Riding the Rails: The Seattle Monorail
Seattle is a city of cars. We love our cars, and it’s very hard for us to give them up. Perhaps because of that fact, or maybe just because we’re just starting to develop our urban roots, our public transportation systems are, well, substantially lacking.
The city does not have light rail (yet), a subway system, nor any developed system of mass transit. We rely predominantly on a bus system that get us across town, and delivers us to and from the city center from outlying areas, relying on a system of park and ride.
Once in the city center, we also have the Monorail, which was, in fact, the first full-scale commercial monorail system in the country. It’s long been a recognizable part of the Seattle skyline, operating quick service between downtown Seattle and the Seattle Center.
The Monorail was originally built for the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair, and it provided an important transportation link between the fairgrounds (now known as the Seattle Center) and the downtown hotels and restaurants. During the six month run of the World’s Fair, the monorail carried over eight million passengers, quickly paying for its $3.5 million constructions costs and turning a profit as well.
In 1965, the Monorail was sold to the City of Seattle (for a price of $600,000), and despite lots of of political brouhaha ever since, it continues to provide service along that one mile corridor, carrying an approximately 2.5 million readers each year.
Today, the north end of the line is still at the Seattle Center, with a pass through the Experience Music Project along the way. The south end of the line is the Westlake Center shopping mall. The trains depart about every 10 minutes, operating at a maximum speed of 50 miles per hour.
Location: Seattle Center, across from the Space Needle for the northern terminal; Westlake Center Mall, 5th & Pine (downtown) for the southern terminal.
Hours of Service: 11 am - 9 pm, daily, with departures every 10 minutes. During special events and activities, a second train is added, with departures then every 5 minutes (or less).
Fare: $4 for adults, round trip; $1.50 for youth (ages 5-12); $2 for seniors (65+),disabled and riders with Medicare cards; free for children under 5. (One-way fares are one half the round trip fare.)
During busy events at the Seattle Center, it’s very convenient to park the car downtown, and then take the Monorail to the Center. Conversely, during the busy shopping season, it’s much easier to park at the Seattle Center, and then take the Monorail downtown.
Photo credit: SXC
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Tags: b5media, Seattle, Seattle tourism, Seattle Traveler, Tacoma, The Seattle Traveler, travel, vacation, Washington, monorail, Seattle Center, Westlake Center, Washington State
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POSTED IN: Attractions, Family Fun, Getting Around - Local Transportation, Lunch Hour Fun, Must-See Sights, People - Interesting Local People, People Watching, Shopping, Sound Like a Local - Local "speak", Uncategorized
Seattle62°
2 opinions for Riding the Rails: The Seattle Monorail
Astroprof
Apr 18, 2007 at 2:16 pm
The monorail looked interesting, but it wasn’t running when I was in town. :(
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May 14, 2007 at 3:30 am
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