Forum generates buzz about allure of streetcars
Sunday, April 17, 2005
By Natalie Singer
Seattle Times Eastside bureau
Two days after Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels released financing plans for his $47.5 million South Lake Union streetcar proposal, the outlook was rosy among attendees of a Streetcar Summit at Seattle City Hall yesterday.
The event drew 50 people from Seattle and the Eastside to explore how streetcars could affect traffic and neighborhoods.
"We know there's a financing crunch," said Shelley Poticha, president of the transportation-advocacy group Reconnecting America.
But streetcars are affordable, she said, with a mix of funding approaches, including the sale of sponsorship and naming rights, which Nickels has proposed to help bridge the gap for the South Lake Union line.
Streetcars bring in more money than they cost, said Charles Hales, former Portland transportation commissioner. Portland's Pearl District streetcar has attracted $1.5 billion in economic investment along the line, he said.
Streetcars also draw residents back to urban cores because they make urban life more livable, Hales said. "Streets are not sewers for cars. They are places."
The forum was hosted by People for Modern Transit, a pro-transit group. Jean Godden, David Della and Richard Conlin were among the Seattle City Council members present. Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis and King County Councilman Dwight Pelz also attended.
A panel of speakers, all in favor of streetcars, spoke about projects in other cities such as Portland and Tampa, Fla.; ways to pay for lines; and strategies for garnering public support.
Though there seemed to be momentum for Seattle proposals, including the South Lake Union line and the effort to preserve the waterfront streetcar, other projects in the region have not fared as well.
Barb Justice, representing the Issaquah Valley Trolley, listened to the excitement in the room yesterday with amazement. "This is what we need," she said. "People like this."
A committee has been trying for three years to build a 2.5-mile trolley line near the city's Microsoft campus. A capital campaign stalled, and the committee has struggled to find political support, Justice said.
"It's partisan politics," she said of some Eastside Republicans' reluctance to pursue a streetcar in the suburb.
Most recently, though, the group has been buoyed by $250,000 that U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Auburn, helped get included in the House transportation bill. If they get that money, Justice said, the line could be running by summer 2006.
During the forum, attendees posed a few difficult questions about streetcar viability. Why, one person asked, would the public support streetcars when Seattle is building a monorail?
"There's a place for every mode," said John Schumann of LTK Engineering. "A streetcar is a local circulator; it stops every two or three blocks. If you did that with the monorail, you wouldn't be taking advantage of [the monorail's] speed capability."
Mark Dublin, a former bus driver, said he supported streetcars but wondered about the interaction with automobiles. "What would you do about the problem of cars on the rails?" he asked the panel.
"Driver education," Hales replied. Questioned about the level of public support for streetcars, Hales told the audience, "The best way to end the arguments is to build some stuff."
Natalie Singer: 206-464-2704 or nsinger@seattletimes.com