This was my web site promoting the Seattle Monorail Project, but
the project was cancelled in November 2005.
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New Plans for the Green Line
My Ideas for a New Package That Will Satisfy the Public
by Bob Fleming
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I think that the public needs to be convinced that the Green Line was basically a good idea and that we should try again, but with changes that will satisfy more people and avoid errors of the past. First of all, the financing package must be guaranteed to pay for the project and that the debt can be paid off in a reasonable time. The tax package should avoid putting too much of a burden on any particular group of people, but rather spread the tax load across most of the people of Seattle and many people coming into Seattle, because mass transit will improve the city and everybody should help pay for it. Possible taxes could include:
None of these taxes should be very high, for instance maybe a 0.3% MVET and 0.1% or 0.2 % sales tax (1 or 2 cents for every ten dollars spent). Dual Guideway (double track) for the entire length of the line. This gives flexibility to increase headway as needed. The Green Line is intended to be a rapid transit system and any unnecessary delay in travel time should be avoided. Eliminate the routing through the Seattle Center and along Fifth Avenue. Instead locate the Key Arena station just south of the Arena and route the monorail south to follow Second Avenue through Belltown. This has several advantages:
In order to save costs, the first trains could be two car trains (consists), but longer trains could be obtained later if needed. In order to save construction costs, build stations for two-cart consists, but design them in such a way so that they can be easily extended later if longer trains are added to the fleet. Stations can be designed in a more basic style, but in such a way that it can be beautified later without much problem. Do not use the Iris layout Downtown (and possibly other places) because with the beams at different heights, along with the walkways, the combined vertical height creates too much of a “wall” visual effect.
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©2003 Robert M. Fleming Jr.
This page was last updated on 20 March 2013