Seattle Monorail Blog

Friday Brownbag on Tolling

2006-04-04T15:57:00.000-07:00

Grab your lunch and join Transportation Choices Coalition Friday, April 7, for our monthly Friday Forum. This month, we will discuss HOT lanes, congestion pricing, variable pricing, and any other synonym for tolling you can think of. What is the future of tolling in the Puget Sound region? Is it a sure thing? If so, where? How will people in the region react to tolls? We'll hear from a panel of participants including Bruce Agnew, Director of the Cascadia Center for Transportation and Regional Development and Transportation Choices staff.

What: April Friday Forum, Tolling in the Puget Sound Region, guest Bruce Agnew

When: Friday, April 7, 12:00 – 1:30

Where: Wells Fargo Building, 999 3rd Avenue, between Marion and Madison, 6th Floor, King County Dept. of Health in the Orca Conference Room.

Hope to see you there!

SMP car-tab tax decision tonight

2006-03-23T06:35:00.000-08:00

The SMP board is deciding tonight whether to keep collecting MVET at the current rate, but only until fall of this year, or to prolong the tax until May 31, 2007, but at a lower rate. Updates as they become available.

Karma hits Mayor Gridlock

2006-03-02T13:46:00.001-08:00

Remember when Mayor Gridlock gave SMP an impossible deadline for a new finance plan? Washington State Legislature just gave Nickels's terrible tunnel until April 1 to raise the additional $1+ billion they need to get the project out of the red. Gridlock probably wishes it's just an April Fools joke.

Check out peopleswaterfront.org for a more affordable and earth-friendly solution.

Legislature to change where the MVET goes

2006-02-22T09:34:00.001-08:00

This Times article is so dense with info about the future of the MVET, it's hard to pull a good quote from it.

Some of the tax may end up paying for other transit projects. That could be a result of a bill passed in the state House Tuesday, which calls for greater consolidation of transportation planning and financing in the Central Puget Sound region. The measure, House Bill 2871, also would shift part of the monorail tax to new non-monorail Seattle transit projects if the measure passes and city voters approve the change.

Go read the whole thing.

Two viaduct events

2006-02-16T09:47:00.000-08:00

From the Mayor's Office:

What: Viaduct Open House. Discussion on the Mayor's tunnel option.
When: Thursday, March 2, 2006
Time: 5:00 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Where: Seattle Aquarium, Pier 59, 1483 Alaskan Way

What: Tour of the Viaduct
When: Saturday, March 18, 2006
If interested in attending please RSVP at: viaduct@wsdot.wa.gov.
Confirmation and event details will be forwarded.

Numbers for the land sale

2006-02-07T08:55:00.000-08:00

From the Puget Sound Business Journal. SMP started $100M in debt.

So far, SMP has been able to repay about $21 million in debt from cash on hand -- including $10 million initially set aside to purchase the "sinking ship" parking lot in Seattle's Pioneer Square, said Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel Jonathan Buchter. That leaves some $89 million still owing.

A significant portion of that debt was incurred in purchasing the 34 properties condemned by SMP along its proposed 14-mile route. SMP spent a total of $62 million acquiring its property portfolio and an additional $10 million on related expenses such as the cost of relocating tenants and property owners.

The bids will be finalized on March 17 (St. Patrick's Day), so we'll see if they can turn a $72M investment into an $89M land sale. If not, us taxpayers are paying the difference.

Free "Mayor Gridlock" t-shirt

2006-01-23T17:10:00.000-08:00

I have a Size L Mayor Gridlock t-shirt for any activist who wants it. Comment or email me with a sensible plan to relieve Seattle's gridlock without breaking the bank; the best one gets the shirt.

Seattle Monorail Land Grab

2006-01-18T14:19:00.000-08:00

Now's your chace to buy that Karate dojo you've always dreamed about! SMP is auctioning $61 million in "unneeded land", and quick. According to the PI, applications are due on March 17, so SMP can figure out if it'll raise enough money to disconinue collecting MVET.

Check out monorailproperty.com for a map of all properties on the auction block.

Monorail: The Movie

2006-01-10T21:40:00.000-08:00

A guy named Shannon Monroe is making a Seattle Monorail Movie!

We are just beginning the enormous task of documenting Seattle's 43 year love/hate affair with Monorail technology.

If you were a part of the grassroots movement to promote monorail, part of the established opposition, a member of the city government, a monorail enthusiast, a bus or light rail proponent, or just a concerned citizen, we'd like to hear from you.

Please email us at: monorailmovie@gmail.com

Monorail damage more than just dents

2006-01-07T07:20:00.000-08:00

Says Seattle Monorail Services

The cost of fixing the damaged Seattle Center Monorail trains has raised a question about whether to continue operating them as one of the city's icons...

SMS partner Stuart Rolfe wouldn't go into detail but said the damage was "significant," greater than just dents in the trains' skin...

Rolfe said his company expects to recommend that the trains be repaired and restarted. They're owned by the city and carry more than 2 million passengers annually between the Seattle Center and Westlake Center downtown. The Monorail is an integral part of the Seattle Center, which is in financial difficulty and not supporting itself.

More on SMP's land

2005-12-15T21:38:00.000-08:00

The Seattle Weekly explains how it's a bit more complicated than just selling the land back to the previous owners and calling it a wash.

Land won't automatically revert to earlier owners. "People ask why we can't give them back" if the sellers give back the money, says outgoing SMP board member Cleve Stockmeyer. "Our hands are tied. Under state law, they [ex-owners] have no interest in it," and SMP is obligated to sell the property for the best price.

However, former owners and the general public can submit bids on the properties, which are being eyed by commercial developers and public agencies, as well.

Economic impact of broken monorail felt

2005-12-05T17:04:00.000-08:00

If Seattle's little toy monorail has such a positive economic impact in Westlake mall, imagine what the real monorail could have done for businesses around the city.

Apparently monorail secrecy is nothing new

2005-12-02T07:12:00.000-08:00

Wonder if the track would have been accepted by the city if they knew it was a disaster waiting to happen?

Developers didn't want a station taking up space [in Westlake Mall] that could be leased to retail tenants, forcing limited options, said Phil Frederick, the project manager in charge at the time. Another limitation: No one wanted a big platform station that would block the sunlight from the Fifth Avenue sidewalk below, even though it would've allow both trains to load and unload at the same time.

The station they created seemed to solve both problems, even though one major component was a narrow curve in the new track leading into it. It also put the onus on human operators to make sure they didn't hit that pinch-point simultaneously. On Saturday, that happened. City officials from the late 1980s said the potential problem with the pinch-point was never pointed out to them as an issue.

Broken Monorail Updates

2005-11-30T21:21:00.000-08:00

A shuttle, costing 25 cents, will replace the Grey Line. It's got extened hours on New Years Eve, so you can stumbe home safely.

And

Human error caused the Seattle monorail accident. The inbound [i.e. southbound] driver failed to yield to the other train at the point where the tracks are too close together for passing, officials said Wednesday...

Seattle Police reported Wednesday that drug tests on both drivers by an independent lab showed "illegal substances were not a factor in the accident..."

Investigators found the accident was not caused by failure of the signal system or the trains themselves. The internal review exonerated the northbound driver.

Poor southbound chap.

Mayor Gridlock t-shirts

2005-11-29T10:48:00.000-08:00

Due to overwhelming demand, the Stranger made a t-shirt out of their Mayor Gridlock cover art. Get yours while they last.

Seattle: now with even less monorail!

2005-11-27T22:16:00.000-08:00

A sideswipe accident between the two trains on Seattle's monorail Saturday night will likely put the system out of service until next year.

The crash at about 7:10 p.m. sent glass flying to the street. It took nearly an hour to evacuate the 84 passengers on board the two trains. Firefighters escorted them individually down fire-truck ladders extended to the trains about 25 feet above the sidewalk.

There were no serious injuries, but two people were taken to the hospital to be checked out, said Helen Fitzpatrick, spokeswoman for Seattle Fire Department.

The two trains scraped against each another, ripping a door off in the process, on the elevated tracks near Fifth Avenue and Olive Way.

Apparently this was literally an accident waiting to happen for almost 20 years

In that area, the tracks start to converge as they approach the station at Westlake Center, leaving insufficient space for two trains at once...

The original system was built for full service from Seattle Center to a large station just north of Pine Street. But the route was shortened slightly in the late 1980s to end on the upper level of the Westlake Center mall, which was just opening. That redesign led to the tracks converging.

The outer track is close enough to allow automatic ramps to extend from the mall onto the outer train, but it's too close for a pair of trains to be there at the same time.

I didn't know the Green Line wasn't Seattle's first disaterous and shortened monorail line.

update: Seattleite Bob Cottrell took a few cameraphone pictures of the crash

SMP Catfight

2005-11-22T08:54:00.000-08:00

Just when you thought the drama was over.

The actual resolution to terminate the project remains unsigned...On the night the board passed the resolution, there were only four board members present.

[Cindi] Laws [SMP Secretary] says you need at least half the board for a quorum and she says because the board currently has nine members, it takes at least five to make any meeting official.

But the Monorail's legal counsel says in his opinion it only takes four.

"There are eight board members," said Ross MacFarlane, Monorail general counsel.

MacFarlane says the ninth board member has no voting rights, so she doesn't count... Cindi Laws says another problem is that the Monorail board passed the resolution without allowing public comment.

The Monorail staff attorney says the public already spoke at the ballot box.

Snap!

More on The Stranger

2005-11-18T12:20:00.000-08:00

I forgot to mention that the Obit is part of a bigger front-page spread of articles about the monorail and Mayor Gridlock.

Stranger's Poignant Monorail Obit

2005-11-16T21:04:00.000-08:00

Yet Another Monorail Obituary, this one from the Stranger. The following paragraph really sums up the monorail's demise

The monorail didn't die because of an error made by a misguided financial analyst; it died because the same grassroots spirit that sustained the monorail idea through multiple elections produced an agency that was secretive, defensive, and unwilling to reach out to other governments for help. Compounding the monorail's problem, those governments didn't trust a transportation agency that came from ordinary citizens, not the political establishment. When the monorail ran into trouble, the city, the state, and Sound Transit had no political or financial incentive to bail it out.

State Supreme Court Upholds Monorail Tax

2005-11-10T22:07:00.000-08:00

Personally, I'd rather be paying a Monorail Tax that goes towards, say, a monorail, but whatever floats your boat, 65% of Seattle!

A vehicle tax needed to retire the debt of Seattle's defunct monorail project is legal, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The monorail's vehicle excise tax - and the governing board that administers the project - were created by a citywide vote in 2002. But critics argued that it was unconstitutional on several fronts.

In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court rejected those arguments. The ruling means the monorail tax can be collected to pare the agency's massive debt, which must be paid even though Seattle voters killed the monorail project in Tuesday's election.

Cute Monorail Obituary

2005-11-10T07:20:00.000-08:00

From Pike Place Politics

Born November 4th, 1997

Died November 8th, 2005

Born to proud parents Dick Faulkenbury and Grant Cogswell, the Monorail was a good idea at the right time. The Monorail would have stretched 14 miles through many Seattle neighborhoods, acting as a major transportation asset for at least a hundred years. Many Seattle residents (such as this one) who do not own cars will miss the Monorail. People will always remember the many votes, four to be exact, where voters approved it, but somehow it managed to not be built.

SMP to sell property

2005-11-09T23:29:00.000-08:00

Wanna buy a bridge?

Seattle Monorail Project should quickly sell off its unused station properties and close shop by New Year's Eve, interim Director John Haley said this morning.

"Transit's been killed. It's an execution. But I respect the will of the voters, and they were crystal clear they want this project killed," he said...

The agency will soon shrink itself into a land-liquidation enterprise.

Monorail Project Chairwoman Kristina Hill mentioned a possible auction, while Haley dismissed a suggestion by board member Cleve Stockmeyer to hang onto some $62 million worth of land in case the city proposes a post-SMP transit system for the city's western flank. Land will be discussed at a board meeting tonight.

Here's a press release detailing SMP's shutdown protocol, as agreed upon at tonight's meeting. The full plan is due to be released tomorrow.

Voters reject shortened monorail line

2005-11-09T07:04:00.000-08:00

From this morning's PI

After five citywide votes and countless hours of debates in taverns, public meetings and City Hall, Seattle residents finally called a halt to the embattled monorail project.

Election returns showed a ballot measure authorizing construction of a shortened line was being soundly rejected by voters Tuesday.

I'll continue posting updates about transit-related news.

See more election results here

Vote!!

2005-11-07T08:39:00.000-08:00

No matter what your personal views on the monorail, don't forget to vote tomorrow! On the eve of election day, the PI has a great overview of Seattle's monorail history, starting with the 1962 World's Fair, and taking us right up to tomorrow's crucial vote on Proposition 1.

The article ends with an interesting comment by John Haley, SMP's executive director, and a mass-transit veteran who worked on projects in Boston, New York and the San Francisco Bay Area before that.

Haley said he's never been involved with a project [that] didn't draw opposition, but has never seen critics at such an early stage so focused on things like total financing costs, ridership projections and the amount of space on the trains.

"There's a certain level of risk aversion that exists here that I've never encountered before," he said. "Other cities would say, 'Getting this infrastructure done is worth it to us, so let's get it done.'"

Does that make Seattleites anal, or people who pay attention to detail?

New Finance Plan: Costs cut by 64%

2005-10-26T06:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, SMP released a finance plan that brings the $11 billion price tag down to $3.9 billion.

The plan to build a 10-mile elevated line includes four scenarios that call for financing $1.3 billion to $1.4 billion of the project's $1.7 billion cost, which would be paid back in 31 to 38 years, depending on how much motor vehicle license tax [MVET] revenue the monorail authority brings in.

The growth rate of MVET revenue will make or break this plan. I was at the SMP meeting on Monday where this budget was voted on, and experts on both sides of the debate spoke about their projections for MVET growth.

While there was definitely no consensus on what to expect from MVET, the general feeling from the meeting is that SMP's 6.1% is highballing slightly (by assuming the value of new car purchases will grow, even after controlling for inflation), but the 4.5% rate put out by ECONorthwest is seriously flawed because their model is unrealistic. For instance, it makes an assumption that nobody over 64 drives a car. While that might be nice, it doesn't match the reality we live in.