The 70 on Rails
I thought I was done complaining about the streetcar but I’m not. So, here goes.
According to Citizen Rain [c-r], workers at the Hutch and other businesses on South Lake Union have given the streetcar another nickname. They’re calling it the “70 on Rails.” If you know anything about Metro route 70 you know that it’s infamous for its unreliability.
Further, in the linked KOMO article there’s a stunning quote from streetcar Project Manager Ethan Melone. When asked about complaints by drivers that the streetcar is turning the Mercer Mess even uglier, he said, “Well, that is exactly one of the reasons to provide another option. The mess is (because) everybody (is) in their cars.”
This is the part where I bang my head on my desk repeatedly. Thank you, Ethan. You’re exactly right. If more people would use the South Lake Union Streetcar to commute to work then there wouldn’t be a problem stopping traffic entirely — both the cars exiting I-5 and the cars on Mercer — so the streetcar can amble, slowly, toward its destination.
Actually, Ethan handled the question the best he could. Was he going to be honest and risk his future as a Nickels lackey? Of course not. The honest answer would’ve been, “Yeah, we know it’s bad right now. We know it’s causing even more problems for commuters trying to both exit and enter I-5 on Mercer. We know that it’s always been a problem there and, frankly, I’m not sure why we decided to insert a slow moving rain canopy into the mess. It was a mystery to me when they proposed it but I do what Paul Allen tells Mayor Nickels to do. I’m sure you understand.”
The real problem with Ethan’s response is that in two sentences he demonizes drivers and pits them against this pale imitation of a rail line. This is a bad sign. If the people responsible for this project are not going to honestly address criticisms of it, I have an even worse feeling about the future of a meaningful rail system in Seattle.
Finally, a message for the steetcar apologists who are cropping up: Have you even been on the damned thing? Do you have to drive or bike near it? If not, you might take into account that even those who work on South Lake Union — who the train was ostensibly built for — think it’s a waste.
Not sure who you have all talked to who believe it is a waste but businesses that I talked though on Monday are loving the extra business the Streetcar has been bringing in.
And of course for those that believe the Streetcars are still running empty, check out my photos…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brian_macster/sets/72157603541994893/
I’ll have some photos of Central Link up in a bit as well….
Regarding the heavy ridership, it’s probably worth noting that it’s still free to ride through the end of the year. It will be interesting to track ridership next month when it costs money.
“When asked about complaints by drivers that the streetcar is turning the Mercer Mess even uglier, he said, “Well, that is exactly one of the reasons to provide another option. The mess is (because) everybody (is) in their cars.”"
So….
You mean the entirety of the Mercer Mess is due to cars whose occupants live at one end of the SLUT and work at the *other* end of the SLUT (or somewhere between the two ends).
Yeah.
Sure.
The SLUT isn’t going to do jack about the Mercer Mess, even if it has full ridership. Ethan can’t really believe otherwise, can he? Is he really that dense? Or am I the one who is that dense?