We've talked a lot about how the new First Hill Streetcar should run where there's development potential and a lack of existing transit service. But what we haven't heard in a while is a schedule update, and previous goals of starting community outreach by the summer have passed.
I called up Ethan Melone, streetcar project manager for the city, who said that right now the city is working on an "interlocal agreement" with Sound Transit, who will be funding the project's construction and yearly operating costs. Sound Transit is funding it as part of the ST2 package approved last year, and the city will be responsible for building and operating the streetcar. The agreement they're working on now will stipulate exactly how much money the city will get and who's responsible for various parts of the project.
The Sound Transit finance subcommittee took up the issue yesterday, fixing a lifetime construction budget of $132,780,000 for the project, and requiring the city to shoulder any cost overruns. They plan on bringing it up for a vote with the full Sound Transit board next Thursday at 1:30pm.
The city council will also need to approve the agreement, and they'll first take it up in the Transportation Committee on September 29th.
Assuming both sides sign off, city staff will then be able to proceed with studies of the various routes, community outreach, and other detailed planning activities.
Recommend
It's any easy concept: put the streetcar and light rail lines where people live/work/play (even if it's more expensive and difficult to acquire the land needed for stops/stations) and ridership will rise. What we're seeing from the current light rail and streetcar lines is that you can't run service in low-density neighborhoods and expect riders to magically materialize out of nowhere. Successful transit links dense neighborhoods to each other, but is not enough to create dense neighborhoods in areas where people have chosen not to do that.