Case Study 3 — New Rail Starts: Seattle Monorail & LRT

by Britta Stein, Justin Scott, Wenteng Ma

Questions:

Do the costs of major rail systems in cities outweigh the benefits?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the Federal New Starts Program?

Are monorail and LRT necessary to ensure continued development of downtown Seattle and/or Minneapolis?

Is it realistic to count on the expected tax base increases to help pay for the Seattle Monorail Project?

Some reference information on several rail options.

Check out the differences between rail options here.

http://www.monorails.org/tMspages/MonoVs.html

This website gives a description of what LRT is.

http://www.lrta.org/explain.html

Background Information on the federal New Starts Program.

http://www.fta.dot.gov/16228_ENG_HTML.htm

Seattle Monorail & LRT

An overview of the Seattle monorail project.

http://www.elevated.org/project/

This page is full of facts and frequently asked questions. We suggest looking at the link describing “Benefits to the Local Economy.”

http://www.elevated.org/project/faq/faq.asp?faqid=25

Seattle’s LRT has not come without problems. This article touches on trouble that many LRT systems experience.

http://www.freedomworks.org/informed/issues_template.php?issue_id=704

This is the proposal for the monorail in Seattle.

http://www.teammonorail.com/download/pdf/tm_proposal.pdf

Here is an announcement from the Mayor of Seattle outlining the withdrawal of the city’s support for the Monorail Project.

http://www.seattle.gov/mayor/speeches/050916monorailStatement.htm

Existing and Proposed Local Rail

Some support for the Northstar Commuter Rail.

http://www.northstartrain.org/good_idea.cfm

This site gives details on the proposed Southwest Corridor LRT development in Minneapolis.

http://www.co.hennepin.mn.us/vgn/portal/internet/hcdetailmaster/0,2300,1273_1716_101037767,00.html

Fact page on Hiawatha LRT system.

http://www.metrocouncil.org/transportation/lrt/lrt-overview.htm