Waking up and breakfasting with a B1M video in the background makes every wednesday morning a lot better! On top American cities + infrastructure projects 😍
I’d love to see a bunch of HSR lines across North America… having one connecting my city of Indianapolis to Chicago would be such a game changer for us too.
As much as I agree with this idea, it won't happen. The airline lobby and automobile lobby are too powerful, and they'll pump as many resources as they can into opposing the project, not to mention loads of "environmental regulations" and "land acquisition issues" and "union disputes" that they might come up with during the construction. Look at how California has spent over a decade trying and failing to build even _little segments_ of their HSR line while at the same time going massively overbudget and spending years completely stalled out. The only one that I see having a realistic change of finishing is Florida's Brightline rail, but that one barely even goes 200 km/h - it's not high speed.
@@martianbuilder5945 There really needs to be something done about how inefficient unions are. Rail will offset far more carbon emissions than the auto industry will be able to. That seems like as good a reason as any to protest for it. The problem with Brightline is the lack of grade separated crossings. It's also a source of a lot of suicides. With regard to land acquisition, they need to be more involved in sharing the profits of projects around stations, so they can use that to help pay for the purchases. I'm sure I'm over simplifying things, but if the rules are causing the trouble, then maybe it's time to change the rules.
I spoke to the lead engineer for the rail on a floating bridge and how they worked. They keep a sample of it in the office. Amazing design, the whole team was really proud and honored to work on groundbreaking engineering.
Another thing worth mentioning is that Seattle is doing this all through voted on initiatives piece by piece because the Washington State constitution prevents gas taxes from being used for transit, and this is on top of a state with no income tax. It really is a miracle and honestly sheer will power that has led to the light rail being built because finding the funding for it has been extremely difficult to say the least.
@@Jay-jq6bl In Hong Kong, all public transport is provided by private companies* who reinvest profits back into public transport development. *the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation is owned by the HK Government who has given the Mass Transit Railway Corporation exclusive rights to provide all services on the network, of which the MTRC is 80% owned by the HK Government and 20% owned by stock market investors of which the majority of revenue comes from large-scale property developments mostly centred around MTR railway stations which act as transport hubs for busy commuters
I've been working on the light rail for the past 5 year in Bellevue and in Mountlake Terrace. We just finished the bridge shown at 1:07. Pretty awesome project and I think it will be a fun ride over I-5. Projects like this are why I got into construction and I'm proud to be part of it.
@@mark_tillman seeing as how I've never been to Japan let alone worked there that would be a no. In the US a project this size has to get political backing, funding, design, environmental impact studies, property purchased from private landowners and multiple municipalities, put the design out to bid to a builder, award the bid, construction, and pass a ton of rail certifications.
Man, wish more cities did this. I recently visited Seattle and their public transit wasn't that bad as it is. While I was there, a friend took their car from the same place I was while I took the pub transit to meet them at a different location and I beat them there by a whole 10+ minutes. If my city didn't have rock hard ground or heat (as it rises), I would be sure we would have more public transit that was NOT on traffic level. Glad Seattle is investing more in something that works well for larger cities.
Despite all of these bots spouting nonsense, the public transit honestly isn't that bad. The King County Metro network is pretty vast so it's pretty simple to get to where you need to go if you're willing look through their routes. Link (Line 1) also has one of the highest light rail riderships in the country and has almost fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels (1.886m monthly riders currently vs. 2.292m monthly riders in Feb 2020).
A floating bridge for a train, over a lake, is pretty mental to me. That alone is some crazy engineering. Really interested to hear more about this topic later!
I lived in Seattle for years, and it doesn't rain every day. And the total annual rainfall is no more than most northern cities. However, the skies are more often gray than sunny, so ittakes some getting used to.
I grew up in Everett my whole life. It's about 20 minutes north from Seattle without traffic. This video is really spot on especially for us people who don't live in the city of Seattle like I do. There are 4 million people in the Seattle metro area but only 700,000 actually live in the city limits. For us who have to commute to Seattle traffic is horrible. I would rather take the light rail. Also for going to Seattle for things like concerts or for going to the SeaTac international airport.
I love Seattle's light rail system. I've visited multiple times now and I always stay at Best Western near the Angle Lake Rail Station then take the train into Seattle and spend the day there. Makes it so much cheaper instead of spending like hundreds to stay downtown.
By their own estimates Sound Transit 4 is going to have less than a 1% impact on traffic in the city. The 1% value I believe was looking at north south traffic on I-5 from Greenlake to Everett. Building the massive light rail is not going to do anything to change traffic, it will just be a slow, very expensive alternative that very few people will actually use as a fraction of net commuters
@@nafnaf0 However, that would give a safe second option for locals to commute afterwards, making less use of their cars, automatically making them spend less money and so on. There are a lot of positive aspects to consider about this project so I believe it’s worthy. Long term investment and it will indirectly solve this problem. I believe the roads are shared by people who really need it and people that do not have an option and this project would give them a reason to live the standard mentioned above. But hey, that’s a point of view from a non-local. Hope you understand
Everyone talks about how much it costs to expand public transit, but never about much the alternative costs. Maintaining the road system that our car dependent cities are built on is bankrupting US cities. Not Just Bikes has great videos about this
Not to mention how damn expensive having a car is. I pay $100/mo for parking in a city, $50/mo for gas, $220/mo for car loan, roughly $200-500/year for maintenance/repairs, and $100/mo for insurance, and I have good car! And live in Minnesota where car insurance is relatively cheap! That's more than $500/mo to have a so-so car. Obscene. I'd rather dump my car and pay for a commuter pass, which costs $80-120/mo in places like NYC and Tokyo.
I was born in Seattle. The city has radically changed in the last 20 years. It's exciting to see some infrastructure growth after this once car-centric city turned down other funding proposals in recent decades. thanks for your reporting! BTW - thanks for properly identifying Puget Sound. One way you can tell if someone is new to town is if they say things like "The Five" in reference to I5 (Interstate 5), or, "The Puget Sound" instead of simply "Puget Sound," which is how locals refer to it. You nailed it -- you do you research! Well done.
The amazing thing is that the last time I lived in Seattle, 1991-92, the only passenger "rail" in town were the Seattle Center Monorail and the underground trains that connected the terminals at Sea-Tac Airport! What a chance in direction since then!
@@doubletopsecret1 I took that once to go down and visit MOHAI in its new location. Calling it a SLUT is kind of unfair, but that's what initials can do.
No mention of Seattle's zoning limitations which still overwhelmingly force single-family detached homes! Not converting light rail to light metro already hurts Seattle's light rail capacity and operating costs (driver shortage). Upgrading the Sounder rail service to be an all day regional rail can help. 54bn usd price reflects deep dysfunction within USA transit project management, especially in how more restrictions are foisted upon them than upon road expansion
$54bn is an insane amount of money for a light rail project like this. If costs for construction were the same in the US as in Europe, you could build a high-speed railway line from Vancouver to Portland going through Seattle for that kind of money, and if they were the same as in East Asia, you could extend it to San Diego and still have money left over.
I live in Seattle and my lord the traffic is gut wrenching during rush hour. It’s nice to see the rail lines going up everywhere, I just wish it was planned and approved 10+ years ago.
@B Babbich What’s great about here in Seattle is that the people who use transit here are across the income spectrum. I think this is why we’re investing so much in it, because a lot of people really want to use it.
Well if they wouldn't have spent millions on the failed monorail extension many years ago that they got passed but had no plans for, maybe things would be a little farther ahead in the game.
@B Babbich umm have you not heard of New York City ? New Yorkers do fine with their public transport uber and yellow cabs. Not every city has to copy Los Angeles you know.
I live in Seattle and was wondering when you’d do a piece on this 30 year mega project! It’s been crazy delayed, especially in the beginning, but it’s going steady now. I live in a newly opened light rail station north of downtown. It has been amazing, aa public commuter my commute time shortened from 15-30 minutes getting into the city for work!
and you shortened your carbon foot print which is making life uninhabitable to planet earth. BTW dont have kids its the best thing you can do for Planet Earth. 7.9 billion humans is destroying our ownly home.
I moved to Seattle in the mid 80's, and right from the start I could look at a map and think, why don't they run a rail line from Everett to Tacoma, another on the east side of the lake, and one across the water? It just seemed intuitive to me that you could service nearly the whole sound with light rail really easily, the way it's all laid out. I remember how Seattle would boast about their wonderful bus system, and I suppose it was pretty good but that's in part because there was no subway or light rail at all, so it had to be. Never thought it would take almost 50 years before they finally had that light rail system in place. I live in Federal Way now, and the light rail to here is nearing completion, pretty exciting to imagine what it'll be like when they finally finish it all.
I say it's the prettiest. There are other nice ones, but no other city in the US has a combination of pretty decent urban planning and beautiful scenery like Seattle.
@@Teen-Conor aye man, i know that's an issue, but unfortunately it's not just limited to America... It's a problem here in Europe too, maybe not to the same extent, but... it is what it is
The design of the city could play a role, let's bulldoze away major roads and parking lots for more transit systems, walkable and cycle friendly area along with stations, the goal is to make it as car free as possible
Biggest drawback to Seattle is the rising crime, open drug use, homeless people having more freedom then tax paying citizens, etc. No amount of infrastructure is going to fix cancer in that city.
@@michaellee7841 No, you're reaching, you definitely think there's no solution to anything. We are talking about infrastructure, which Seattle is progressing forward with, crime is not "infrastructure", it's bad people causing harm to others, want to change that? crack down on an area to do so
As a 8-year resident of the city, I can attest at how much the transit here has changed for the better. While not all projects have panned out, the light-rail system has been a beacon of success. I can go from the airport to north Seattle in about an hour on the light-rail, while that would be (easily) close to a 1.5 - 2 hour trip on any given day with the traffic we have here. I have never once felt the need to own a car while living here unless to travel abroad from the city. I love my city!
@@thetranya3589 I specifically mention WITH traffic. Also, good luck getting from SeaTac to Northgate in 30mins unless there is absolutely NO traffic. Ask yourself, when isn't there traffic nowadays? 3am?
Great video. Also worth noting that in 2017 we completed a $2.15 B project to replace two miles of waterfront double decker 1950's freeway with a two-lane n/s tunnel that runs directly under downtown. This not only eliminated a serious earthquake hazard but opened up space and created peace and quiet on our waterfront for the first time in generations. Despite our social struggles, the future in Seattle looks bright.
I see progress being made on the light rail construction out to Redmond all the time, I can't wait to be able to take the train all the way across the lake into Seattle!
I ride Seattle's light rail every day so much better than buses, they run like clockwork super efficient from point a to b, in fact I am heading to the Pioneer Square light rail station in 10 minutes, be home in Capitol Hill in a jiffy
I am loving the progress I have seen on the elevated rails up in Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace. Looking at the new tracks swoop over I-5 is pretty cool.
While you're enjoying your journey into the big city a fine group of gentlemen will ignore the payment kiosk and be heading the other direction to pillage the home depot, the parking garage, and your serene neighborhood.
It's a shame that Seattle rejected federal funding for transit back in the 70s; those funds instead went toward the creation of MARTA in Atlanta. They could be decades further ahead than they are, but are dreadfully-behind the curve in transportation, as with most American cities. Seattle and other cities desperately-need to revolutionize their approaches to land-use, eliminating counterproductive and restrictive zoning regulations to build the high-density housing they need, and liberate their selves from automobile-dependency. The car and the single-family home are not the future of the American city.
Taking people out of single-family homes, decreasing home ownership, and putting everyone into urban apartments and duplexes are not new ideas. They’re the same dumb, utopian, leftist ideas of social and urban planning that go back over a century. Unluckily for you and your dreams, the world is actually going the opposite way because of absurd tax and regulatory environments that drive people into suburban and rural areas. The pandemic has actually sped this up. Just look at the rise in property prices outside of major city centers like small towns in Maine and Connecticut.
@@johanfalk2875 You know people can own types of housing other than single-family, right? And that billions have comfortably lived in attached multi-family/multi-generational dwellings? How is this utopian or leftist in anyway? Do you know what those words mean?
This project has been defining my generation’s infrastructure upgrade for my city of Seattle my entire life and will continue to do so for any foreseeable future. It has been a huge political battle to get to today but as more of the network starts to come online people are realizing the tremendous value the light rail system will bring to the region. Thank you so much for highlighting this project with a B1M video!
@Doug Spooner So, replacing a high capacity high throughput train with low capacity cars on a single lane of traffic is a good idea? I'm guessing you are a fan of the Boring Company.
@Doug Spooner trains are proven lol. You’re saying pods are proven but trains arent? Just because car dependency has engendered unsustainable development patterns doesn’t mean we need to keep those patterns that make trains less feasible.
Fun fact! Seattle was supposed to get a subway system over a generation ago. The federal government was ready to pick up much of the tab. At the last minute, local governments pulled out of the project. Atlanta snapped up the federal money to build MARTA.
@@AlexDeChristian6323did you mention that the reason the Eval Republicans blocked the project was because the DemwiocRATS studied the 1 Billion that the government gave to WA state into a big fat 0! So even the Feds couldn’t justify giving any more money to the state… No I guess you didn’t.
They need to start destroying useless parking lots and fixing the awful zoning regulations in urban areas in addition to the expanding the transit system.
@Wonder Actually, people who dont want to be in their cars 24/7 to get around, and want to enjoy the outdoors and exercise, it's a good example of Amsterdam too
Thank you for featuring my hometown's rail project. I've been waiting for for this video for a while. As I understand it, this is the first time anyone has ever built rails on a floating bridge.
Minor edit to your map at 3:05: In Tacoma (lower left), that red line, the Tacoma Link or "T-Line" will also be extended, with the first phase known as the Hilltop Extension set to open later this year. Glad to see our region get a mention on the B1M!
I’m from Portland where we’ve got a decent light rail system (TriMet’s MAX light rail) and I think this is fantastic for those up north in Seattle. While the MAX isn’t perfect by any means, I totally prefer taking it over driving. Flying by traffic on the freeways on the Blue Line for $2.50 is something you really can’t beat :)
@@sm3675 Seriously. I was living in Wyoming, and while over there, I heard my home city was going to build bike lanes somewhere other than wealthy neighborhoods for once. When I got back home and looked at the bikes lanes, they made NO sense. They started and then disappeared, leading to nowhere. They were dangerous and ill-planned & a waste of money in an overtaxed city. I thought: “I should’ve known better than to get excited”.
This is all very exciting to me. I've long been a supporter of public transit and worked with the industry for several years as a marketing consultant. The only thing that troubles me here - beyond the usual challenges of time, money and usage - is the Cascadia Subduction Zone. It's a real concern to anyone living along the ocean in the Pacific Northwest. It sounds as if the designers and engineers have taken huge earthquakes and tsunamis into consideration; seismologists say that they are not a matter of if, but when.
Way back in the early 1900's, there were trolley lines stretching from Olympia to Everett. They didn't go very fast, but you could ride all day for a nickle and they were all electric. Lots of the tracks got buried under roadways when cars became common-place and trolleys were considered 'old hat'. Good to see they're digging up the old lines...
I am going to do everything in my power to use my future civil engineering degree in Seattle on these projects. This is truly inspiring and the reason I chose to pursue a career in civil engineering. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I’ve been a sub since around 50k and have loved every video I’ve seen. Keep up the great work!
@B Babbich My sister has lived in Seattle for 40 plus years. Whenever she comes to Denver, she loves to use our light rail and marvels at its 113 miles of track. Since we're just east of the Rocky Mountains, I point out how easy it is to build rail out here where it's flat and there's no water. She is very excited about the build-out of Seattle's rail infrastructure.
@B Babbich Portland did the right thing and started investing in their system in the 80s, before it became insanely expensive. Seattle voters needed a super majority to vote in commuter rail in the late 60s, but the measure failed. .
The hurdles this city has been through to even have a somewhat stable light rail system has been the bain of living here my whole life. I moved away for a short amount of time but now live right near a light rail station and it has made commuting through the city AMAZING. Can't wait for West Seattle and Ballard expansions. Those two areas desperately need it.
People not only want it in Seattle, they actually use it. I read that Dallas has the largest Light Rail System in the country and Seattle has already passed Dallas in annual ridership.
@@davidmeland5440 Since King Country Metro has one of the highest riderships in the country overall, it makes sense that the light rail service would greatly benefit from this. All the more better since the stations are placed in highly frequented locations on top of Line 1 running along the main north-south commuting corridor.
@@davidmeland5440an insane fact to me is that Seattle Link ridership - just Link 1 alone - is already 50% larger than Portland’s much more expansive MAX. The demand is here - we just need to allow ST to meet it
now if we start actually making medium density housing intermixed with stores on the first floors we could actually see Seattle and its suburbs become a very nice place to live.
Seattle and it’s suburbs are very nice places to live. It’s expensive if that’s what you mean, but it’s for a reason. The neighborhoods in most of seattle are perfect- gorgeous houses, walkable stores, parks, pretty sidewalks, etc.
@@desipardo1646 parts of Seattle and the suburbs, yes. Certainly not all. And that’s one of the main reasons why the parts that are the way you described are so expensive.
I live next to one of these new stations that opened a few months ago, so it was pretty cool to see a video about something I use every day. I will say, we give SoundTransit a lot of flak here in Seattle for some decisions, the main one being the suburban nature of the rail system rather while we still lack any plans for substantial rail lines inside the city itself. But it's nice and refreshing to see such a positive video about our transit system, and I'm glad it is impressive to others around the world!
Awesome to see this channel featuring my hometown. The rail expansion here is very exciting, it’s been a slow process but there are so many use cases it will unlock and should reduce our regions reliance on cars, which is substantial. It’s funny, we are so accustomed to driving across our floating bridges that we forget the engineering complexity involved. The 520 corridor project is really interesting, involving a multi stage rebuild of a floating bridge with an extensive freeway cap.
The light rail has already made it so much easier to go to the airport. Instead of having to drive all the way through Seattle to get to Sea Tac people that are coming from up north can stop at Northgate Mall and ride the light rail to SeaTac.
Seattle native here and I'm excited for this system to continue to expand! The opening of the Northgate link has already been pretty clutch for getting south with ease and the links up through Lynnwood are set to open in about two years.
I seen it a few days ago. It reminds me soooooo much of the Vancouver Sky train stations. I want to see a BIG beautiful park linked up with a light rail station.
I dont blame you, it's a gorgeous city, i moved from Portland to San Francisco 4 years ago and we do not envy Seattle, we have gorgeous weather all year round except for September which gets a little warm in the 80s.
Proud of Seattle for doing this. It's not perfect to say the least, but it's crucial in many ways in addition to being visionary at the national level.
I left Seattle in 1992, this appears to be a win for everybody. it was my adopted home for 12 years. good luck, seattle. hoping to get back eventually and see how you've done. how about those "Ms? #GOHAWKS
It makes no sense given population expectations, Many US cities could use a Parisian RER-style suburban network. Trams and LRT are great supplements but hardly significant people movers.
@@linesided Seattle has 4 million people while Brescia in Italy has 200k, yet it does have a metro system. With new technologies of automation and more flexible lay out you can actually build a rail line fairly inexpensively. You bring up RER as if it doesn’t require even more funds to build it. The issue is that Seattle’s system is designed very similarly to a regional metro such as nearby Vancouver sky train. Most of the system is grade separated so it truly wouldn’t cost that much to make it a light metro. Vancouver is smaller than Seattle, but it’s system outperforms virtually any other North American city on ridership. That just goes to show how important the design of a system is.
@@justsamoo3480 You're using the population of the entire Seattle MSA (Metropolitan statistical area), which is massive. To be exact, the area of the Seattle MSA is 5,872 sq mi (15,209 sq km)... meanwhile the entire city of Brescia is only 3 miles across. Even if you look at just the most urbanized part of Seattle, it's still over 60 miles from Everett to Tacoma. It's not feasible to build out a heavy rail metro system when the population is so spread out.
@@nicholasfu5937 Are you not listening? Seattle is using basically building infrastructure for a heavy metro line (literally 8 km of street running on the whole system), but using light rail vehicles. Fun fact the biggest cost on a transit system are stations and Seattle could have build smaller stations for a metro that would run trains every 90s instead of a long light rail vehicle that runs every 8 minutes. Also I think it’s stupid to extend the system all the way to Everett and Tacoma, those destinations can be served with good suburban rail. That would be much better for everyone involved. Right now Seattle is using tram vehicles, on what is basically a metro system to serve a purpose of suburban rail. That is stupid. There’s a reason why we have different types of modes for different purposes, which is something that cities continue to learn time and time again.
I live about a mile from a new station north of the city that will open next year. I can’t wait to have the option to leave my car at home for trips to downtown Seattle, sports, or the airport. Very exciting.
Go ahead and enjoy your mile long walk in any weather. Luckily, those ten trips to Seattle a year are really going to justify 52 billion dollars (which will probably be one hundred four billion dollars by 2040 if the Dems have anything to say about it). Wish you luck, you'll need it.
@@cestmoi1262 lol get out of here with your garbage, i'd rather pay for this than to invest in more highways. the economic benefits that good transit will bring to seattle far outweighs the cost.
@@cestmoi1262 Thanks for the well wishing. We will enjoy the light rail for decades as our city continues to grow and prosper by investing in infrastructure. Sounds like you should walk a couple miles yourself to cheer up.
@@jeff4son Sorry, I cheer up everytime I go for a drive in my Cadillac. Don't get me wrong, I love trains. Have an HO layout in my house with 51 engines and over 200 passenger/freight cars. Wouldn't plan a trip to Europe without a train ride. But for sight seeing throughout the country the train is cumbersome at best. You can't beat the convenience of a car.
@@cestmoi1262 Thank you for the unsolicited personal information, your comments make more sense now. Judging by your car of choice and toy train hobby, you are well outside the age demographic for someone who would be able to take advantage of a light rail system… and that’s ok. Seattle’s new transportation system is designed for people with jobs in the city who need to commute daily. Most are in the in the technology or biotech sectors. That’s not you, and that’s fine. Go drive your Cadillac, there are lots of open roads. Take care.
I ride it every day, it's great. Just wish it could decide whether it wants to be a metro or interurban system and commit to that. There should be way fewer grade crossings too. Guess Seattle will always play second fiddle to Vancouver when it comes to public transit.
@@AVeryRandomPerson the 4 grade crossings are incredibly frustrating. Might as well just go all out so you can automate it and have massively reduced operating costs while being able to make smaller stations, saving on construction costs as well. The ridership benefits would be huge too since you’d get a high off peak frequency.
This is likely going to change! If SB 5528 is passed, Seattle can invest in additional expansion projects on their own without the cooperation of the entire region covered by Sound Transit. This will likely mean existing projects within Seattle are completed sooner. More projects will be started with lots of infill stations and crosstown routes instead of long routes out into the suburbs like what is being built now.
First off, Thanks! I've been eagerly awaiting a Seattle episode for quite a while. The ST3 expansion is a bit of a misnomer. About half of the expanded map you were showing is still a part of ST2 (particularly the part going over the lake and into the Bellevue/Redmond area). ST3 was a bit of a bloated package, with pretty unequetable amenities provided. Affluent (white) areas such as Issaquah are receiving LRT services, while the more densely populated, poorer area of Renton/Kent are receiving a lone bus line (This area also happens to be predominantly Latino and Black, especially by comparison). The city of Everett will get expansion to the Boeing plant (which is good for moving workers), but the gross majority of the residents will not have meaningful access. I love my town & improved transit will make things even better. I just feel we as a region missed an opportunity to better utilize transit's mobility to help reconnect the neighborhoods and people groups who were separated by the freeway projects and zoning laws of previous generations.
Some important historical context: Seattle secured a commitment for federal funding for a rail rapid transit system in the early 1970s, but it was never built. Boeing, the domininant economic engine in the region at the time, was in crisis and the regional economy was in terrible shape. Despite the economic challenges, voters came within 2% of approving the project and providing the required regional funding. The economy recovered, but it took more than two decades to fund the transit network described in this video. The region is still suffering from the delay.
For real, I will say that lots of suburbs in the DFW area (Texas) have added a lot more sidewalks and biking lanes then used to so walking isn’t as bad. But investment into better infrastructure and more railways is a must…
What really needs change is R1 zoning laws. Those are the greatest bullshit of all. Build your cities differently and suddenly all the other problems become way easier to solve.
In Asia? Yes, possibly in East Asia like Japan and South Korea. In South and Southeast Asia, most public transport like bus and rail transit are still for the mid and low income classes.
Well, in the."good 'ol days" buying a new car was easy, and the only really heavy traffic was in NYC and Los Angeles. This was in my lifetime. I visited Seattle in the 80's and, except for the area around Microsoft, driving was a breeze..Times have changed.
@@garryferrington811 Times indeed have changed. It's almost like there's more people in these regions, leading to more car drivers, as road infrastructure and SFH developments are continually expanded to...making us more and more reliance on the car. The further we continue to lean into car dependency, the worse the traffic is going to get, not better. We need more forms of transportation, we need mixed use zoning to not be illegal, this is the only real way car traffic is going to reduce.
As a self proclaimed car enthusiast, I just wanted to share my interest in alternate forms of transportation. It has recently become quite apparent that _having_ to drive everywhere, isn't very fun at all. The constant expansions of stroads isn't ever going to ease the congestion. I'll admit, I've recently discovered NotJustBikes, and looking for a pedestrian friendly town/city in America is extremely hard. If there are any major, future projects that come up, that are more pedestrian/bicycle/train-friendly, I'd love to hear about it. Thanks!
An important development on this that I hoped you would mention is SB 5528, which has passed the WA State Senate and is making its way through the State House. This would allow subregions of the Sound Transit area to fund transit on their own without approval from the larger Sound Transit area. This would allow Seattle and other regions which really want light rail expansion to go full throttle without having to get votes from more anti-transit suburbs. It will speed up projects and allow the construction of new projects that serve Seattle much better than the current projects that have a decidedly commuter train philosophy.
@@tima9083 they didn't do it before because it would be illegal to do so, thus the need for a state law to be passed to allow it. Washington State, unlike some, regulates its own government authorities even more strictly than it regulates businesses, especially when it comes to taxes.
Conceivably, this could also allow Burien, Renton and Tukwila to fund a light rail spur that mirrors the current Metro Bus Rapid Ride line between those cities, connected to the spine at Tukwila International Blvd. Renton has already scoped out potential alignments.
Glad to see that Seattle is investing in new rail transit. I remember an abandoned trolley line along the water from my 2013 visit to the city, and some abandoned trolley tracks downtown, which was kind of sad to see. I did get to ride the Seattle Center Monorail though!
The old Seattle waterfront streetcar was shut down in 2005 because the barn the cars were stored and service in were torn down for a new Seattle Art Museum Sculpture Park. Then there was the the tear down of the Alaska Way viaduct. There are 2 newer Seattle streetcar lines that go from Belltown- South Lake Union and Pioneer Square-Central District-First Hill-Capital Hill. But frankly these streetcars routes are nothing but money pits.
The story of those abandoned trolley tracks is actually really interesting and sad! They were a pet project of a city councilmember in the 70s, and "temporarily" halted in 2012 (just missed 'em!) for the viaduct replacement project (which wouldn't break ground until more than a decade later). They ran replacement buses on the waterfront for a while, then moved that route uphill. Due to a cascading series of storage issues, some of the trains were sold and others are just living in a warehouse north of here indefinitely.
Great video! I hope you consider making a video about Montreal’s new REM light metro network currently under construction, opening in stages between 2022-2024.
This video honestly made me really really really mad (not at Seattle which should be lauded for being willing to invest this much money into infrastructure that will be literally life-changing for its citizens), but instead at the Metropolitan Council, the regional government and planning authority here in Minneapolis-St. Paul for its utter lack of vision and unwillingness to invest in the sort of infrastructure that will keep us from falling behind. The Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area has a population that is nearly that of Seattle-Tacoma (and was identical until the last 10 years or so), and in terms of economic importance as measured by Gross Regional Product and the various corporations that are headquartered in each metro area, they are the closest competitors to each other, along with Denver (which is significantly smaller than Minneapolis-St. Paul and Seattle). And despite that fact, while Seattle and Denver have embarked on efforts to build truly useful, and extensive rail networks, we have two light rail lines currently and while they both have very high ridership per mile for an American rail network, the fact is that the Metropolitan Council (which is unique in its ability to govern over an entire region and implement regional land-use and transportation planning, in fact only Portland, OR has a similar regional government although theirs is far more democratic than ours in that people vote for the leaders in it) has an embarrassing lack of vision, leaving us with the only new construction since the Green Line was completed in 2014 being a highway BRT line and some "arterial BRT" lines (aka improved buses with stop-light priority and permanent stations). The green line extension project was supposed to be completed in 2022 and now it is being pushed back towards 2027 with the cost increasing once again from the original cost of $1.2 billion to a new estimate of $2.75 billion USD, all for a rail line that goes to the wealthy suburbs where everyone already drives, when this money be far better spent constructing rail in neighborhoods where people actually use public transportation. Or if you're going to construct rail out far into the suburbs - attempting to construct regional rail network (which I think is a fantastic idea), it cannot be the trains used in light rail with their dramatically lower top speeds, because people will only take the train in the suburbs if the amount of time that it takes to get to their intended destination is at least comparable or even better than that of driving. If you're going to construct a 24-hour regional rail network, which is the solution to most American transportation issues, you must use electrified heavy rail trains as the French do with their RER systems and the Germans with their massive S-bahn systems. I just get so fucking frustrated seeing American cities always go for light rail rather than attempting to build a far more efficient, automated light Metro where it would be useful like in other developed countries or American cities attempting to use light rail in place of the far faster heavy rail vehicles that they should be using for Regional rail networks. Light rail and BRT are not the solution to all American transportation problems but most American cities act like they are.
You share a lot in common with Seattle that saw riots and occupied zones in both cities in 2020. To justify infrastructure on this level, you need to convince people it is worthwhile and affordable to live in long term and raise a family.
@@eriksanders7387 The population has been increasing.
2 ปีที่แล้ว +7
Please could you update you comment and break it down into paragraphs for readability? Though to the topic: US cities have been made so car centric in the last century that there needs to be a mindset shift. The US suffers from "NIMBY"ism, competing corporate lobbyists, old school thinking and a fear to do anything to upset car drivers. In many ways people are scared of change, but want change. It has been shown that low-density housing and the insistence on the car as a solution for everything is the best way to bleed a city dry. Even faced with that reality cities are slow to change things. Sometimes the problem comes from inside and sometimes it comes from state level, such in Texas, where the "TxDOT" insists Houston needs more highway, even if does not benefit people in the city and will only be a source of induced demand. It is ironic in a country where freedom of choice is demanded, there is often no alternative to the car, to allow for an alternative choice. I am just hoping to see a younger generation of voters, along with local businesses, going to the town halls and demanding positive change, rather than letting their cities decay due to an outdated mindset.
Human will is great, I truly like it when I see projects like these engaging with the local communities, when complete this project will positively impact the local economy. I just hope they continue to meet the deadline and be below budget. I hope the US collaborates with China and Japan to make sure these are quick and efficient.
Given the geopolitical situation I doubt the US will work closely together with the PRC on anything like this, but it would help if they looked beyond their own borders every once in a while and admitted that their expertise in building and running rail infrastructure is significantly less than that of France, Spain, Japan or South Korea.
I've lived in Seattle before so I know how bad the traffic can really get. The WFH during the pandemic really helped and now I only commute when needed but this should help my city loads!
The tricky if not questionable aspect of Seattle's rail expansion is that they're essentially using the equipment of light rail (Siemens S700 LRV) to do the job of a rapid transit system. If the city continues to grow I suspect at some point in the future this would become a bottleneck to the system's capacity and efficiency. In hindsight, having built a full blown heavy rail rapid transit system could've been a better plan instead. It seems that outside of the Rainier Valley segment of the Link system, the network is already fully grade separated on viaducts or tunnels like a rapid transit system as is... 0:41 The green line on this map actually shows the Sounder commuter rail, a diesel locomotive hauled push/pull train service with trips to downtown Seattle during morning rush and departures from downtown Seattle during the evening rush. There's essentially no regular weekend or off peak services (unless there's sporting events going on downtown) on this line and the trains share their tracks with BNSF freight traffic. The train is fun to ride if you like trains or wanna do some sightseeing along the Puget Sound, but it's just not a convenient option for people who wanna get places using transit. Here's how a ride on the Sounder feels like: th-cam.com/video/Wl3ovQfOeSQ/w-d-xo.html Sound Transit does deserve credit for operating a good BRT style express bus network with frequent and reliable service and dedicated infrastructure: th-cam.com/video/UtuTwxzPDWs/w-d-xo.html Their express bus service is arguably the best in the US.
One thing they don't mention is that we had trolley lines running along these exact same routes until the 1920s when they were purchased by oil and auto companies and dismantled. It sickens me to think of how much we're spending to rebuild the infrastructure we once already had in place.
I don’t even live in the us and I’m excited about it now. Congratulations to Seattle for being bold enough politically and deciding to embark upon this project.
I'm really confident that Seattle can provide safe train service. I mean Seattle is a shining star when it comes to small business and public safety, crime is at a minimum, and people here are happy. One things for sure; the ones in charge are getting richer. Life is good if you live in a gated community.
Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks etc. should pool money together to cover the budget shortfall since they're such avid proponents of the project and are partially responsible for Seattle's population boom plus it would be great PR
I love how they always mention Starbucks, but leave out Costco which is a Fortune 20 company and probably the most well run retail company in US history.
The monorail was introduced in 1963 with the Seattle World's Fair. Had the idea been taken up then, there wouldn't be such a scramble now. Glad to see "forward thinking" finally acted upon 60 years later! Seattle can take a look at how the Chinese engineers have managed train making. Forward thinking and shared thinking can work wonders.
If I remember correctly this is where the RTA Tax came from forcing you to spend a ton of $$$$ on your license Tabs every year and took a lot of people by shock when they went to renew there tabs and it would cost $300-$900 or more depending on the year and value of your vehicle. A lot of people dont even live in an area where the light rail will impact them but still forced to pay for it.
Seattle is growing due to people moving from California but in reality Seattle is a hard place to live long term. Short summers, rain every day all day for most of the rest of the year accept in winter when everything freezes over and the state doesn't have proper equipment to treat the streets and plow so it becomes extremely dangerous to drive. Gray depressing skies and cool temps most of the year make it depressing and the reason why many move away eventually. Never mind the homelessness, crime, traffic, and housing costs.
I feel like everytime there's a video made relating to public transport expansion in the USA, it sounds expensive, undesirable and impossible to build quickly. How is it that other Asian cities supposedly "third world" are building these at a much faster pace?
Oh boy cant wait for this to be a mid to no success because seattle is 81% single family homes by zoning laws therefore everything is extremely spread out
@@ddurlon They could use imminent domain to build large developments around stations, and rezone the areas around there to higher density. Combine that with those cars you can rent by the hour and it wouldn't be hard to meet most people's needs.
Because any big construction project in America is loaded with middlemen who all cost money without adding any value. I would gladly hire a Japanese company to build the whole thing, they would save us a ton of money.
What I have always wondered about sound transit is, if they are putting all of their trains on elevated viaducts or tunnels, why don’t they just put normal subway cars on them? What they are doing is going through all the costs of building a subway system, but instead of actually building a subway system, they are building a separated tram system, which is way inferior.
More like north American cities didn't exist 200 years ago at all, Europeans and asian cities have existed for sometimes mellenia. Not to mention population growth America over the last hundred years has grown by 333%+ meanwhile a country like Germany has only grown by about 33% over a hundred years. It's definitely comparing apples or oranges.
@@seanthe100 Reacting rather than planning ahead has nothing whatsoever to do with the age of a city or culture. "Comparing X to Y" seems to be the go-to excuse for conservative Americans when people point out a shortfall or critique something, maybe if you spent less time making excuses and more time acting you wouldn't need to make said excuses in the first place?
I love the USA but now living in Europe. The USA needs to step up its game with public transportation. In Spain I can go from a major city to a small town on high speed train without a need of a car. The USA has depended way to much on cars and highways and I believe it's time to change that.
Yeah how does that happen? In Germany after I landed, I was able to take a train to the nearest town to my destination that had a station. From there I had to pay 50€ for a taxi to drive to this town in the middle of nowhere. Of course that was another 50€ going back to the station when I left. I feel like some areas with low population density just won’t be accessible by train because there’s not enough customers to justify the cost of building a rail line to it.
I've lived in the Seattle area for 8 years now. It has a lot of problems like any large city but I love it and don't ever plan on leaving. It's just a wonderful city and one of the most beautiful anywhere in the world. The drugs and homelessness are increasing at rapid rates and are definitely something that needs to be addressed, again like most cities. It isn't for everyone but I think it is wonderful. I'm still skeptical about how much the trains will help as we Americans love our cars. I don't work in the city so I won't be using them on a regular basis but if they are convenient for what I'm doing, I will certainly give them a try.
Waking up and breakfasting with a B1M video in the background makes every wednesday morning a lot better!
On top American cities + infrastructure projects 😍
Now I know what your next Cities Skylines video will be about
So true
It's the fucking life
You breastfeed with a B1M video in the morning, so don't you mean, you and your kid watch B1M videos in the morning, together?
When cities skylines In b1m cross paths
just imagine a HSR line that connects Vancouver, Seattle and Portland. Would be a game changer in the Pacific Northwest.
I’d love to see a bunch of HSR lines across North America… having one connecting my city of Indianapolis to Chicago would be such a game changer for us too.
As much as I agree with this idea, it won't happen. The airline lobby and automobile lobby are too powerful, and they'll pump as many resources as they can into opposing the project, not to mention loads of "environmental regulations" and "land acquisition issues" and "union disputes" that they might come up with during the construction. Look at how California has spent over a decade trying and failing to build even _little segments_ of their HSR line while at the same time going massively overbudget and spending years completely stalled out.
The only one that I see having a realistic change of finishing is Florida's Brightline rail, but that one barely even goes 200 km/h - it's not high speed.
The US went from, "Not in my backyard" to, "Don't build anything".
@@martianbuilder5945 There really needs to be something done about how inefficient unions are. Rail will offset far more carbon emissions than the auto industry will be able to. That seems like as good a reason as any to protest for it. The problem with Brightline is the lack of grade separated crossings. It's also a source of a lot of suicides. With regard to land acquisition, they need to be more involved in sharing the profits of projects around stations, so they can use that to help pay for the purchases. I'm sure I'm over simplifying things, but if the rules are causing the trouble, then maybe it's time to change the rules.
Cascades HSR! Let's make it happen -A Vancouverite
I spoke to the lead engineer for the rail on a floating bridge and how they worked. They keep a sample of it in the office. Amazing design, the whole team was really proud and honored to work on groundbreaking engineering.
Another thing worth mentioning is that Seattle is doing this all through voted on initiatives piece by piece because the Washington State constitution prevents gas taxes from being used for transit, and this is on top of a state with no income tax. It really is a miracle and honestly sheer will power that has led to the light rail being built because finding the funding for it has been extremely difficult to say the least.
In my opinion, that's the way to do it. Fuck income taxes. Get all your money from property tax and sales tax.
Look how Hong Kong does it. They build large mixed use complexes around the stations and profit off them which pays for expansion of the network.
@@Jay-jq6bl In Hong Kong, all public transport is provided by private companies* who reinvest profits back into public transport development.
*the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation is owned by the HK Government who has given the Mass Transit Railway Corporation exclusive rights to provide all services on the network, of which the MTRC is 80% owned by the HK Government and 20% owned by stock market investors of which the majority of revenue comes from large-scale property developments mostly centred around MTR railway stations which act as transport hubs for busy commuters
@wclifton968 A government owned company is private? Wow today I learned.
@@stevenirby5576 I say fuck property taxes!
I've been working on the light rail for the past 5 year in Bellevue and in Mountlake Terrace. We just finished the bridge shown at 1:07. Pretty awesome project and I think it will be a fun ride over I-5. Projects like this are why I got into construction and I'm proud to be part of it.
Good Job Aaron! We're all thankful for your contribution.
You are the backbone of this city's future! Thank you so much
Thank you but can you explain how come Japanese build roads, bridges, rails etc faster than us?
Thank you sir
@@mark_tillman seeing as how I've never been to Japan let alone worked there that would be a no. In the US a project this size has to get political backing, funding, design, environmental impact studies, property purchased from private landowners and multiple municipalities, put the design out to bid to a builder, award the bid, construction, and pass a ton of rail certifications.
Man, wish more cities did this. I recently visited Seattle and their public transit wasn't that bad as it is. While I was there, a friend took their car from the same place I was while I took the pub transit to meet them at a different location and I beat them there by a whole 10+ minutes. If my city didn't have rock hard ground or heat (as it rises), I would be sure we would have more public transit that was NOT on traffic level. Glad Seattle is investing more in something that works well for larger cities.
Despite all of these bots spouting nonsense, the public transit honestly isn't that bad. The King County Metro network is pretty vast so it's pretty simple to get to where you need to go if you're willing look through their routes. Link (Line 1) also has one of the highest light rail riderships in the country and has almost fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels (1.886m monthly riders currently vs. 2.292m monthly riders in Feb 2020).
@@TheTikeySauce Well my city has shit public transit.
Los Angeles is building even more public rail transit than Seattle. And, will have a HSR connection in the future.
@@poestis474Don't worry, my citie's Paris, so it sounds cute hearing about Seattle :>
A floating bridge for a train, over a lake, is pretty mental to me. That alone is some crazy engineering. Really interested to hear more about this topic later!
The research and design would be half the cost of structure. It’d be better if they went with a conventional bridge.
They already have 2 floating bridges
It not only has to be a bridge - it also has to be a boat and it will be built by the lowest bidder.
@@coke8077 lake Washington is deep af you can't build a traditional bridge over that lake
@yo yo that's democrats for you, too busy fighting over genders to actually focus on the important things
My guy still making the best documentaries on buildings and infrastructure.
@@Nicole-mn9oy ok nicole
But it's like 30% fluff and ads
I dgaf about Autodesk most ppl don't this channel has gone way downhill
no, he's my guy.
I'm impressed that you found this much footage of Seattle with the sun out.
An no homeless tents
Don’t forget… rains everyday ☔️
It is always grey skies here. There is never a day without rain, go live somewhere else! PLEASE never come here, or move here!
I lived in Seattle for years, and it doesn't rain every day. And the total annual rainfall is no more than most northern cities. However, the skies are more often gray than sunny, so ittakes some getting used to.
Seattle actually gets less rain than cities like New York.
I grew up in Everett my whole life. It's about 20 minutes north from Seattle without traffic. This video is really spot on especially for us people who don't live in the city of Seattle like I do. There are 4 million people in the Seattle metro area but only 700,000 actually live in the city limits. For us who have to commute to Seattle traffic is horrible. I would rather take the light rail. Also for going to Seattle for things like concerts or for going to the SeaTac international airport.
Local light rail transit is much more beneficial to society than something like California high speed rail
I love Seattle's light rail system. I've visited multiple times now and I always stay at Best Western near the Angle Lake Rail Station then take the train into Seattle and spend the day there. Makes it so much cheaper instead of spending like hundreds to stay downtown.
I'm here in Seattle. I'm so glad B1m finally did a segment here. The traffic here is awful and the extended railway would be a huge plus.
By their own estimates Sound Transit 4 is going to have less than a 1% impact on traffic in the city. The 1% value I believe was looking at north south traffic on I-5 from Greenlake to Everett. Building the massive light rail is not going to do anything to change traffic, it will just be a slow, very expensive alternative that very few people will actually use as a fraction of net commuters
@@nafnaf0 However, that would give a safe second option for locals to commute afterwards, making less use of their cars, automatically making them spend less money and so on. There are a lot of positive aspects to consider about this project so I believe it’s worthy. Long term investment and it will indirectly solve this problem. I believe the roads are shared by people who really need it and people that do not have an option and this project would give them a reason to live the standard mentioned above. But hey, that’s a point of view from a non-local. Hope you understand
Are you happy that the initial segment of the rail project FINALLY wrapped up a decade late and billions overbudget?
@@nafnaf0 nonsense
@@alooga555 under budget and before schedule
Everyone talks about how much it costs to expand public transit, but never about much the alternative costs. Maintaining the road system that our car dependent cities are built on is bankrupting US cities. Not Just Bikes has great videos about this
@Matthew Morycinski yes!
As an American. I have given up. We deserve what we get.
False, leftists are bankrupting cities.
@@chrollo7102 CHINA!!!!
Not to mention how damn expensive having a car is. I pay $100/mo for parking in a city, $50/mo for gas, $220/mo for car loan, roughly $200-500/year for maintenance/repairs, and $100/mo for insurance, and I have good car! And live in Minnesota where car insurance is relatively cheap! That's more than $500/mo to have a so-so car. Obscene. I'd rather dump my car and pay for a commuter pass, which costs $80-120/mo in places like NYC and Tokyo.
I was born in Seattle. The city has radically changed in the last 20 years. It's exciting to see some infrastructure growth after this once car-centric city turned down other funding proposals in recent decades. thanks for your reporting! BTW - thanks for properly identifying Puget Sound. One way you can tell if someone is new to town is if they say things like "The Five" in reference to I5 (Interstate 5), or, "The Puget Sound" instead of simply "Puget Sound," which is how locals refer to it. You nailed it -- you do you research! Well done.
“The 5” is a California-ism. Source: I’m a Californian now in Seattle and have been guilty of this!
The amazing thing is that the last time I lived in Seattle, 1991-92, the only passenger "rail" in town were the Seattle Center Monorail and the underground trains that connected the terminals at Sea-Tac Airport! What a chance in direction since then!
Don’t forget 2007’s The SLUT. The South Lake Union Trolly.
@@doubletopsecret1 I took that once to go down and visit MOHAI in its new location. Calling it a SLUT is kind of unfair, but that's what initials can do.
No mention of Seattle's zoning limitations which still overwhelmingly force single-family detached homes! Not converting light rail to light metro already hurts Seattle's light rail capacity and operating costs (driver shortage). Upgrading the Sounder rail service to be an all day regional rail can help.
54bn usd price reflects deep dysfunction within USA transit project management, especially in how more restrictions are foisted upon them than upon road expansion
building SFH next to high use rail stations is absolutely insane and stupid
$54bn is an insane amount of money for a light rail project like this. If costs for construction were the same in the US as in Europe, you could build a high-speed railway line from Vancouver to Portland going through Seattle for that kind of money, and if they were the same as in East Asia, you could extend it to San Diego and still have money left over.
@C. V. I know, I'm just comparing costs for grand rail projects, not suggesting that it would be an alternative to ST3.
They are building train stations that will be used by a few dozen people. Just million dollar homes and tweakers.
Yup, check out this other video on the subject: th-cam.com/video/SfsCniN7Nsc/w-d-xo.html
I live in Seattle and my lord the traffic is gut wrenching during rush hour. It’s nice to see the rail lines going up everywhere, I just wish it was planned and approved 10+ years ago.
If only forward thrust had been approved decades ago - Seattle would already have a system similar to DC.
@@RipCityBassWorks and if voters in the 70's were smart we could of had a vast metro system too
@B Babbich What’s great about here in Seattle is that the people who use transit here are across the income spectrum. I think this is why we’re investing so much in it, because a lot of people really want to use it.
Well if they wouldn't have spent millions on the failed monorail extension many years ago that they got passed but had no plans for, maybe things would be a little farther ahead in the game.
@B Babbich umm have you not heard of New York City ? New Yorkers do fine with their public transport uber and yellow cabs. Not every city has to copy Los Angeles you know.
I love this project. I've lived in seattle my whole life and to see it finally get a light rail system is a dream come true
do you actually love it?
I live in Seattle and was wondering when you’d do a piece on this 30 year mega project! It’s been crazy delayed, especially in the beginning, but it’s going steady now. I live in a newly opened light rail station north of downtown. It has been amazing, aa public commuter my commute time shortened from 15-30 minutes getting into the city for work!
and you shortened your carbon foot print which is making life uninhabitable to planet earth. BTW dont have kids its the best thing you can do for Planet Earth. 7.9 billion humans is destroying our ownly home.
I moved to Seattle in the mid 80's, and right from the start I could look at a map and think, why don't they run a rail line from Everett to Tacoma, another on the east side of the lake, and one across the water? It just seemed intuitive to me that you could service nearly the whole sound with light rail really easily, the way it's all laid out. I remember how Seattle would boast about their wonderful bus system, and I suppose it was pretty good but that's in part because there was no subway or light rail at all, so it had to be. Never thought it would take almost 50 years before they finally had that light rail system in place. I live in Federal Way now, and the light rail to here is nearing completion, pretty exciting to imagine what it'll be like when they finally finish it all.
A B1M episode on my hometown?! 😍 I take these trains almost every day!
I always thought Seattle was one of the prettiest big American cities.
*I still stand by that*
I say it's the prettiest. There are other nice ones, but no other city in the US has a combination of pretty decent urban planning and beautiful scenery like Seattle.
if you like homeless tents in the middle of downtown.
@@Teen-Conor Bro I live in Atlanta, there is scant the amount of homeless people that I would not be used to.
@@Teen-Conor aye man, i know that's an issue, but unfortunately it's not just limited to America...
It's a problem here in Europe too, maybe not to the same extent, but... it is what it is
Yeah Seattle is gross right now. Definitely going through some growing pains.
The biggest drawback of Seattle was lack of rail transport. Excited to see how this goes!
The design of the city could play a role, let's bulldoze away major roads and parking lots for more transit systems, walkable and cycle friendly area along with stations, the goal is to make it as car free as possible
Biggest drawback to Seattle is the rising crime, open drug use, homeless people having more freedom then tax paying citizens, etc. No amount of infrastructure is going to fix cancer in that city.
@@michaellee7841 you wanna calm down a bit my man?
@@michaellee7841 No, you're reaching, you definitely think there's no solution to anything. We are talking about infrastructure, which Seattle is progressing forward with, crime is not "infrastructure", it's bad people causing harm to others, want to change that? crack down on an area to do so
@@Racko. . According to President Brandon everything is infrastructure
As a 8-year resident of the city, I can attest at how much the transit here has changed for the better. While not all projects have panned out, the light-rail system has been a beacon of success. I can go from the airport to north Seattle in about an hour on the light-rail, while that would be (easily) close to a 1.5 - 2 hour trip on any given day with the traffic we have here. I have never once felt the need to own a car while living here unless to travel abroad from the city. I love my city!
sorry, the use of the word beacon is not allowed. thx, The TH-cam Team.
Absolutely incorrect about the transit times. Non rush hour you can get from the airport to Northgate in less than half an hour by car.
@@thetranya3589 I specifically mention WITH traffic. Also, good luck getting from SeaTac to Northgate in 30mins unless there is absolutely NO traffic. Ask yourself, when isn't there traffic nowadays? 3am?
Great video. Also worth noting that in 2017 we completed a $2.15 B project to replace two miles of waterfront double decker 1950's freeway with a two-lane n/s tunnel that runs directly under downtown. This not only eliminated a serious earthquake hazard but opened up space and created peace and quiet on our waterfront for the first time in generations. Despite our social struggles, the future in Seattle looks bright.
I see progress being made on the light rail construction out to Redmond all the time, I can't wait to be able to take the train all the way across the lake into Seattle!
I ride Seattle's light rail every day so much better than buses, they run like clockwork super efficient from point a to b, in fact I am heading to the Pioneer Square light rail station in 10 minutes, be home in Capitol Hill in a jiffy
I am loving the progress I have seen on the elevated rails up in Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace. Looking at the new tracks swoop over I-5 is pretty cool.
While you're enjoying your journey into the big city a fine group of gentlemen will ignore the payment kiosk and be heading the other direction to pillage the home depot, the parking garage, and your serene neighborhood.
@@kingboagart899 This doesn't happen, you're just being racist.
@@TheRCish Criminals seek ease and opportunity. Race has nothing to do with it.
It's a shame that Seattle rejected federal funding for transit back in the 70s; those funds instead went toward the creation of MARTA in Atlanta. They could be decades further ahead than they are, but are dreadfully-behind the curve in transportation, as with most American cities. Seattle and other cities desperately-need to revolutionize their approaches to land-use, eliminating counterproductive and restrictive zoning regulations to build the high-density housing they need, and liberate their selves from automobile-dependency. The car and the single-family home are not the future of the American city.
Commie bot
@@acommentator69 oooo wanting affordable housing is communism
As a metro ATLIEN....I am Jealous of this!!!!
Taking people out of single-family homes, decreasing home ownership, and putting everyone into urban apartments and duplexes are not new ideas. They’re the same dumb, utopian, leftist ideas of social and urban planning that go back over a century. Unluckily for you and your dreams, the world is actually going the opposite way because of absurd tax and regulatory environments that drive people into suburban and rural areas. The pandemic has actually sped this up. Just look at the rise in property prices outside of major city centers like small towns in Maine and Connecticut.
@@johanfalk2875 You know people can own types of housing other than single-family, right? And that billions have comfortably lived in attached multi-family/multi-generational dwellings? How is this utopian or leftist in anyway? Do you know what those words mean?
This project has been defining my generation’s infrastructure upgrade for my city of Seattle my entire life and will continue to do so for any foreseeable future. It has been a huge political battle to get to today but as more of the network starts to come online people are realizing the tremendous value the light rail system will bring to the region.
Thank you so much for highlighting this project with a B1M video!
@@Noviomagus024 it will
@Doug Spooner So, replacing a high capacity high throughput train with low capacity cars on a single lane of traffic is a good idea? I'm guessing you are a fan of the Boring Company.
@Doug Spooner trains are proven lol. You’re saying pods are proven but trains arent? Just because car dependency has engendered unsustainable development patterns doesn’t mean we need to keep those patterns that make trains less feasible.
@Doug Spooner Proven how? Do you have any examples of a PRT system in application and at scale?
What political battle? Don’t democrats have super majority in WA?
Fun fact! Seattle was supposed to get a subway system over a generation ago. The federal government was ready to pick up much of the tab. At the last minute, local governments pulled out of the project. Atlanta snapped up the federal money to build MARTA.
IT WAS REPUBLICANS WHO BLOCKED THE PROJECT, AS USUAL.
i still see boomers on facebook (with sunglasses in truck profile pic) complaining about rails and buses, its absolutely bonkers
@@AlexDeChristian6323did you mention that the reason the Eval Republicans blocked the project was because the DemwiocRATS studied the 1 Billion that the government gave to WA state into a big fat 0! So even the Feds couldn’t justify giving any more money to the state… No I guess you didn’t.
this could be a half hour ep, their expansion is crazy
They need to start destroying useless parking lots and fixing the awful zoning regulations in urban areas in addition to the expanding the transit system.
This^^
Which is what they may do, I’m all for it and move past this sickening car centric idea. It’s bad for pedestrians who want to walk and cyclists
@@Racko. Oh please you wouldnt have ANYTHING without that infrastructure lol. Amazing how ignorant some people can be.
@@Racko. It basically comes off like an a acute case of affluenza. You know who is walking and riding bicycles? People with nothing to do!
@Wonder Actually, people who dont want to be in their cars 24/7 to get around, and want to enjoy the outdoors and exercise, it's a good example of Amsterdam too
Thank you for featuring my hometown's rail project. I've been waiting for for this video for a while. As I understand it, this is the first time anyone has ever built rails on a floating bridge.
You created an aging Gordon Freeman in the Sims? Fantastich!
ST made a pretty interesting video about the bridge portion: th-cam.com/video/bHpVREKbOzE/w-d-xo.html
Minor edit to your map at 3:05: In Tacoma (lower left), that red line, the Tacoma Link or "T-Line" will also be extended, with the first phase known as the Hilltop Extension set to open later this year. Glad to see our region get a mention on the B1M!
I’ve seen them building it, from SeaTac to my hometown Redmond. It’ll be a game-changer once complete
I’m from Portland where we’ve got a decent light rail system (TriMet’s MAX light rail) and I think this is fantastic for those up north in Seattle. While the MAX isn’t perfect by any means, I totally prefer taking it over driving. Flying by traffic on the freeways on the Blue Line for $2.50 is something you really can’t beat :)
Love seeing my region represented on this channel. I watch this channel consistently for the last 2 years!
This is exciting. More US cities should invest in public transportation.
And they should also build proper cycling infrastructure.
@@Benny_000 The city next to where I live just added bicycle lanes but there not very common in the US.
@@RoccosVideos of course. My town is full of bike lanes, but they're dangerous, thin, and don't connect where people need them.
@@sm3675 Seriously. I was living in Wyoming, and while over there, I heard my home city was going to build bike lanes somewhere other than wealthy neighborhoods for once. When I got back home and looked at the bikes lanes, they made NO sense. They started and then disappeared, leading to nowhere. They were dangerous and ill-planned & a waste of money in an overtaxed city. I thought: “I should’ve known better than to get excited”.
In Phoenix area out light rail has not done much. Very expensive and only serves tiny ridership.
This is all very exciting to me. I've long been a supporter of public transit and worked with the industry for several years as a marketing consultant. The only thing that troubles me here - beyond the usual challenges of time, money and usage - is the Cascadia Subduction Zone. It's a real concern to anyone living along the ocean in the Pacific Northwest. It sounds as if the designers and engineers have taken huge earthquakes and tsunamis into consideration; seismologists say that they are not a matter of if, but when.
Way back in the early 1900's, there were trolley lines stretching from Olympia to Everett.
They didn't go very fast, but you could ride all day for a nickle and they were all electric.
Lots of the tracks got buried under roadways when cars became common-place and trolleys were considered 'old hat'.
Good to see they're digging up the old lines...
I am going to do everything in my power to use my future civil engineering degree in Seattle on these projects. This is truly inspiring and the reason I chose to pursue a career in civil engineering. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
I’ve been a sub since around 50k and have loved every video I’ve seen. Keep up the great work!
Hooray! A new B1M! Lots of exciting new infrastructure to talk about!
Lived in the Seattle area up until March 2020.
Glad they're catching up to cities like Portland and Boston in coverage and scope. 👍
@B Babbich My sister has lived in Seattle for 40 plus years. Whenever she comes to Denver, she loves to use our light rail and marvels at its 113 miles of track. Since we're just east of the Rocky Mountains, I point out how easy it is to build rail out here where it's flat and there's no water. She is very excited about the build-out of Seattle's rail infrastructure.
Where did you move too
@B Babbich Portland did the right thing and started investing in their system in the 80s, before it became insanely expensive. Seattle voters needed a super majority to vote in commuter rail in the late 60s, but the measure failed. .
The hurdles this city has been through to even have a somewhat stable light rail system has been the bain of living here my whole life. I moved away for a short amount of time but now live right near a light rail station and it has made commuting through the city AMAZING. Can't wait for West Seattle and Ballard expansions. Those two areas desperately need it.
People not only want it in Seattle, they actually use it. I read that Dallas has the largest Light Rail System in the country and Seattle has already passed Dallas in annual ridership.
@@davidmeland5440 Since King Country Metro has one of the highest riderships in the country overall, it makes sense that the light rail service would greatly benefit from this. All the more better since the stations are placed in highly frequented locations on top of Line 1 running along the main north-south commuting corridor.
@@davidmeland5440an insane fact to me is that Seattle Link ridership - just Link 1 alone - is already 50% larger than Portland’s much more expansive MAX.
The demand is here - we just need to allow ST to meet it
The light rail getting to SeaTac airport has been amazing. Airport>Train>Ferry to Bainbridge Island is a nice time is actually enjoyable.
So great to see a video about a project in my home state! The light rail upgrade is a serious game changer for a lot of us Washingtonian's.
now if we start actually making medium density housing intermixed with stores on the first floors we could actually see Seattle and its suburbs become a very nice place to live.
I’m pretty sure that’s what the giant Northgate redevelopment project is all about.
Seattle and it’s suburbs are very nice places to live. It’s expensive if that’s what you mean, but it’s for a reason. The neighborhoods in most of seattle are perfect- gorgeous houses, walkable stores, parks, pretty sidewalks, etc.
@@desipardo1646 parts of Seattle and the suburbs, yes. Certainly not all. And that’s one of the main reasons why the parts that are the way you described are so expensive.
I live next to one of these new stations that opened a few months ago, so it was pretty cool to see a video about something I use every day. I will say, we give SoundTransit a lot of flak here in Seattle for some decisions, the main one being the suburban nature of the rail system rather while we still lack any plans for substantial rail lines inside the city itself. But it's nice and refreshing to see such a positive video about our transit system, and I'm glad it is impressive to others around the world!
Awesome to see this channel featuring my hometown. The rail expansion here is very exciting, it’s been a slow process but there are so many use cases it will unlock and should reduce our regions reliance on cars, which is substantial.
It’s funny, we are so accustomed to driving across our floating bridges that we forget the engineering complexity involved. The 520 corridor project is really interesting, involving a multi stage rebuild of a floating bridge with an extensive freeway cap.
The light rail has already made it so much easier to go to the airport. Instead of having to drive all the way through Seattle to get to Sea Tac people that are coming from up north can stop at Northgate Mall and ride the light rail to SeaTac.
Seattle native here and I'm excited for this system to continue to expand! The opening of the Northgate link has already been pretty clutch for getting south with ease and the links up through Lynnwood are set to open in about two years.
I seen it a few days ago. It reminds me soooooo much of the Vancouver Sky train stations. I want to see a BIG beautiful park linked up with a light rail station.
I'm from New York and I love Seattle ❤ .
Thanks you.
I dont blame you, it's a gorgeous city, i moved from Portland to San Francisco 4 years ago and we do not envy Seattle, we have gorgeous weather all year round except for September which gets a little warm in the 80s.
I love your videos, this is the best Chanel on this platform by far!! Keep going your great work 📈
Proud of Seattle for doing this. It's not perfect to say the least, but it's crucial in many ways in addition to being visionary at the national level.
Being a Seattle native I see how crowded it's getting.
I left Seattle in 1992, this appears to be a win for everybody. it was my adopted home for 12 years. good luck, seattle. hoping to get back eventually and see how you've done. how about those "Ms? #GOHAWKS
Was waiting for this video all week 😭
Building a light rail instead of a heavy rail is a missed opportunity. They should spend more upfront to get as much speed and capacity as possible.
It makes no sense given population expectations, Many US cities could use a Parisian RER-style suburban network. Trams and LRT are great supplements but hardly significant people movers.
@@linesided Seattle has 4 million people while Brescia in Italy has 200k, yet it does have a metro system. With new technologies of automation and more flexible lay out you can actually build a rail line fairly inexpensively. You bring up RER as if it doesn’t require even more funds to build it.
The issue is that Seattle’s system is designed very similarly to a regional metro such as nearby Vancouver sky train. Most of the system is grade separated so it truly wouldn’t cost that much to make it a light metro. Vancouver is smaller than Seattle, but it’s system outperforms virtually any other North American city on ridership. That just goes to show how important the design of a system is.
@@justsamoo3480 You're using the population of the entire Seattle MSA (Metropolitan statistical area), which is massive. To be exact, the area of the Seattle MSA is 5,872 sq mi (15,209 sq km)... meanwhile the entire city of Brescia is only 3 miles across. Even if you look at just the most urbanized part of Seattle, it's still over 60 miles from Everett to Tacoma. It's not feasible to build out a heavy rail metro system when the population is so spread out.
@@nicholasfu5937 Are you not listening? Seattle is using basically building infrastructure for a heavy metro line (literally 8 km of street running on the whole system), but using light rail vehicles. Fun fact the biggest cost on a transit system are stations and Seattle could have build smaller stations for a metro that would run trains every 90s instead of a long light rail vehicle that runs every 8 minutes. Also I think it’s stupid to extend the system all the way to Everett and Tacoma, those destinations can be served with good suburban rail. That would be much better for everyone involved.
Right now Seattle is using tram vehicles, on what is basically a metro system to serve a purpose of suburban rail. That is stupid. There’s a reason why we have different types of modes for different purposes, which is something that cities continue to learn time and time again.
@@justsamoo3480 metro Vancouver is nearly the same size
I live about a mile from a new station north of the city that will open next year.
I can’t wait to have the option to leave my car at home for trips to downtown Seattle, sports, or the airport. Very exciting.
Go ahead and enjoy your mile long walk in any weather. Luckily, those ten trips to Seattle a year are really going to justify 52 billion dollars (which will probably be one hundred four billion dollars by 2040 if the Dems have anything to say about it). Wish you luck, you'll need it.
@@cestmoi1262 lol get out of here with your garbage, i'd rather pay for this than to invest in more highways. the economic benefits that good transit will bring to seattle far outweighs the cost.
@@cestmoi1262 Thanks for the well wishing. We will enjoy the light rail for decades as our city continues to grow and prosper by investing in infrastructure.
Sounds like you should walk a couple miles yourself to cheer up.
@@jeff4son Sorry, I cheer up everytime I go for a drive in my Cadillac. Don't get me wrong, I love trains. Have an HO layout in my house with 51 engines and over 200 passenger/freight cars. Wouldn't plan a trip to Europe without a train ride. But for sight seeing throughout the country the train is cumbersome at best. You can't beat the convenience of a car.
@@cestmoi1262 Thank you for the unsolicited personal information, your comments make more sense now.
Judging by your car of choice and toy train hobby, you are well outside the age demographic for someone who would be able to take advantage of a light rail system… and that’s ok.
Seattle’s new transportation system is designed for people with jobs in the city who need to commute daily. Most are in the in the technology or biotech sectors.
That’s not you, and that’s fine.
Go drive your Cadillac, there are lots of open roads.
Take care.
B1M is a solid channel. Never a bad video on here!
They did one clunker.....The Engineering Behind Seth Rogen's Malibu Hot Tub.
man thank goodness this isn't just going into another highway expansion. Seattle has a transit future ahead of it for sure
I ride it every day, it's great. Just wish it could decide whether it wants to be a metro or interurban system and commit to that. There should be way fewer grade crossings too. Guess Seattle will always play second fiddle to Vancouver when it comes to public transit.
Vancouver’s SkyTrain is far superior since it is fully grade separated and automated
Line 2 will only contain 4 grade crossings in it's first phase, while Line 1 currently has 16.
@@AVeryRandomPerson the 4 grade crossings are incredibly frustrating. Might as well just go all out so you can automate it and have massively reduced operating costs while being able to make smaller stations, saving on construction costs as well. The ridership benefits would be huge too since you’d get a high off peak frequency.
This is likely going to change! If SB 5528 is passed, Seattle can invest in additional expansion projects on their own without the cooperation of the entire region covered by Sound Transit. This will likely mean existing projects within Seattle are completed sooner. More projects will be started with lots of infill stations and crosstown routes instead of long routes out into the suburbs like what is being built now.
yeah but it still is second best in north america as a whole
First off, Thanks! I've been eagerly awaiting a Seattle episode for quite a while. The ST3 expansion is a bit of a misnomer. About half of the expanded map you were showing is still a part of ST2 (particularly the part going over the lake and into the Bellevue/Redmond area). ST3 was a bit of a bloated package, with pretty unequetable amenities provided. Affluent (white) areas such as Issaquah are receiving LRT services, while the more densely populated, poorer area of Renton/Kent are receiving a lone bus line (This area also happens to be predominantly Latino and Black, especially by comparison). The city of Everett will get expansion to the Boeing plant (which is good for moving workers), but the gross majority of the residents will not have meaningful access.
I love my town & improved transit will make things even better. I just feel we as a region missed an opportunity to better utilize transit's mobility to help reconnect the neighborhoods and people groups who were separated by the freeway projects and zoning laws of previous generations.
Some important historical context: Seattle secured a commitment for federal funding for a rail rapid transit system in the early 1970s, but it was never built. Boeing, the domininant economic engine in the region at the time, was in crisis and the regional economy was in terrible shape. Despite the economic challenges, voters came within 2% of approving the project and providing the required regional funding. The economy recovered, but it took more than two decades to fund the transit network described in this video. The region is still suffering from the delay.
From what I know about that, I believe that money went to Atlanta instead and funded much of their city infrastructure.
More cities and regions need to do this. Some cities are getting overly congested. You got the funding. Put it to work!
I'm a Union Carpenter here in Seattle, there is a shit ton of work here! This has been great for my family.
America desperately needs alternatives to driving.
15 minutes cities would help a lot of things.
I walk
@@KBowWow75 😳😳😳😳 maverick!
For real, I will say that lots of suburbs in the DFW area (Texas) have added a lot more sidewalks and biking lanes then used to so walking isn’t as bad. But investment into better infrastructure and more railways is a must…
Work from home
What really needs change is R1 zoning laws. Those are the greatest bullshit of all. Build your cities differently and suddenly all the other problems become way easier to solve.
^^^* fully agree
7:30, a major point not mentioned here is that public transit in the US is viewed as something for the poor while in Asia and Europe it is not.
In Asia? Yes, possibly in East Asia like Japan and South Korea. In South and Southeast Asia, most public transport like bus and rail transit are still for the mid and low income classes.
Well, in the."good 'ol days" buying a new car was easy, and the only really heavy traffic was in NYC and Los Angeles. This was in my lifetime. I visited Seattle in the 80's and, except for the area around Microsoft, driving was a breeze..Times have changed.
@@garryferrington811 Times indeed have changed. It's almost like there's more people in these regions, leading to more car drivers, as road infrastructure and SFH developments are continually expanded to...making us more and more reliance on the car. The further we continue to lean into car dependency, the worse the traffic is going to get, not better. We need more forms of transportation, we need mixed use zoning to not be illegal, this is the only real way car traffic is going to reduce.
As a self proclaimed car enthusiast, I just wanted to share my interest in alternate forms of transportation. It has recently become quite apparent that _having_ to drive everywhere, isn't very fun at all. The constant expansions of stroads isn't ever going to ease the congestion.
I'll admit, I've recently discovered NotJustBikes, and looking for a pedestrian friendly town/city in America is extremely hard. If there are any major, future projects that come up, that are more pedestrian/bicycle/train-friendly, I'd love to hear about it. Thanks!
An important development on this that I hoped you would mention is SB 5528, which has passed the WA State Senate and is making its way through the State House. This would allow subregions of the Sound Transit area to fund transit on their own without approval from the larger Sound Transit area. This would allow Seattle and other regions which really want light rail expansion to go full throttle without having to get votes from more anti-transit suburbs. It will speed up projects and allow the construction of new projects that serve Seattle much better than the current projects that have a decidedly commuter train philosophy.
Why didn't they just do that from the beginning lol? I assume it burdened the burbs with a tax increase.
@@tima9083 they didn't do it before because it would be illegal to do so, thus the need for a state law to be passed to allow it. Washington State, unlike some, regulates its own government authorities even more strictly than it regulates businesses, especially when it comes to taxes.
Conceivably, this could also allow Burien, Renton and Tukwila to fund a light rail spur that mirrors the current Metro Bus Rapid Ride line between those cities, connected to the spine at Tukwila International Blvd. Renton has already scoped out potential alignments.
I worked on this project. Designing a light Rail track over a landfill. Interesting foundation work.
Thank you for your hard work!
Glad to see that Seattle is investing in new rail transit. I remember an abandoned trolley line along the water from my 2013 visit to the city, and some abandoned trolley tracks downtown, which was kind of sad to see. I did get to ride the Seattle Center Monorail though!
You had me at monorail. Actually, didn't Elvis ride the Seattle monorail in the movie World's Fair?
The old Seattle waterfront streetcar was shut down in 2005 because the barn the cars were stored and service in were torn down for a new Seattle Art Museum Sculpture Park. Then there was the the tear down of the Alaska Way viaduct. There are 2 newer Seattle streetcar lines that go from Belltown- South Lake Union and Pioneer Square-Central District-First Hill-Capital Hill. But frankly these streetcars routes are nothing but money pits.
The story of those abandoned trolley tracks is actually really interesting and sad! They were a pet project of a city councilmember in the 70s, and "temporarily" halted in 2012 (just missed 'em!) for the viaduct replacement project (which wouldn't break ground until more than a decade later). They ran replacement buses on the waterfront for a while, then moved that route uphill. Due to a cascading series of storage issues, some of the trains were sold and others are just living in a warehouse north of here indefinitely.
Great video! I hope you consider making a video about Montreal’s new REM light metro network currently under construction, opening in stages between 2022-2024.
Seattle since 1990. Love this. Thank you.
I love how Seattle rapid transit looks like it's going 5 mph! 😆
I am helping build this! Union Carpenters building the future!
Awesome! Ya'll are getting shit done. Good to see it.
This video honestly made me really really really mad (not at Seattle which should be lauded for being willing to invest this much money into infrastructure that will be literally life-changing for its citizens), but instead at the Metropolitan Council, the regional government and planning authority here in Minneapolis-St. Paul for its utter lack of vision and unwillingness to invest in the sort of infrastructure that will keep us from falling behind. The Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area has a population that is nearly that of Seattle-Tacoma (and was identical until the last 10 years or so), and in terms of economic importance as measured by Gross Regional Product and the various corporations that are headquartered in each metro area, they are the closest competitors to each other, along with Denver (which is significantly smaller than Minneapolis-St. Paul and Seattle). And despite that fact, while Seattle and Denver have embarked on efforts to build truly useful, and extensive rail networks, we have two light rail lines currently and while they both have very high ridership per mile for an American rail network, the fact is that the Metropolitan Council (which is unique in its ability to govern over an entire region and implement regional land-use and transportation planning, in fact only Portland, OR has a similar regional government although theirs is far more democratic than ours in that people vote for the leaders in it) has an embarrassing lack of vision, leaving us with the only new construction since the Green Line was completed in 2014 being a highway BRT line and some "arterial BRT" lines (aka improved buses with stop-light priority and permanent stations). The green line extension project was supposed to be completed in 2022 and now it is being pushed back towards 2027 with the cost increasing once again from the original cost of $1.2 billion to a new estimate of $2.75 billion USD, all for a rail line that goes to the wealthy suburbs where everyone already drives, when this money be far better spent constructing rail in neighborhoods where people actually use public transportation. Or if you're going to construct rail out far into the suburbs - attempting to construct regional rail network (which I think is a fantastic idea), it cannot be the trains used in light rail with their dramatically lower top speeds, because people will only take the train in the suburbs if the amount of time that it takes to get to their intended destination is at least comparable or even better than that of driving. If you're going to construct a 24-hour regional rail network, which is the solution to most American transportation issues, you must use electrified heavy rail trains as the French do with their RER systems and the Germans with their massive S-bahn systems. I just get so fucking frustrated seeing American cities always go for light rail rather than attempting to build a far more efficient, automated light Metro where it would be useful like in other developed countries or American cities attempting to use light rail in place of the far faster heavy rail vehicles that they should be using for Regional rail networks. Light rail and BRT are not the solution to all American transportation problems but most American cities act like they are.
This is really difficult to read
You share a lot in common with Seattle that saw riots and occupied zones in both cities in 2020. To justify infrastructure on this level, you need to convince people it is worthwhile and affordable to live in long term and raise a family.
As your crime rate sky rockets, people move out. Soon you will have empty roads, buses, trains.
@@eriksanders7387 The population has been increasing.
Please could you update you comment and break it down into paragraphs for readability?
Though to the topic: US cities have been made so car centric in the last century that there needs to be a mindset shift. The US suffers from "NIMBY"ism, competing corporate lobbyists, old school thinking and a fear to do anything to upset car drivers. In many ways people are scared of change, but want change.
It has been shown that low-density housing and the insistence on the car as a solution for everything is the best way to bleed a city dry. Even faced with that reality cities are slow to change things. Sometimes the problem comes from inside and sometimes it comes from state level, such in Texas, where the "TxDOT" insists Houston needs more highway, even if does not benefit people in the city and will only be a source of induced demand. It is ironic in a country where freedom of choice is demanded, there is often no alternative to the car, to allow for an alternative choice.
I am just hoping to see a younger generation of voters, along with local businesses, going to the town halls and demanding positive change, rather than letting their cities decay due to an outdated mindset.
Human will is great, I truly like it when I see projects like these engaging with the local communities, when complete this project will positively impact the local economy. I just hope they continue to meet the deadline and be below budget. I hope the US collaborates with China and Japan to make sure these are quick and efficient.
Given the geopolitical situation I doubt the US will work closely together with the PRC on anything like this, but it would help if they looked beyond their own borders every once in a while and admitted that their expertise in building and running rail infrastructure is significantly less than that of France, Spain, Japan or South Korea.
I've lived in Seattle before so I know how bad the traffic can really get. The WFH during the pandemic really helped and now I only commute when needed but this should help my city loads!
The tricky if not questionable aspect of Seattle's rail expansion is that they're essentially using the equipment of light rail (Siemens S700 LRV) to do the job of a rapid transit system. If the city continues to grow I suspect at some point in the future this would become a bottleneck to the system's capacity and efficiency. In hindsight, having built a full blown heavy rail rapid transit system could've been a better plan instead. It seems that outside of the Rainier Valley segment of the Link system, the network is already fully grade separated on viaducts or tunnels like a rapid transit system as is...
0:41 The green line on this map actually shows the Sounder commuter rail, a diesel locomotive hauled push/pull train service with trips to downtown Seattle during morning rush and departures from downtown Seattle during the evening rush. There's essentially no regular weekend or off peak services (unless there's sporting events going on downtown) on this line and the trains share their tracks with BNSF freight traffic. The train is fun to ride if you like trains or wanna do some sightseeing along the Puget Sound, but it's just not a convenient option for people who wanna get places using transit.
Here's how a ride on the Sounder feels like: th-cam.com/video/Wl3ovQfOeSQ/w-d-xo.html
Sound Transit does deserve credit for operating a good BRT style express bus network with frequent and reliable service and dedicated infrastructure: th-cam.com/video/UtuTwxzPDWs/w-d-xo.html Their express bus service is arguably the best in the US.
Very well produced video! Good public transport is key infrastructure for a city!
One thing they don't mention is that we had trolley lines running along these exact same routes until the 1920s when they were purchased by oil and auto companies and dismantled. It sickens me to think of how much we're spending to rebuild the infrastructure we once already had in place.
Thank you for highlighting Sound Transit’s light rail project! Love this channel, really cool you’re doing a place so close to home.
I don’t even live in the us and I’m excited about it now. Congratulations to Seattle for being bold enough politically and deciding to embark upon this project.
I'm really confident that Seattle can provide safe train service. I mean Seattle is a shining star when it comes to small business and public safety, crime is at a minimum, and people here are happy. One things for sure; the ones in charge are getting richer. Life is good if you live in a gated community.
At least a city that doesn't go "one more lane bro , just one more ..it will fix the traffic"
Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks etc. should pool money together to cover the budget shortfall since they're such avid proponents of the project and are partially responsible for Seattle's population boom plus it would be great PR
I love how they always mention Starbucks, but leave out Costco which is a Fortune 20 company and probably the most well run retail company in US history.
The fact that we get free documentaries on TH-cam by B1M is truly a gift 👍
The monorail was introduced in 1963 with the Seattle World's Fair. Had the idea been taken up then, there wouldn't be such a scramble now. Glad to see "forward thinking" finally acted upon 60 years later! Seattle can take a look at how the Chinese engineers have managed train making. Forward thinking and shared thinking can work wonders.
The production values of this channel are so great.
If I remember correctly this is where the RTA Tax came from forcing you to spend a ton of $$$$ on your license Tabs every year and took a lot of people by shock when they went to renew there tabs and it would cost $300-$900 or more depending on the year and value of your vehicle. A lot of people dont even live in an area where the light rail will impact them but still forced to pay for it.
Yep exactly
It will impact them though. Less traffic
@@darthmaul216 maybe for some but if you don’t drive at all in that area then it still won’t help them
@@spoolinsvt6489you’ll still get the economic benefits and less traffic
Seattle is growing due to people moving from California but in reality Seattle is a hard place to live long term. Short summers, rain every day all day for most of the rest of the year accept in winter when everything freezes over and the state doesn't have proper equipment to treat the streets and plow so it becomes extremely dangerous to drive. Gray depressing skies and cool temps most of the year make it depressing and the reason why many move away eventually. Never mind the homelessness, crime, traffic, and housing costs.
wow same as vancouver
and no good strip clubs
I like it that way
I feel like everytime there's a video made relating to public transport expansion in the USA, it sounds expensive, undesirable and impossible to build quickly. How is it that other Asian cities supposedly "third world" are building these at a much faster pace?
Because automotive companies have controlled American culture and its narrative since the 1930s.
Oh boy cant wait for this to be a mid to no success because seattle is 81% single family homes by zoning laws therefore everything is extremely spread out
@@ddurlon They could use imminent domain to build large developments around stations, and rezone the areas around there to higher density. Combine that with those cars you can rent by the hour and it wouldn't be hard to meet most people's needs.
Ah yes...Let's support further government theft from the citizen.
Because any big construction project in America is loaded with middlemen who all cost money without adding any value. I would gladly hire a Japanese company to build the whole thing, they would save us a ton of money.
What I have always wondered about sound transit is, if they are putting all of their trains on elevated viaducts or tunnels, why don’t they just put normal subway cars on them? What they are doing is going through all the costs of building a subway system, but instead of actually building a subway system, they are building a separated tram system, which is way inferior.
Go for it Seattle! Lead the country in public transportation. We got this!
We are doing real good in SF on that.
It seems that cities in North America seem to react way more than Europe and Asia rather than planning ahead.
Social issues are hot button issues in the melting pot. People don't place infrastructure on their big talking point or priority as voter necessities.
More like north American cities didn't exist 200 years ago at all, Europeans and asian cities have existed for sometimes mellenia. Not to mention population growth America over the last hundred years has grown by 333%+ meanwhile a country like Germany has only grown by about 33% over a hundred years. It's definitely comparing apples or oranges.
@@seanthe100 Reacting rather than planning ahead has nothing whatsoever to do with the age of a city or culture.
"Comparing X to Y" seems to be the go-to excuse for conservative Americans when people point out a shortfall or critique something, maybe if you spent less time making excuses and more time acting you wouldn't need to make said excuses in the first place?
@@seanthe100 Mass transit didn’t exist 200 years ago so it’s a mute point.
@@mpaulm neither did cars
I love the USA but now living in Europe. The USA needs to step up its game with public transportation. In Spain I can go from a major city to a small town on high speed train without a need of a car. The USA has depended way to much on cars and highways and I believe it's time to change that.
Yeah how does that happen? In Germany after I landed, I was able to take a train to the nearest town to my destination that had a station. From there I had to pay 50€ for a taxi to drive to this town in the middle of nowhere. Of course that was another 50€ going back to the station when I left. I feel like some areas with low population density just won’t be accessible by train because there’s not enough customers to justify the cost of building a rail line to it.
I believe $176BN to be a veeeeery optimistic figure but good to see that things start moving.
Can’t believe I saw my house in a B1M video
I've lived in the Seattle area for 8 years now. It has a lot of problems like any large city but I love it and don't ever plan on leaving. It's just a wonderful city and one of the most beautiful anywhere in the world. The drugs and homelessness are increasing at rapid rates and are definitely something that needs to be addressed, again like most cities. It isn't for everyone but I think it is wonderful. I'm still skeptical about how much the trains will help as we Americans love our cars. I don't work in the city so I won't be using them on a regular basis but if they are convenient for what I'm doing, I will certainly give them a try.