand. So we all got off at the next stop; the two security guards, my husband and I; and they helped me load more money onto the card. Of course that kiosk worked just fine! It was embarrassing but they were all so nice, I felt like I was making friends, not being in trouble really.
As I speed down the tracks above I-5 where cars were parked; I felt incredibly thankful that the city gave this gift of light rail to my
neighborhood first. As people discover its convenience, it will become busier and busier. And hopefully we’ll be able to leave many of our cars behind.
Photo/David Mullarkey Images
Who to know, where to eat & what to do in one of America’s most diverse zip codes!
{ 29 comments }
The 500+underware riders will ride the LightRail this Sunday. I hope that they are encouraged to stop in Columbia City, etc. and check out what the valley has to offer!
I tell people that Light Rail has turned me into a jaywalker. Waiting to cross the street is the worst, at times having to wait through two cycles before being given go ahead.
Bah!
I live off of MLK & Alaska, and there are times when the lines (on both sides) go on longer than the eye can see. Not so good. Not so good. We’ve started opting for Beacon Ave instead. (Who woulda thunk we’d be using Beacon!)
5 years ago, I bought a house two blocks away from a light rail station. A little over a year ago, I traded a 10 minute car commute for a new job downtown and put up with the 45-60 minute trip on the 45 bus (with 10-30 minute waits for the bus home if I chose to work late), with the hope of eventually being able touse the light rail. And I do. Every day. It now takes me 33 minutes from my front door to my desk (and vice versa) no matter when I leave.
My wife and I took the light rail downtown for dinner and a movie this summer — it felt like we were back on vacation in Paris.
Tomorrow, I’ll be heading the opposite direction for the first time to catch a plane to a conference. My wife won’t have to pack up our newborn to drop me off or pick me up. That is a huge benefit for our new family.
I live close enough to the tracks to hear the squeal of the wheels and the (more annoying) ding of the crosswalk bells, but the benefit of an extra hour every day with my family from the shorter commute, and the ease of getting to/from the airport more than balance this out. I can only hope that someone decides to put in another station closer to the Viet-Wah so that the rest of the community can get as much benefit out of the light rail as this young techie who still feels the need to drive to the U-district on weekends to shop at Whole Foods and Trader Joes (yes, I do catch the Columbia City farmer’s market as well).
Thanks for this article. Light Rail is a huge boost for the south end, but it comes with some costs. It makes me happy every time I board.
I hate to rock the PC boat, but one option not discussed for getting to/from airport with luggage is taxi-ing the first/last leg. An easy answer, though one not without financial cost (but I believe the environmental trade-off is still salubrious), for the conundrum posed by the writer. Seattle has three (Far West, the oldest and my favorite; Yellow; and Orange) very competitive taxi companies and my experience is if you want them at your house at whatever exact time, they will be there, and vice versa if you need them to meet you at a station (I am confident on this last point but will confirm next vist) .
As for the left-turn/crossing problem, I think the community got snookered when it insisted on at-grade crossing. The community should have demanded dedicated-funding for lighting, cleaning and securing street-underpasses for the major E/W arterials. Anyway, that is ancient history, and those street-underpasses aren’t going to happen, so bring a book, listen to poetry or opera, take in the openness of the Valley as you wait, and wait, and wait.
As for the absence of stations in the mid-Valley (Orcas and Graham), that was another snookering and this one foisted on us by our own – the Lakewood/Seward Park (LSP) dwellers who didn’t want their quick access to the freeway slowed down. I am a bit of a traitor to my former/future neighbors (I own a house in LSP and hope to retire there), but remember listening to them in the late 80s explain why either or both stations weren’t necessary. The reasons were bogus then and they are bogus now, but again, good luck with finding that funding now that the trains are up and running.
Finally, not that I want to encourage more vehicular use of Beacon Avenue (how it has increased!), especially since passing is now difficult/impossible, but as a Beacon Hill native, I feel compelled to defend the lovely boulevard that has been Beacon Avenue for the last 25 (or so, if I am recalling correctly) years since its landscaping. The dumbkopfs in the Parks/Transportation Depts who insist on blanketing Seattle with deciduous trees (yes, I have heard – and reject – the “security” justifications), despite this town being a paradise for conifers (it is still a temperate-conifer rainforest climate, despite not achieving Olympic Peninsula precipitation levels), even planted some real live conifers (fast-growing and lovely Deodora Cypresses for the most part) in the median! It is a joy to drive, though don’t spread the word…
Love the RVP – another way the greater Valley just keeps getting better and better.
I take the light rail to work downtown. I walk from my house, get on the train and before I know it am there. On my way home I often stop by and pick up meat at Bob’s, bread from the bakery or a book from the library. It is indeed a bit like living back in Europe again and I love it.
Rock, I live on Beacon Hill too, and often walk/cycle/drive it. Since the construction started on MLK way south to build the light rail, the traffic on Beacon increased to the point that it’s not fun to drive there any more either.
Your cab idea is a good one; thanks!
My husband and I just did a round trip on light-rail for a New Year’s weekend away. The trains are clean and on time and it’s very fast getting to the airport. I agree that even with bags it’s not that big a deal. We took a cab from our home on the way out and a friend picked us up on the way back. It was so nice not to pay $25/day to park our car for four days.
My only ‘complaint’ would be that we left so early on the way out, it put us at the CC station at 6:30 and we had an unsavory character asking us from across the street if we’d provide cigarettes. We were glad we said no as we were standing with laptops on our backs and wearing expensive jewelry. It’s well-lit, but no one else was around which made us pretty uncomfortable.
“I still had my credit card, money, and Orca card in my hand. So we all got off at the next stop; the two security guards, my husband and I; and they helped me load more money onto the card.”
So you had to get off early to pay at another location? does not sound very convenient.
“Seattle has three (Far West, the oldest and my favorite; Yellow; and Orange) very competitive taxi companies and my experience is if you want them at your house at whatever exact time, they will be there,
Orange cab will come but that last 3 times I called Yellow they did not come. they kept telling me that they were sending a cab but never did. After 3 1/2 hours I called Orange and they were there in 15-20 minutes.
Last post was me on someone elses computer, sorry.
Let’s talk Park & Ride – maybe RVP could do some research or perhaps another reader knows but here’s the issue.
I take my kids to daycare and in the past the Diamond Lot at the Mt. Baker station was $4 for up to 10 hours parking…..awesome right? It made the commute very handy for those days I had to take the kids. However 2-3 weeks ago Diamond (in their infinite wisdom) changed the lot to a 4-hour max (which still cost $4 btw) and no option for 8+ hour parking. I guess I don’t understand their reasoning or why this change was made, does anyone know? At $4/day they were offering a good price for what I would think would be a service in big demand at/near the LR stations. I hope in the New Year Diamond will reconsider or perhaps the city can wake up and offer some P&R of their own at little or no cost at other LR stations.
The intersection congestion could really be alleviated if the stoplights were effective. I’m one of those poor suckers you see waiting up to 5 minutes (seriously – 5 minutes!) to turn left heading east on Dakota. These long waits have allowed the usability expert in me to ponder what’s really going on here. Either this light is dumb (read: timer-based, having no sensors) or are completely miscalibrated. It could be 3 in the morning – without a car or train in sight- and I’ll still wait the same amount of time as I would at peak rush hour. The light will change for directions that have no cars or peds, even. What’s up?
Halebopp,
Have you tried calling Diamond? Might be worth a call. I’ve never seen the that lot near capacity (typically less than 6 or so cars) so they might be open to discussion.
As for government based Light Rail PNR Sound Transit has an RFP on the street to develop the Firestone Site. As part of this RFP they included a development plan that was put together in 2001 for the area around the station. It is the best plan I’ve seen – reasonable heights, nice setbacks, a large circle at the intersection of 23rd and MLK. This plan includes PNR at the site!
I don’t know why the city has spent all the money on the neighborhood plan revisions over the past year. The 2001 plan is excellent and should be implemented.
All the best,
Tom T
I take the Light Rail almost everyday for my commute from Hillman City to Westlake (then walk to Belltown). It is reliable, CLEAN, safe and it seems to come by all the time. I absolutely love it and recommend it all the time.
The only downside is that I have to drive my car and park about 3 blocks from the Othello Station to make the whole thing work (I’m about 1.5 miles away). A station or a “quick stop” at Graham St. would be awesome but I’m not holding my breath.
@angeldove/MarkB:
“….“I still had my credit card, money, and Orca card in my hand. So we all got off at the next stop; the two security guards, my husband and I; and they helped me load more money onto the card.”
So you had to get off early to pay at another location? does not sound very convenient…..”
As Mimi’s husband (who also had his ORCA card) I was there. It was not convenient. I believe Mimi’s point here, though, was how customer service oriented and helpful the security personnel were to us. Because she had failed to pay her fare, they could have issued a citation for that. Instead, they got off the train with us, helped my wife re-load her card at a machine that was functional and then we all got back on board and rode on. An extra 7 minutes. In the process, a casual frienship was forged. Sometimes in life, this is a lot more important than getting to the destination without interruption.
All sounds fantastic!
I am still in my driving to and from work since it would take me far longer if I took a bus or walked 2 miles to the nearest station, got off to take a bus down rainier or walked down to I-90 and caught yet another bus to get to Mercer Island. Now gosh forbid an accident should occur, or the tracks freeze…wait I forgot, they are going to spend more money on heaters for the tracks (my bad)
I hear from my friends and family, even in the grocery store about how something that was supposed to create a more eco friendly, efficient and convenient way to get around, is now a nightmare.
I’m glad there are so many positive posts, but are there any people out there who are not afraid to speak their minds about how miserable it has made their commute, maybe take a risk and not be PC???? After all, it’s the complacency that allowed the poor planning and execution to take place.
By the way, yes I did attend meetings, call and write in many time expressing my concerns.
So here’s what I heard back from Diamond Parking if anyone is interested, basically they are restricted on length of parking due to city zoning (ridiculous):
I understand your confusion as to why we removed the ten hour parking option. The reason is that there has been a city zoning change that does not allow long term (more then four hours) parking near the Light Rail.
Area Supervisor
Diamond Parking Services
According to Allison Schwartz, Transportation Planner with the Seattle Department of Transportation, there was “vigorous public debate” for many years about park-and-ride lots at Link stations; and in the late 1990s, the city decided not to build park-and-ride lots at the Seattle stations. As Schwartz explained [e-mail correspondence, 22 July 2009],
>>
The goal of this decision was to support station areas becoming vibrant places oriented towards pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users – not commuter vehicles driving to the stations. Regulations were put in place, through early station-area overlay zoning, that prohibit both the construction of stand alone parking lots and garages, and the designation of off-street parking spaces for long-terms use.
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“I believe Mimi’s point here, though, was how customer service oriented and helpful the security personnel were to us. Because she had failed to pay her fare, they could have issued a citation for that. ”
I understand, but if he would have tried to cite me for non payment because thier machines did not work I would make them pull up film from the cameras and show them I tried to pay right after I told him to stick it.
Since Metro, the City and ST reneged on circulator busses (Nickels had Metro shift funds from SE Seattle routes to pay operating costs of his SLUT), they restrict parking and provide no security the only reasonable conclusion one can make is that they don’t care if Light Rail works.
A problem for me, besides that I live too far from it to get to the light rail for a casual trip, is security. I have gotten off at Beacon as well as Columbia City at 10 PM, after a play downtown. No one’s around and I am absolutely on my own. Eerie. Bicycling teens, friendly-seeming bum guys looking for cigarettes–they are not fun to run into when there’s no one else around. And all they have to do is wait at the station, so far from the next one, to follow you. If the stations were closer , more of them, it would be less difficult to target the lone evening or night traveler. But the not-so-nice guys know exactly where and when people are getting off and how far those people have to go to get to their parking spot. That gives them the edge for the few blocks. If I were looking for a walking ATM, I would know exactly where to wait and when to be there.
If the city doesn’t allow parking, and there are no connecting buses, and there is no security, then they should have more stations.
When I go downtown at night, I still take the light rail, but I choose the Beacon station, where I could park within a block. It’s still scary to be alone or with one unknown man, in that elevator, but no where near as vulnerable as the Columbia City station. At least i can park within a block. I won’t pay $4 to park at the Mount Baker station (which seems safer) plus my fare, when I can pay $7 to park in a downtown garage for the evening. The altruism of “using public transportation” only goes so far.
More stations would alter the entire picture.
I live near CC station and it is great. Although it’s faster for me to drive to work than take public transportation (30 vs 60 minutes), the train has given me an option I didn’t have before; I use it a couple times a week. I feel so lucky that we happened to buy a house ten years ago that is now a ten-minute walk from light rail.
The pedestrian light cycles at Othello Station are crazy, and virtually everyone jaywalks there to avoid a 5-minute wait. From the Safeway side, you’ll wait 3 cycles of the cars having red, but can you cross to get to the station? Not officially. They really need to put in an intermediate cross-walk light mid-way like the intersections at Corson and Henderson.
Love the train otherwise
Dig this from over at Publicola (http://publicola.net/?p=22323#comments)
“The city has issued a cease-and-desist order against the Grocery Outlet at MLK Jr. Way S. and S. Rainier Ave. for illegally operating a park-and-ride for light rail users. According to the order, issued by the Department of Planning and Development in September, park-and-rides are illegal in areas near rail stations. The violation carries a fine of up to $500 per day.”
I believe this is the Diamond Lot. Gotta love our uber PC city that is intent on shoving their TOD manifesto down our throats! They are obviously against organic growth.
Thanks Tom T, just show how retarded the city is. Don’t get me started on the new liquor license granted to a dollar store in Hillman City. This was done on the down-low, no way in hell that place should have a liquor license to sell beer, wine etc..
Whoevers setting this policy or rules does not use LightRail. If more peoples can park near LightRail to use it – it may deter the crimes happening for LightRail riders to/from their commutes.
You can’t force a square peg into a round hole. Light Rail doesn’t work for the majority of SE Seattle in its current configuration.
Park & Rides (free or low cost) are a must! This has been proven by the fact Diamond Parking was successful in their business venture.
SSSL
And if all these reasons to give LR a whirl were not enough…
TODAY IS NO PANTS DAY ON LIGHT RAIL! Yes, you read that right.
Drop ‘em.
http://seattletransitblog.com/2010/01/05/ride-link-without-pants-this-sunday/
This is one reason I’d either take the 25 minute busride to a station or take the 25 minute walk and brave the rain – just to see a lot of people getting loose and havin some fun in the valley………probably the best party we’ve had down here in years.
SSSL
I’m looking forward to seeing all the usual posters on the 5 PM news.
That is, unless Mark B is wearing a banana hammock.
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