The history of the Seattle Monorail

Abstract
The Seattle Monorail is the first of its kind in many respects. Indeed, it is the first commercial monorail that is entirely complete and full-scale in nature. It is also effective in that it passes through or near many of the important landmarks of Seattle. The system is effective in that it passes by several important hubs of the city every ten minutes or so. There are also effective connections to many of the cultural and theatrical experiences of the city. Entertainment and fun are also parts of the city that are effective connected to by the monorail. The system serves as an example of a fully functional and fully featured system that helps people connect to their work, transportation and entertainment needs or preferences while at the same time being controlled properly in terms of costs, resources and so forth.
The Seattle Monorail in many ways serves as an example of how to install and implement a transportation system that serves the public. Since traditional subways and other subterranean transportation systems are not terrible practical to install in established cities, systems like trains, monorails and so forth are the way to go. The overall experience and feature set that the Seattle Monorail has are all great since the time it takes to travel, the costs involved and the overall performance metrics are all somewhat to very solid and advanced. Beyond all of the above, Seattle is very open and honest about how the system works, why everything is as it should be when it comes to how the system works and so forth. While there are some tradeoffs with all government-operated or ordained transportation systems, the Seattle Monorail is a very good example of such a system done well.
Analysis
General Information
The Seattle Monorail system stretches fairly far. Indeed, it goes from the Westlake Center Mall at 5th Avenue and Pine Street to the Seattle Center by the Space Needle. In between, there is only one stop. As such, having to memorize all of this does not take all that much of an effort. Getting lost is rather hard to do given the relative simplicity of the system. Hours of operation do flex based on whether there are certain events going on and/or the time of week. However, the general hours of the Monorail are from 7:30 am to at least 9 pm. When there are events or during the summer, the Monorail can be open as late as 11 pm. The only two “standard” days that the Monorail are closed are Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Beyond that, the monorail closes at 6 pm on Christmas Eve. However, the Monorail is open quite late on New Year’s Eve/Day. People that are out celebrating the new year should note that the Monorail remains open until 1 am, an hour after the turn of the new year. The main differences between summer/fall hours and the operations during January to April is that the Monorail is open two hours later on Sunday, until 11 pm rather than the usual 9 pm. The same is true for hours from Monday to Thursday. During the cold months, the monorail is only open until 9 pm. During the warm months of summer and fall, these hours stretch to 11 pm on the affected nights. There are also “one-off” special events here and there that affect the hours. For example, on March 4th and March 26th of 2018, there is a “Unique Lives” lecture series at McCaw Hall. Due to that event, the Monorail will remain open until 9:30 pm instead of closing at its usual time of 9 pm. On the other end, the Monorail will open early on March 4th due to the Hot Chocolate 15k/5k that is happening on that day. In that instance, the monorail will open more than two hours early at 5 am (Seattle Monorail, 2018).
As noted before, the system is rather efficient. Trains depart the platform about once every ten minutes. This would be during regular volume times. When things are busier, the times of departure start happening at five-minute intervals. Once the ride starts, it only takes about two minutes to get from one platform to another. The system is handicap-accessible. There is an elevator for the disabled along 5th avenue between Olive and Pine. At the Seattle Center, there are ramps that allow for easy access. On the trains themselves, there are yellow gates that align with entrance points for wheelchairs. People that have dogs are also allowed on the monorail. The conditions associated with this include that the dog must be well-behaved and the dog must be on a leash. If the train is busy and crowded, it may be required that the dog be held on the lap of its owner. However, the website for the monorail is quick to note that there is no restriction on the use of service animals, as having such a rule would be contrary to regulations and laws on the books when it comes to the disabled and other people with service animals (Seattle Monorail, 2018).
Downsides
One thing that is not completely up to speed with the Monorail is payment. There is the open question from many as to whether the system accepts payment via One Regional Card for All (ORCA), King County Metro or Sound Transit cards. There is also the question as to whether people can pay via debit or credit cards. At this time, the answer to all of those queries is “no”. People must pay cash and they should also ensure that they have exact change when they wish to ride the Monorail. Further, there is no student discount for the Monorail unless one counts the group rates that can be procured in advanced. Unless prior application is made and students are traveling in groups, there is currently no discount to be had. Purchasing for large groups in advance is actively discouraged on the website unless the group exceeds 125 people. Short of having a group that large or student groups (as just mentioned), people are encouraged to buy tickets upon arrival. Something else that was mentioned before was that those purchases would need to be in cash as credit and debit cards are not accepted (Seattle Monorail, 2018).
Another downside is that the Monorail does not connect to Sea-Tac Airport, which is the major airport in Seattle. Sea-Tac stands for Seattle-Tacoma. That being said, people that take the Monorail to Westlake Center can then progress to the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel and buy a ticket for the light rail. The light rail does indeed connect to the airport. In general, Westlake Center is a huge transportation hub and the Monorail does go there, as mentioned before. Even though the Monorail does not go to a few of the important locations in Seattle (e.g. the airport), the fact that the Monorail stops at Westlake means that people can connect to the locations that the Light Rail and other transportation methods go to (Seattle Monorail, 2018).
Ticket Rates
Finding exact change, thankfully, is not terribly difficult given the rates that exist for the monorail. Indeed, the rates are $2.50 for adults and $1.25 for children ages five to twelves years old. There is a reduced rate for certain people that matches the usual child’s rate of $1.25. The usual groups included would be seniors over 65 years old, the disabled, anyone with Medicare cars or people with military identification. Children that are under the age of four years are able to ride free. It should be noted that all of the ticket prices above are for one-way trips. Those that wish to take a full round trip will need to guy two tickets. In other words, an adult that wishes to go both ways will be spending $5.00 rather than just $2.50 (Seattle Monorail, 2018).
A compromise, of sorts, that exists when it comes to the form of payment limitation would be the use of a monthly pass. Indeed, this is something that the system offers. It does not make sense for people who sparingly use the Seattle Monorail. However, for heavy users, it can be a great option. An adult monthly pass for the Monorail is $50 while a reduced monthly pass is $25. A reduced monthly pass is for those adult groups noted above that get discounts, including seniors, the disabled and those with military or Medicare identification. Beyond that, people can download an application on their smartphone called “Hopthru” that allows them to purchase and redeem their monthly passes. The passes can be redeemed through the mail or from a Monorail cashier. The latter requires cash payment only but the former of those two options can be done via credit or debit card. The downside to that former option is that one has to wait for the pass in the mail. The mailing takes about three to four days. The monthly passes are not tied to a calendar month. Indeed, they last for 31 days after they are purchased, regardless as to which redemption method is used. It should be noted that the Hopthru app noted above is on a “three-month trial”. This would seem to indicate that it is something that is simply being tested. Thus, it may or may not continue to be an option depending on how things go and how the Seattle Monorail management perceive the results from the same (Seattle Monorail, 2018).
History
It would be important to note some historical details about the Monorail. It is actually not remotely new. It has been around since 1960’s. Indeed, it came to prominence at the 1962 World Fair. Construction of the system started a year before that, in 1961. The name of the company that put it all together was Alweg Rapid Transit Systems. They received the bid to do the system when they offered to underwrite all of the costs of construction. This may seem to have been a risk for that company. However, all of that money was recovered by the very next year at the aforementioned World’s Fair. The cost of the train was about $3.5 million. During the World’s Fair, the brand-new system carried eight million people (Seattle Monorail, 2018).
The monorail was initially in private hands. After it was initially rendered to Century 21 Corporation for no cost, it was later sold to the City of Seattle in 1965 for $600,000. Since then, it has been owned and operated by the City of Seattle and has not been controlled by any private interests. The name of the agency that operates the monorail is known as Seattle Monorail Systems. Overall the system carries about two million passengers every year. It is most heavily used during sporting events and festivals that are close to the system. Each train can carry 25 passengers. When both trains are in motion, the system can carry six thousand people per hour in both directions or half of that in one direction. The system celebrated its 55th anniversary last year in 2017. The two trains that operate in the system each have their own name, those being the Blue Rail and the Red Rail. The system runs on direct current in the amount of 700 votes. The system went under a major refurbishment starting in 2008. This was completed in 2011, although smaller projects that are ongoing and perpetual in nature are still happening to this very day. The motors in the train were done by General Electric (GE) and the gear boxes were done by Rockwell (Seattle Monorail, 2018).
Other Considerations
There have been updates and issues as the existence of the Monorail has plodded ahead. For example, there was a referendum in 2002 that involved the Seattle Monorail. Some years later, some scholarly and peer-reviewed research centered on the locating of public goods and the calculus of voting when it comes to such referendums. For example, there is the consideration of political activities, public morale, the costs involved and so forth when it comes to whether such votes will be in favor of such public goods or against them (Kinsey, Bartling, Peterson & Baybeck, 2010). A related, yet different, concern would be talk about taxation with representation. A confluence of that topic and the Seattle Monorail came up in a 2005 article by Matthew Senechal. At issue in Seattle was how municipal authorities like the one that run the Monorail can delegate and extend their power to the elected officials that can then impact the Monorail. How this happens versus how the people influence the same elected officials is important to keep in mind when looking at how the Monorail has been funded, updated and otherwise handled over the years (Senechal, 2015; Dhillon, 2006). Even if some people are worried about the political and similar implications, transporation systems like the Seattle Monorail are commonly touted and advocated for (Greenwood, 1963).
Conclusion
The Seattle Monorail system is not without a few tradeoffs and considerations. Having a system that is fully integrated and that takes payment forms other than cash would be good. However, the system that exists is rather good. Hopefully, the system will modernize and update with the times so that it does not lose its luster with the public.
References
Dhillon, J. S. (2006). Eminent-domain - the Seattle popular monorail authority's condemnation
of a private parking garage for the purpose of building a monorail station does not violate
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Greenwood, F. H. (1963). Monorails for Metropolitan Transportation. Transportation Journal
(American Society of Transportation & Logistics Inc), 3(1), 26-29.
Kinsey, B. S., Bartling, H., Peterson, A. F., & Baybeck, B. P. (2010). Location of Public Goods
and the Calculus of Voting: The Seattle Monorail Referendum. Social Science Quarterly
(Wiley-Blackwell), 91(3), 741-761. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00717.x
Seattle Monorail. (2018). Seattle Center Monorail. Seattle Monorail. Retrieved 25 February
2018, from http://www.seattlemonorail.com
Senechal, M. (2005). Revisiting Granite Falls: Why the Seattle Monorail Project Requires Re-
examination of Washington's Prohibition on Taxation without Representation. Seattle
University Law Review, 2963.