Seattle’s New Rail Line is Open! All About the East Link Starter Line

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Last weekend, Seattle opened its biggest transit project in a decade. Come with us as we explore the 2 Line - East Link!
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[@patrick_-ys8br]

Part of the reason for the station placement in Bellevue is that the mall’s owner (and a lot of other property in Bellevue) was strongly against the project and sued multiple times to stop it. Sound Transit pretty much decided to not deal with him, and so they ended up with the alignment they have now, with the station east of downtown.

[@yazanmowed]

Why would a mall owner of all things not want transit connecting his business with all those tech employees??!!?!?!

[@jetfan925]

NIMBYs and big oil lovers always avoid public transit projects to meet their expectations.

[@fenneyah]

Because a lot of people in that demo, the ones who became rich during the automotive era, truly believe that transit brings poverty.

[@docjanos]

@@yazanmowedHis name is Kemper Freeman. He is all about cars, freeways, and parking and doesn't want transit rif-raf. That mentality suffeses the elite in Bellevue

[@LouisChang-le7xo]

have you forgotten the karens of mercer island?

[@seanmcmurphy4744]

Seattle resident here. Something to remember when considering the large cost of such a system is that it is a super long-term investment (in both money and environment). The land, roadbeds, tunnels and stations that constitute the bulk of the capital costs of this system will be in use far longer than our lifetimes, possibly for centuries. Think how much cheaper it is to build it today than to build it a few decades from now, which we surely would have had to. This project is not only an investment in lower commuting costs, but in restructuring our region for less asphalt, educating our citizens on the value of mass transit and building public works for the common good instead of ruthless profit, and finally weaning our civilization off automobiles to save our planet. Considering all the factors, it is an enormously good deal.

[@fanjin]

Let's wish everyone a rich and healthy life that can afford this long-term thinking.

[@seanmcmurphy4744]

@@fanjin I mentioned it because for most voters all they consider is the bottom line and what that will mean for their taxes.

[@zeruty]

​@@seanmcmurphy4744your points wouldn't be very reassuring for the people who have been paying taxes for this for decades and are getting priced out of the region. I suspect I'll need to move out of the region before using SoundTransit even becomes feasible to me

[@inotterwords6115]

My friends are big transit nerds. They both attended the opening of the new Seattle line, and one of them used it as the perfect opportunity to propose to the other. Transit; it brings people together.

[@RMTransit]

Thats amazing!

[@sleeplessstu]

The reason there is no downtown Bellevue Station is largely thanks to Kemper Freeman who fought tooth and nail to make sure the light rail line didn’t intersect his Bellevue Square and Lincoln Town Center properties. I’m not sure if he was trying to prevent transit “riff raff” from entering his car oriented developments or if he’s just against public transit in general. Since there is no central Bellevue Station, I’m imagining that the Spring District will be the beneficiary of new transit oriented development. Love the new line ! Can’t wait until they finally get it connected to Mercer Island so I can go most places without a car. (And believe me it WON’T be Bellevue Square 😂)

[@1978dkelly]

“... I’m not sure if he was trying to prevent transit “riff raff” from entering his car oriented developments or if he’s just against public transit in general.” Probably a bit of column “A” and a bit of column “B”. Take a look at his Wikipedia article. It’s unbelievable that one determined individual (with an axe to grind, and unlimited time and money to launch lawsuits) can hold up things the way that Freeman did. I don’t think that really happens outside of the US.

[@RainShadow-yi3xr]

@@1978dkelly that's "freedom" for ya

[@kailahmann1823]

The riff raff working for Google, Facebook, Microsoft and T-Mobile? ;)

[@shuttlecrossing1433]

@@1978dkelly It definitely happens elsewhere, but in those instances the individual usually receives large bribes.

[@BroadwayJoe99]

@@RainShadow-yi3xr More like "freedumb".

[@JohnReiher]

The reason there's no station in Downtown Bellevue is two words: Kemper Freeman. He and his son, also named Kemper Freeman, oppose all forms of transit in "their town". He owns a large portion of Bellevue, and will do anything to keep light rail out of "his town."

[@Norfirio]

And they got a bunch of their land when the Japanese in the area were forced into internment camps. Just bad people through and through.

[@RMTransit]

Really sad to hear, but I think it's him shooting himself in the foot

[@Bleach1443]

@@RMTransit I agree with this and found it to be a really short sited or blind decision. While I’m sure LOTS of people will still be willing to walk from the current station had he let it get much closer I think it would have greatly encouraged more people to go there to shop. Like one of the things I like about the U district station and Capital Hill station are that it puts you right at the center of stuff. He could have also just pushed hard for that segment to be a tunnel station and route like the current one sort of is and it wouldn’t have bothered anything.

[@crowmob-yo6ry]

Freeman sounds like the evil John Phillips of 790 KABC.

[@kibaanazuka332]

​@crowmob-yo6ry His father, Kemper Freeman Sr. basically stole a bunch of farmland back in the 40s from Japanese Strawberry farmers during the forced internment of Japanese Americans during WW2 to build his vision of Bellevue Square and Downtown Bellevue. His grandfather, Miller Freeman, was active in local state politics and was also the founder of the Anti-Japanese League who advocated for Internment of Japanese Americans. And Kemper Freeman Jr himself. has never openly acknowledged or apologized for his family's dark past. But I doubt he would because that would mean his fortune was built on pile of lies and stolen land that is not his.

[@obhwg]

Pretty amazing seeing it go from wanting monorails as its primary transit mode to how it is now.

[@LouisChang-le7xo]

its slightly better

[@XenithForPm]

Still metro>>>

[@RMTransit]

Don't forget turning down funding for a proper heavy metro!

[@BeeBee-pl9ly]

@@RMTransit that's sad they didn't try for heavy rail, which is ideal for a growing city for the future.

[@richardthrust1126]

@@RMTransit I think that part of the reason Vancouver went for a heavier system than Seattle was building the first line in the 1980's and thus had more time over which to amortize costs. Seattle is prioritizing quick expansion over capacity because the system in Seattle only started construction in 2003. FWIW I agree with you, though.

[@themanyouwanttobe]

Considering Seattle is the only city I can reasonably get to by rail from Vancouver, I do feel a special connection with Seattle and I cheer for their transit wins.

[@duncanadelaide4054]

As a Seattle-ite who really enjoys visiting Vancouver, I feel like our two cities are like siblings, one of whom was adopted by a nice wealthy well-educated Canadian family, and the other of whom was placed into foster care with a series of totally inadequate American guardians and has still managed to achieve middlingly good things while consistently being outshone by her Canadian sister.

[@seaJ2]

@@duncanadelaide4054 Hmm..I would say that Seattle's parents sent her to a top notch school where she became really smart and started many multinational companies and also learned to play guitar. Vancouver's parents sent her to modeling school.

[@chrisorr8601]

I’m glad you mentioned how nice their website is! When I’m bored in class I’m always scrolling on it, it has a cool section on all the TOD projects that ST is working on and they just do a good job of explaining what is happening with the system. I’m also glad they took the decision to open half the line first rather than delaying the whole thing

[@RMTransit]

Yeah its really nice, and I also agree about opening a portion, its rational!

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

Besides all the tech companies, it's also worth mentioning that Wilburton station serves the Overlake Medical Center campus. It's a great thing for hospitals to be served by light-rail or rapid transit because not only would healthcare workers be able to take it to work, but it increases healthcare access for a lot of people, it benefits patients by getting them to appointments, and also helps to hold down the healthcare costs by not having patients delay care until they are much sicker! A key reason Duke University stated for not wanting a light-rail system in Durham, NC was that an elevated rail line would "impact" the operations of Duke University Hospital due to vibrations, which is a completely wild thing to say when the Pink Line in Chicago goes through the Rush University Medical Center, and that doesn't impact operations! In NYC, Montefiore Medical Center's main campus in the Bronx is by Moshulu Parkway on the IRT Jerome Avenue Line, and that line doesn't impact the medical center's operations either! The reason Bellevue Downtown station, which serves the Bellevue Transit Center bus station, isn't deeper into downtown is because of Kemper Freeman, who built Bellevue Square mall, Bellevue Place, and Lincoln Square downtown. In the 1990s when the then Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority created a 69-mile light-rail system plan (it included a Bellevue/Overlake line) that was submitted to voters in 1995, it was rejected thanks to a campaign by Freeman. When the plan was changed to just between Seattle and SeaTac with express buses to Bellevue, then it was approved in 1996. However in 2002, the Freeman-backed Sane Transit group sued Sound Transit after the 1 Line was reduced, saying that the reduction required the agency to put the issue to another public vote. In 2008, Freeman campaigned against the plan to extend to downtown Bellevue and backed city council candidates in an effort to route it alongside I-405 away from population centers (thankfully it chose the current alignment instead). Freeman then sued Sound Transit in 2009, arguing that the use of the I-90 HOV lanes for light rail was illegal, but his suit was ultimately rejected. And in 2016, he spent 210K to oppose the Sound Transit 3 measure, which thankfully passed with over 54 percent. So yeah, he has a history of opposing transit and being very hateful overall

[@TheReactorLore]

Much better than the LRT system Toronto is getting. Toronto needs to follow Seattle's example for transit example instead of building the glorified streetcars Metrolinx and Ford are building. This means grade-separating the LRT east of Laird Drive and routing the Eglinton East LRT through the Gatineau hydro corridor and the Lakeshore East line. The vehicles and platform also be inspired by the LA metro's gold line.

[@LouisChang-le7xo]

high floor like LA, not seattle

[@rebeccawinter472]

Most of Seattle’s system runs at grade. While I largely appreciate what you’re saying and agree, that ship has sailed. Maybe we can effect change with the western extension, which, ridiculously, is supposed to be tunneled through the suburbs. 🤦🏻‍♀️ There is a huge right of way alongside Eglinton to run something grade separated either in a trench or elevated. Also, a nice extension (and rebrand) of the downtown light rail system - particularly on the Lakeshore east (from Bay)) and west (from Exhibition) If we had only build the downtown Queen street tunnel years ago we could have all the trains running into there. Alas, now we have the Ontario Line.

[@Gfynbcyiokbg8710]

@@rebeccawinter472 Only 6% of Link LR runs at grade

[@jiecut]

Well, Toronto is building the Ontario Line and also Go Expansion.

[@edy21865]

@@Gfynbcyiokbg8710 Only 3% of Vancouver's Skytrain system runs at grade, and even when it does, it is still seperated in its own guideway. There are a grand total of zero, I repeat ZERO, grade crossings on the entire Skytrain network. Trains are completely isolated on their own tracks and guideway. Not to mention it has a much higher average speed than Link Light Rail (despite both systems being light rail) at 47 km/h. Maybe Seattle should've used Vancouver's transit model instead.

[@NoahMDub]

I used to live in the Seattle area, but had to move away due to rising housing costs and other work opportunities, but hopefully I’ll return sometime soon and see the Eastlink line for myself!

[@cheef825]

to break it down for anyone unfamiliar: many of the issues with the current link network aren't due to poor planning. the low floor trains are because link originally shared the downtown tunnel with buses (locals still call it the bus tunnel). these buses were massively popular with riders around the region, and so it was politically impossible to close this tunnel to buses when the trains only served the RV and the airport. this was also at a time before ST2, so eastside, snohomish, and north king residents weren't even sure they'd be getting a train at that time. as such, the rest of the network had to be low floor because of the central tunnel. as for the RV, it was the most heavily redlined part of seattle back in the day. when Sound Move plans came out, community leaders there were upset that they were supposed to get an elevated line, while the wealthy white parts of seattle were planned to get tunnels (the stigma against elevated trains was far worse 20 years ago than it is now, obviously ST could have taken them on a trip to vancouver to see how inobtrusive they really are, but we don't live in the past). they wanted a tunnel underneath MLK which was obviously a waste of resources and financially untenable, so at grade was actually seen as a compromise at the time because there wouldn't be any "ugly pillars." the issues that arose from these decisions are obvious, but it's also important to understand why they happened in order to be able to promote realistic solutions. I also have huge issues with ST3, but that's a story for another comment lol

[@cv-05]

politics ruin everything :(

[@RMTransit]

Idk, I think what you've highlighted *are* planning issues! The reuse of the tunnel / the mixed operation of buses and trains were a decision made, as was the one that elevated was not acceptable. I just think these are poor planning decisions, but its water under the bridge now.

[@LouisChang-le7xo]

@@RMTransit apparently brisbane has its underground busways built for rail conversion. hope they dont make the same mistake we did

[@cheef825]

@@RMTransit fair points, but I suppose what I was getting at was that these decisions weren't made out of incompetence at ST, rather political and nimby meddling (a pattern we're seeing being repeated with the moronic CID N/S you already made a video about). now where you can fault the planners is on laying track in the bus tunnel when it was built, then having to tear those out since link didn't use the same gauge anyways lol

[@cheef825]

@@LouisChang-le7xo one can hope, but it's a fairly common problem (see premetro systems in europe that aren't able to be upgraded). i will also say that at least our rolling stock and trackage doesn't have the same reliability issues as ottawa

[@ibiuld443]

im moving to seattle for work next month. thanks for the hype!

[@cheef825]

link aint bad but hopefully you have an ebike, the most exciting changes happening in our area are definitely around bike infrastructure which is improving at an insane pace

[@RMTransit]

Enjoy!

[@ibiuld443]

@@cheef825 i do, visiting right now and the bike lanes here are much more extensive than what i'm used to back home so i'm excited!

[@TechJolt3d]

Damn Seattle is impressing me. Wish the nyc would be a bit more ambitious with rail extensions (especially in the outer boroughs). Instead they are trying to kill the QueensLink project, which uses already existing right of way, while the Trust for Public Land is trying to convert it into a park to block trains from running on it again :(

[@thezenarcher]

NYC is literally building a new passenger rail line in the outer boroughs - IBX. Also continuing the 2nd Ave subway and adding three new rail stations in the Bronx for Metro North

[@TechJolt3d]

@@thezenarcher Mainly meant subway because I'm a subway rider, but I think East side access is good. IBX uses already existing rail right of way, but it's also good. Wouldn't call it the most ambitious, but ultimately great extension. It's too early to see if it will delay to hell like SAS. SAS is delayed to hell. Seattle is opening lines while SAS is over budget and taking forever. I know it's a fully underground line with more complications to build it, but cmon we are New York man

[@rebeccawinter472]

@@thezenarcherthink you and the OP are talking about the same project the IBX has been rebranded as “QueensLink” - as it really will only link Queens to Brooklyn, and not to all the way to the Bronx (at least initially). I don’t know specifically what the OP is referring to, but I’m not surprised, after the cost overruns of the 2nd Ave subway (which while massive are kinda understandable in NY) it is running up against headwinds itself.

[@jl3782]

@@rebeccawinter472 IBX and QueensLink are separate projects. QueensLink is an idea to resurrect an abandoned rail line in south-eastern Queens to extend and create new subway connections, and it's still a fairly nascent project (no budgeting or approval yet). IBX is using lines that are currently used by freight-only, and is more advanced in its planning.

[@Jon.Morimoto]

Isn't it the purpose of the Trust for Public Land to create more parks freely accessible to the public? This sounds like criticizing Pro-Choice America for promoting reproductive freedom.

[@Frahamen]

A regular IC or even better high speed train from Vancouver to Seattle is kind of a no brainer to me. Both cities are quite close for North American standards and both cities already have a decent regional/local train network, making international carfree trips a lot more convenient. Of course for memesake you should extend it to Vancouver WA, so you have a Vancouver-Vancouver HSR

[@austinh.]

Forget abt the cascades hsr, where’s our Vancouver-Vancouver hsr! (I like how you casually just said it)

[@walawala-fo7ds]

But why? Due to the border crossing and long distance, basically it would be a tourist line and not something the region needs for the massive cost better spent on commuter rail that is far more impactful than a train to Canada...

[@Newspeak.]

As a Portlander this sounds like a terrible idea.

[@Gfynbcyiokbg8710]

@@walawala-fo7ds There are 573 flights every week between the two so there definitely is a demand for the line, plus whilst that is being built you can improve both city's regional rail.

[@cheef825]

honsetly the ridership doesn't reall pencil out for hsr, at least not now. that said there should be half hourly all day service between vancouver and portland

[@MelissaAndAlex]

We went to the grand opening. While it’s a bummer it isn’t fully connected to Seattle yet, we look forward to when it does. Lynnwood opens August 30.

[@french1956]

Be patient. Spring 2025.

[@kade8447]

@@french1956 current service start date is august 30th! We will have to see if that holds true

[@MTobias]

I love Seattle for being essentially the US' only shining light for ambitious, high ridership transit expansions but damn am I mad every time I see those low-floor vehicles. The at grade sections could potentially be fixed in due time but the low floor architecture will make sure it will never be a true metro system. Arrgh, the wasted potential...

[@nukiradio]

The low floors are for disabled people and their wheelchairs....

[@scheckenhere7417]

Nothing wrong with that.

[@thezenarcher]

I mean, lots of cities are expanding transit - NYC, Boston, LA, DC, Honolulu...

[@ronnyrueda5926]

I know there are some legitimate concerns about some of LA's planned expansions but there are 3 really good projects they have in the works. The D line extension, Sepulveda Corridor (provided Monorail isn't selected) and K line North (if they can get funding to expedite construction). The combined projected ridership of all 3 of those projects is close to 400k

[@fakedeath13]

I was in Seattle last month and rode Link 1 a bunch and honestly didn't even realize Link 2 wasn't open yet because there was an option for 2nd line tickets on their app already lol

[@DenisCharles]

Just a note of thanks, for the informative, clear and concise video!

[@aquaticko]

Seeing Seattle be so ambitious really drives home how badly Portland is letting its MAX system slide. Still low frequencies, no one's even talking about a city center tunnel to expedite travel across the region, absolutely minimal TOD anywhere....If our transit's decline here is a symptom of our problems, it'd be nice to see Metro try to use it as a potential source of improvement.

[@hobog]

The overhaul to the Gateway East station's red line service is awesome tho

[@WilliamTheTubTaft]

There's a whole plan for a central city tunnel because the steel bridge is a bottleneck.

[@alexhaowenwong6122]

Really surprised Portland has virtually zero TOD outside the streetcar loop. San Diego OTOH is building two $4B TODs in the same neighborhood, on the Green Line, 3.5-5 miles outside Downtown.

[@aquaticko]

@@WilliamTheTubTaft Most recent news I can find about it is from 5-6 years ago--just a study--and few people have anything to say about it or the MAX. It's an amazing waste, considering how much money has already been spent on the MAX; you'd think they'd be trying to do more to get use out of it. Even the Better Red project is little more than a wye and some extra trainsets.

[@aquaticko]

@@alexhaowenwong6122 You should see how bad it is in the suburbs. Most of the stations have almost nothing beyond single family homes around them.

[@ChocoliciousCake]

I took the 545 bus to Redmond and saw parts of the link route under construction. Seeing it up close was an awesome feeling, like watching a historical shift from the post-WW2 urban calamity to this more transit oriented development. I'm hyped

[@heyaswinp]

Love this, I have always heard many of my friends complaining about no transit between east and west.

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

Exactly, it's great to see a lot of grade-separation on a new line like this! North American light-rail systems should be looking at all the crossings that the Brightline intercity rail system has in Florida and how many crashes it leads to (on top of bad FL drivers) and think to themselves, "We don't want that" for their systems! Because grade-separation leads to not only great frequencies of course, but also reduced noise, decrease in traffic congestion, as well as greater safety for its users. And as shown here on the 2 Line, the Vancouver SkyTrain, and the Chicago L, you don't need to build a whole underground system to achieve that when elevated transit can do the trick! A light-rail system with great grade-separation is the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail in NJ! Much of it is grade-separated, and this is because much of the HBLR is repurposed ROW from old railroads, though the downtown JC segment was built brand-new (which includes an elevated section). And at-grade crossings are equipped with transit-signal priority signals to automatically change traffic lights in favor of the light rail. And like the 2 Line, it goes where people wanna go, whether it's shopping at Newport mall, visiting Liberty Science Center, taking a train from Hoboken Terminal, or studying at New Jersey City University by West Side Ave! For those who don't know, the reason Lake Washington has floating bridges is because Lake Washington plunges to a depth of more than 200 feet, and the bottom is soft silt, which makes building a conventional suspension bridge with rooted towers quite difficult. Each tower would have to be about 630 feet tall, the state DOT says, twice the height of the sentinels holding up the Brooklyn Bridge! The idea of a floating bridge across Lake Washington was proposed originally in the 1920s by engineer Homer M. Hadley due to the reasons already mentioned, and so Hadley floated the idea of connecting hollow barges end-to-end. The original Lake Washington Floating Bridge opened in 1940 was renamed the Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge in 1967. It closed in 1989 for reconstruction and, following a severe storm that sank portions of the old bridge, the current incarnation of the I-90 floating bridge finally opened in 1993. The Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge for the 2 Line however opened in 1989. The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge to the north is the world's longest floating bridge at 7,710 ft/2,350 m.

[@-Osiris-]

Should have been heavy rail, but LRT is better than nothing

[@LouisChang-le7xo]

remember the 1968 forward thrust

[@JennyBlaze253]

Rode the train on its first day open from my house in Redmond to get to Bell Square to have dinner with my aunt. Love that this line is finally open and can't wait for it to connect into Seattle in 2025. Makes getting into Seattle a ton easier and means I won't have to burn as much gas getting there.

[@pepajahoda6836]

I think that a nice website and good promotion of other plans has its roots 20 years ago around 2000-2003, when Sound Transit had to fight for its place with the then more welcome and wanted project of the monorail network. They got used to it and it stayed. Which is good.

[@garrettwaters1726]

Any new public transit is great but as a west Seattle resident I’m a little pissed we don’t get our link for at least another ten year. This means we are all bottlenecked into driving across the west Seattle bridge for most trips.

[@sea80vicvan]

With all the negativity (sone of it justified) coming from local urbanists about the East Link/2 Line opening and Sound Transit's planning in general, it helps to get an outside perspective on what has been done right and what needs improvement. Thanks for showing what this means, as well as how much it's being influenced by Vancouver's SkyTrain. Looking forward to the completion of the line across Lake Washington, and also up in Vancouver for the Millennium Line extension west through the Broadway tunnel to open.

[@LouisChang-le7xo]

i suggest you read the urbanist blog website of Seattle. Those folks are vicious.

[@adm1nspotter]

I've heard that negativity too, and I really don't get it. Seattle's transit is so far ahead of most other american cities. Sure, you can always compare the DC Metro, or the NYC system, but those have had decades of head start. To mangle the common adage, the best time to build transit is 20 years ago, the second best time is today. :)

[@cheef825]

our group of people involved in transit is a very interesting mosaic. you got boomers who still arent over forward thrust, gen xers who wonder why we moved away from buses in the first place, and zoomers/alphas on discords who repeatedly come up with random line on map plans and rolling stock shifts lol

[@hesseceja2830]

i live in everett and ive been so excited watching the progress of this, getting to seattle was already made a lot better with just the northgate station so im extremely excited for the lynwood expansion this year. unfortunately i dont know if ill be in everett to see it open 10+ years from now

[@user-ie1hg5ov1m]

Watching US cities get new rail lines while I live in Tampa which is so ass backwards makes me jealous

[@mdhazeldine]

When are they going to realise they should've built a proper high capacity metro with high floor trains, rather than linking trams together. When it's one line, their solution seems fine. But with all these extensions happening, it's starting to look silly having trams go such a long way.

[@joermnyc]

Apparently the delays caused by the bad concrete plinths also affect that Lynwood extension since they were going to utilize extra trains from that new maintenance base in Bellevue, but those are now trapped across the lake. Plus they still need to test trains on the bridge to make sure the rail expansion joints function properly under normal use.

[@RMTransit]

Something I am not clear on is how the trains were moved across the lake, slowly using the rail bridge? Or by truck?

[@joermnyc]

@@RMTransit I think they always get delivered by truck no matter which side of the lake is receiving new cars.

[@quoniam426]

Nice. News on Paris transportation new features: Next Monday, the extension of RER E to the West opens as a limited shuttle service at first until November. The stations look really good. About metro, Line 11 extension should open Mid June (possibly around the 15th) and Line 14 extensions should open around the 25th of June.

[@johnslyfield5096]

I use the 1 Line. I cannot wait to see the 2 Line connect because the maintenance facility is going to be a game breaker because its going to add capacity to the route that's crucially needed and missed between the time we start live fire testing for Lynnwood link and the time live fire testing for the 2 link opens.

[@terr256]

Coming from DC to Seattle, I was so surprised they don't have a good public transportation. I live in Tacoma and you'd hope there's an easy way to get to Seattle or the airport from Tacoma. Hopefully the train gets down here one day

[@santiagoecharricotler6357]

Maybe it's a very basic question, but it would be great to see a video about how the clocks that indicate the waiting time for the subway work, that is, how the systems that measure how much time is left for the next subway to arrive at the station function

[@Sacto1654]

The very fact this line will have stops on the huge Microsoft campus means ridership will be quite strong to start with.

[@thatskadoosh]

As someone who lives on Mercer Island (one of the 2 stations not connected on the ELSL) It is very frustrating not to have our station connected. The delays on the remaining portion of the line are all on the west side bridge that connects Seattle-Mercer Island. As far as I can tell there is no real reason not to connect the Mercer Island station (which is finished btw) to the east section of the line... Ah well I guess we'll just have to wait another few years.

[@Gfynbcyiokbg8710]

Wasn't the bridge on the east side of Mercer Island also affected by the quality issues?

[@cheef825]

the reason is due to slip track locations, since MI is in the median iirc there wasn't enough space to include junctions on the east side of the station. under the original plans this wouldn't have been a problem due to there not being a starter line in the first place

[@stever4899]

@@Gfynbcyiokbg8710 Correct. The East Channel Bridge also needed plinth rework (the line on most of the island is fine because they demolished the concrete roadbed and laid track on ballast there instead).

[@cityforall]

That looks impressive, thamks for explaining the project!

[@seattleprogressive9043]

The 1 Line Link Light Rail does go about 70mph on the way to the airport, between Rainier Beach and Tukwila International Blvd, when it goes along I-5. So, not much more than 60mph as you said, but it's a start!

[@Gfynbcyiokbg8710]

It doesn't. It's top operational speed is 55mph

[@kertchu]

I wonder if you could make a video specifically focusing on how Seattle can improve it’s light rail and upgrade it to a metro. I know you made a video like that already but I was wondering if you could go i to specifics.

[@adm1nspotter]

The next north extension of the central line, which adds 4 more stations up to Lynnwood opens at the end of August... I am SO EXCITED!!! And once they finish the floating-bridge part of the East Link to connect everything together, it'll be a real transit *system*. Some people pooh-pooh what the regional transit agencies are doing, but Seattle is definitely a place that you can get around effectively without a car. It's not perfect, but it is functional. A lot of their current expansion plans (Ballard, West Seattle, Issaquah, Everett, Tacoma) have pretty long timelines (late '30s), which is the only frustrating part.

[@ethancrisp3491]

The craziest part of all of this is seeing an overhead map of the area and the difference in space taken up by highways right near a downtown area vs how little space is taken up by transit. Move more people on such a smaller footprint

[@SeattleTrain]

So excited to see the new line open!

[@bradwilliams7198]

Regarding the spacing of stations, the next phase of expansion includes three "infill" stations on the line through Seattle. So there is the opportunity to modify this in the future.

[@OlicoHUN]

You should check out the tram system in Budapest, Hungary!

[@jameswebb254]

I was wondering if you have ever heard of the saint louis metro link light rail. It doesn’t have street running and has a downtown tunnel, which is a lot better than other larger midwest cities

[@TD-gc5tq]

Reece I love your map animations. How do you do them? I’d love to learn to do that.

[@skeliskull]

I truly think Seattle is on the way to having the best transit system in the US (outside of New York ofc). They have a plan and its just a matter of time for it all to come to be. My own gripe is I think the link might do almost too much and its speed limited due to being both a inner city and inter regional transit option. That being said its great for shorter distances

[@skyscraperfan]

At the moment I spend a lot of time to draw the regional transport map of Seoul, South Korea, on Google Earth and it always is astonishing how far ahead those Asian cities are compared to cities in the US. For example how many long tunnels were built through the hills surrounding the city jut for the regional trains to nearby cities. Of course you can't compare Seoul to many American cities, because Seoul is really massive, but there are so many things American cities could learn from Seoul. I found it quite genius for example tat the APEX (airport express) line serves both major airports. I can't think of another city where you can get from one airport to the other via a single line. That allows them to work like a single even bigger airport. Seoul has such a dense network of metro station along its major roads, that you can be sure that you will find the next station just by walking along those roads a bit. That's what I would wish for the United States. A good public transport system might put Seattle on my list of cities to visit. I never rent a car on a vacation. So I really need public transport to get around a city. Los Angeles showed me how horrible it is to get around in a city with bad public transport. So many bus lines, but many of them served once an hour or less. Even people who never take public transport should be glad about each new line, because even if only 20,000 people per day use a line, those people will be off the highways. So there will be less traffic jams and car lovers will have a much faster commute.

[@willmorris8198]

I noticed you mentioned San Diego and you also have some SD Trolley signs on your wall. Do you have a video planned on SD? Our transit needs serious help

[@blackpanda7298]

Reese ❤ you’re so handsome. I love listening to you spill your heart out about transit

[@zacharyrempel8041]

Cool to see Seattle's big plans! Would love to hear your reaction to Alberta's newest passenger rail announcements!

[@RMTransit]

Video next week!

[@USdude101]

I was just going to mention that Overlake Village is an entire ToD that is right adjacent to MS campus. Additionally iirc the reason there is no "North" technology station as you mentioned, near 51st is that the neighboorhood adjacent didn't want the "downsides of transit". Same goes as to why there isn't a good connection into the neighborhood west of east main

[@AmurTiger]

Sounds like Seattle is waiting for their Canada Line moment. I know there was plenty of resistance to the cost and disruption to skytrain expansion in the metro van area and while there were substantial problems and downsides with the project the upsides were such that it managed to shift the calls for better transportation links decisively towards transit being a desired outcome. On a related note with some aggression on zoning Seattle might get those missing infill stations the way Richmond, BC is getting Capstan way, developers paying for it.

[@USdude101]

​@AmurTiger yeah, one can hope 😊 I am hopeful for another station at northup way (20th st)

[@sglenny001]

Reminds me of The DLR

[@gphoops1]

Thanks for making this video! I was over there on opening day and see myself multiple times throughout the video!

[@louisjov]

Riding the light rail working downtown, my biggest complaint for sure was the lack if express trains

[@GeorgeWashingtonLaserMusket]

That's exciting, I wish we had decent transit in Kentucky, all Lexington has are buses. I wish we kept our WWII era trolleys.

[@blores95]

Nice to see Seattle growing transit. It'd be great to see LA, Portland, and Seattle eventually get to the level of service San Francisco has, maybe in my lifetime. Unfortunate to see that Seattle has the same issue with building super long light rail lines like we do here in LA. Grade separated light rail seems like a jack of all trades compromise that might not work out in the long term, but if that's all they can do from price/NIMBYs/etc. then I guess we have to take what we can get.

[@AmurTiger]

I'm not sure BART is much of a model to emulate in that neck of the woods, skimming a bit the ridership is underwhelming for the kilometres of infrastructure it has, probably due to fairly abysmal headways which ultimately probably tells a story about automation paying off in a big way which so long as you can get grade separation you'll at least be building guideways that can support a great service and work to upgrade rolling stock and stations over time.

[@mrxman581]

LA Metro has both subway lines and light rail lines. And LA Metro is responsible for servicing all of LA County not just the city. That's why light rail will always be the backbone of the metro rail transit network in LA. You can't service 4700 square miles using only subways. It would be much too expensive and take longer. LA Metro has been very good, for the most part, in how they designed their LRT lines. The top and average speeds are better than other LRTs around the world. They'll fet even faster once they can give signal prioritization across all lines. BTW, they'll be superior to BART by the 2028 Olympics.

[@jazzcatjohn]

Ok right off the bat, you made the mistake of saying that downtown Bellevue is walkable. That couldn't be farther from the truth. Other than that, it was pretty good. I was there on opening day and it was packed. It will be heavily used once the connection to Seattle opens.

[@cheef825]

fr downtown bellevue sucks ass on foot lol

[@stra2g]

Could you explain how downtown Bellevue isn't walkable? As a resident, there are several paths to get to key locations in the city including a line that basically cuts all the way from the transit sector to the shopping district. Downtown Bellevue also offers a 100% free ride-share service that covers the entirety of downtown and the warehouse district.

[@adriangenshin9284]

as unfortunate as it is that there is no middle-of-bellevue train station, I always look at the upside and in this case I LOVE the walk from the station to just about anywhere in Bellevue, even if it takes 20 min.

[@petewangen-groovedrummer8083]

Nice work.

[@jerryli3464]

Moved from Metro Vancouver to Redmond. Kind of feeling the density of east side of Seattle (Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, etc) is a lot lower comparing to Vancouver. Most of this 2 Line (and probably future lines as well) is going along the highways, which makes the stations far from many of the destinations. Luckily Bellevue Downtown isn't that large and it takes about 10min to walk to Bellevue Square from the station and 15min to Downtown Park. Anyhow, I hope more businesses will develop near the stations and people's car oriented mindset could start to change at some point of time.

[@raineyjayy]

Can't wait for it to expand across the bridge. The 550 is always full and late. And driving to Bellevue SUCKS.

[@anthonyc8499]

what's crazy is that the 520 bridge was JUST rebuilt & expanded yet it's as full now as ever.

[@knifefest]

Microsoft's campus has over a hundred buildings on it...

[@AndreasMolnar-Dev]

So can should it be called an S-Bahn or Stadtbahn?

[@heyitstobias]

It's a Stadtbahn because they're using trams.

[@statelyelms]

Another great video, I love the diagrams! Seattle is really doing huge work, putting other cities to shame in the process. Hopefully it sparks big things. Can we be looking forwards to an Alberta Passenger Rail Master Plan video? I saw that reveal recently and I am VERY excited, not just for Albertans but for other provinces which might be influenced by this master plan to make some of their own.

[@slimekittenv]

Forever dreaming of the west links expansion to tacoma being complete theyve put a streetcar in near me to the transit hub but then u gotta take a bus into seattle still

[@caffiend81]

I wish I could watch a Bellevue resident's face as you refer to their city as a suburb. 🤣

[@Gfynbcyiokbg8710]

So you're saying that people from Bellevue are delusional?

[@pizzajona]

I’m surprised you say at the end that Seattle has the best transit expansion program in the US. What makes LA’s light and (potentially autonomous) heavy rail expansions miss the cut?

[@stra2g]

I think the difference comes with the fact that Seattle's expansion into the rest of King County (the surrounding large cities) are almost entirely used to increase public transportation land development to create a non-car based lifestyle. LA's system primarily focuses on longer distance connections that don't focus on an overall lifestyle change. A lot of the new Seattle stations don't have many useful things around them outside of work BUT you can see the active efforts to develop apartments and storefronts next to them. This includes Bellevue updating zoning laws to allow for higher buildings near warehouse districts that are shifting to housing.

[@duncanadelaide4054]

People use Seattle's light rail. Last time I visited LA I took a train from my motel to downtown and had the entire train car to myself.

[@crowmob-yo6ry]

The evil Steve Greenhut and John Phillips.

[@mrxman581]

​@@stra2gLA Metro is doing its fair share of TOD as well. LA Metro is responsible for servicing the LA County and not just the city. The county is 4700 square miles. That's the main reason for the longer routes, but we have two subway lines with more to come and they run in very dense areas of the city.

[@mrxman581]

​@@duncanadelaide4054It's not like that anymore. LA Metro ridership has gone up every month for the last 16 months.

[@chrismckellar9350]

East Link Starter Line is a light rail system that operates on a graded and non graded corridor.

[@jdillon8360]

Good to see new tracks and stations being built in Seattle. However, those short vehicles are definitely trams (or light rail if you will), not trains. Also, the alignments, low number of stations and at-grade crossings leave a lot to be desired. However, it's better than nothing.

[@aaron1983]

If only the two lines can connect, imagine all the additional commercial activity that can be generated.

[@frogtoesdynamite5741]

whatever happened to the bullet train from vancouver to seattle?

[@MihaiMihai-wr1nh]

can you please make a video about the Bucharest metro?🙏🙏🙏

[@iamzuckerburger]

I can't tell which is growing faster, RMTransit or transit itself. Think about it.

[@ZontarDow]

Seattle seems to be trying to make up for the lost time after the monorail project collapsed two decades ago

[@duncanadelaide4054]

There was an even earlier effort in the 70s to build a proper metro system, which failed due to lobbying by the insufferable owner of Bellevue Square mall, who is also the reason why the new 2 line skirts along the edge of downtown Bellevue instead of going through the middle.

[@stever4899]

One thing buried within the documents page is, the agency is worried about passenger capacity and asking car manufacturers to think creatively in the third car procurement (which is necessary for Everett, Tacoma, Ballard, and West Seattle extensions). We may end up with double-length carsets segmented like newer trams in Europe, to get rid of unused cabs and unnecessary gaps in the middle of the train. (They have said that end-to-end trainsets are a no go because it would require too much reconstruction at the OMFs.)

[@stever4899]

@@cmdrls212 True, but that is a temporary problem solvable by the end of next year. I'm saying there is also potentially a longer-term problem that the agency is considering now. The schedule for the third car procurement does not contemplate getting a prototype until the end of 2029!

[@TheTikeySauce]

@@cmdrls212 They've come up with a temporary solution for the storage situation by storing trains at the elevated stations overnight with extra overnight security until the 2 Line is fully completed, so the capacity problem won't be as bad as initially thought.

[@edy21865]

I find it odd how you say that the distances between stations on East Link is too great. Just take a look at your home city Vancouver and it's Skytrain network. Almost all stations on Skytrain are over a kilometre apart with the average station spacing at 1.8 km or 1.1 miles. The longest distance between any two stations on Skytrain is over 5 km which occurs between Burquitlam and Moody Centre. In fact the trip between these two stations crosses through three cities! From Burnaby into Coquitlam and then into Port Moody. This should give you a sense of what wide station spoacing actulally looks like. The longest distance on East Link pales in comparison to Skytrain.

[@Gfynbcyiokbg8710]

He didn't.

[@MatthewWalker0]

6:20 : The locations of the downtown Bellevue stations are mostly terrible. One is at the top of a good-sized ridge! (downtown station) To be fair, it is near the transit centre (all busses go through there), but also to be fair the transit centre has the same location problem. For example, visit the mall, you have to walk for 10 minutes each way and up a steep hill on your way back. There is also a lack of frequent transit options within Bellevue downtown, with the most convenient being the 550, which costs you an extra 50c for a 4 minute ride. At least you relax on the bus and not personally have to wait every 100-200 m for a light that has a 4 minute cycle time. The on-demand service (cricket) is only useful when going home due how busy it is/wait times to get picked up. The other station (east main) is on the other side of that ridge in no-mans-land by the highway, and just serves a few hotels? (not well, they all have giant parking lots). I suspect it will be the least-used station, especially among the starter ones. The population+office density is definitely skewed east; east of bellevue way/the mall, but both stations loose about half their catchment area to the highway, which is insane.

[@vette1]

i feel like one day there rail line has lotss of potential for automation

[@Gfynbcyiokbg8710]

Definately, but they've made it much more difficult for themselves.

[@nightshaderose]

Mercer's getting a station? Last time I checked in (which was admittedly a while ago) there was a proposal to skip that one because they were being all NIMBY about both the project as a whole and the prospect of losing their special HOV freeway exit.

[@french1956]

It's completely built and ready for the trains.

[@yangjiao2090]

Glad to see that this line is open. I visited Seattle and Vancouver a year ago and it amazed me how people in two different cities can react towards a new transit line. When I was in Vancouver a friend told me that the real estate prices were going up because a new SkyTrain line was planned to go near that neighborhood. And my friend in Seattle told me people in Bellevue were protesting because they worried that the East Link would bring homeless people from Downtown Seattle to Bellevue...

[@NickFrey1]

It’s so strange. There are though I think more people who are in favor of Link by far than the naysayers. At the launch of East Link, the trains were totally packed and vibes were high. People love the Link.

[@yangjiao2090]

@@NickFrey1 Glad to hear that most people love Link! I guess it was probably just a small group of very vocal NIMBYs that gave me and my friend such an impression.

[@adithyaramachandran7427]

VTA has the infrastructure, but enough people don’t use it because it doesn’t integrate with the regional rail. 12 minute frequencies are really good by US standards. But the trains are empty.

[@nukiradio]

Finally

[@SalmanMentos]

Nice

[@oversight68]

The system should run from Lynnwood to SeaTac, going down both sides of Lake Washington and across both bridges. 520 should have been designed with that expansion in mind.

[@h4babi]

honestly it would be hard to incorporate, though i would love to see a line running from UW to south kirkland (and potentially up 405 to service uwb, totem lake, and down town kirkland)

[@oversight68]

@@h4babi It would certainly be more difficult now since the bridge was never designed to support light rail. It's something that should have been part of the initial design process for the 520 bridge replacement. Unfortunately between Governor Gregoire and Kemper in Bellevue, they chose not to go that route. Perhaps sometime in the next 30 to 40 years we will get that link from South Kirkland to the UW, and a north south extension that runs from Lynnwood down the i-405 corridor to southcenter.

[@kociamber149]

You're not moving your head enough 🤣

[@TheHoveHeretic]

6'30" "... show you the unfortunate trade offs when you don't have a proper regional role network". The thing which strikes me, in Anglophone nations on both sides of the pond, is that lack of any overall transport strategy within which to develop policies specific to road or rail. It's too often a hodge-podge of short termist thought (if you can call it 'thought'). Where transport schemes are successful, they overwhelmingly tend to be integrated and aimed at well defined outcomes. The transformation of cities is The Netherlands didn't happen overnight, yet the evidentially based approach of consistency over decades seems too much for politicians more concerned with willy-waving than actually doing anything meaningful of lasting.

[@austinh.]

I visited Bellevue twice (2013 and 2019) when my family and some other groups visited Seattle, definitely remembering going to the Microsoft headquarters. If we plan on going the same route the third time, hopefully we could take the 2 line to visit all these places.

[@Gaffed_Up]

Great video and love your content. As a Seattleite, I am beyond excited for them to finish the lightrail and surrounding transit project. However, I have to disagree with you, I think it's one of the most poorly designed systems and has been plagued with problems. WSDOT, in general, has blundered most of it's projects and I think it's time we take a look at their accounting practices.

[@johndwilson6111]

Now i have a picture i understand why the Seattle metropolitan area is planning big. They have to get real or suffocate from automotive congestion. The transit choices are a start. I will be curious to see what happens in 10 years and how much better it gets.😊

[@stra2g]

Yeah on the East side of Lake Washington, the traffic used to be bad from 4pm-7pm but nowadays rush hour has basically turned into 2pm-9pm just purely due to how many people have moved into the area between pre-covid and now.

[@andre-cmyk]

i have to say, the website is amazing. i got all the info i wanted to know about the expansions in one single page, and that never ever happens when im trying to understand a different city's transit I do wanna ask, do you think they could ever convert the system to offer more speeds and less grade crossings? im guessing they'll keep it low floor forever as the network grows ..

[@RMTransit]

You can certainly remove the grade crossings!

[@cheef825]

the RV segment is the only one that really needs removing, the eastside crossings are on far less busy roads

[@alfonsoarteaga9912]

Love taking the train

[@SparkyFinch]

I don't know you, but if I worked for Sound Transit I would hire you.

[@Kahoobb]

Why does the lightrail only go like 40 mph? If its competing against taking the freeway, at minimum needs to go 60 mph until it gets close to each stop, especially since there isnt a lot of stations so it can go quicker anyways.

[@Gfynbcyiokbg8710]

Because it's light rail. You sacrifice speed for being able to do tighter turns (amoungst other things)

[@mrxman581]

​@@Gfynbcyiokbg8710LA Metro LRTs have a top speed of 55 mph, but they are high floor trains, so that might be the bigger reason for the slower speeds.

[@Gfynbcyiokbg8710]

@@mrxman581 Seattle's also have a max speed of 55mph. High floor trains could allow them to have higher speeds but because it's designed to take sharper turns, you can't run them any faster.

[@ix830]

Seattle is making good choices with its transit, even in the face of NIMBYs and trade-offs. The lack of grade crossings will greatly improve the speed and reliability of the service. DART in my opinion has way too many at-grade crossings, particularly in Downtown Dallas. It's much harder to go back to fix these things. I hope the Sounder can be expanded as well to support longer-distance travel. You mentioned no regional rail, but maybe you're thinking something more like the relationship between BART and MUNI. Overall, I'm very impressed with Sound Transit and hope some of the cities in the southern US will take note. Texas greatly lags in its transit service at a local, regional, and state level. Atlanta, which has long suffered from lack of interest from its suburban counties, could also use a push to get rail implemented to connect in-town neighborhoods and maybe a regional rail (with different branding) to connect the historic downtowns.

[@Gfynbcyiokbg8710]

Not really. Level crossings aren't too hard to remove but changing the type of train is very hard. Seattle is trying to turn low floor light rail into something like BART when it should have either used metro or commuter + light rail

[@ix830]

@@Gfynbcyiokbg8710 based on funding and political will, removing at grade crossing can be prohibitive. DART has at least ten crossings in its downtown and has been told to postpone construction of a subway that would increase capacity for the entire system.

[@nayber2352]

I always felt like the Seattle train system was just kind of annoying to use. Im more familiar with the Portland system, and over there, you just buy a ticket, and can jump on any of the transit for the next 2 hours. Maybe part of this is because I don't live in Seattle, but does the actual use of these train lines seem cumbersome to people who use it every day?

[@hairypotter259]

Next step transit oriented developments 😎

[@thecyberseer]

"yet another train line" LOOOOL. It's the 2nd one and it's not even properly open to connect to the other one

[@alexhaowenwong6122]

Bellevue South station reminds me a lot of Heng On Station on Hong Kong's MTR--neither have mezzanines but both are equally substantial in terms of station structure.