We Didn’t Win, But Something Has Happened
2045 Seattle started as an email passed around friends. It’s the contributions of time and energy, however small or large, that made this into something worth doing, whether we won or not. Everyone who has put something into this effort, from the simple effort of a yes vote, to postering, to speaking with friends and neighbors, to strapping on a wetsuit and roaming around downtown deserves a thank you.
As was said many times over, our truth is still valid. Our city needs solutions. We need ways to get around our city without paying $3 a gallon. We need solutions to the gridlock that steals from our lives. 2045 Seattle was born out of the frustration of seeing so little being done and it’s hard to imagine we’re going to go away any time soon.
In the days ahead, we will take a look at how the vote went down, take a look back at what we did right and wrong to learn from our experience. We’ll start to think about what 2045 Seattle becomes from here.
We have a collection of like-minded people. We’ve learned how much fun it can be to cause some trouble. And, finally, there’s no shortage of good things that are worth fighting for.
For now, we all deserve some rest. So everyone, grab a nap, stay tuned, and we’ll all figure out what’s next for our band of troublemakers.
November 9th, 2005 at 7:51 am
I supported the Monorail, but it’s time to look beyond one solution and find a new mission for your group and your website. I do have a suggestion. I think 2045Seattle could become a media outlet putting the people’s voice into the transportation debate here in our city. We need a way to keep track of what the Seattle City Council’s Transportation committee is doing and saying to help people get around, and I think this website is in a strong position to do that.
Let’s talk about it. Activism is getting a good name again, and all it’s going to take is the building of infrastructure. That’s what website are; communications infrastructure for activists. Stay active!
November 9th, 2005 at 7:54 am
[...] But in other news, even though some mass transit fights were lost, here in New York we passed a transportation bill which will help move along any number of projects. Each politician has their own pet project, and the transportation bill gives funding to most of them. Some say that we should have focused on one project at a time, but we all know that if we tried to do that, nothing would happen with any of them. My favorite of the bunch is the Second Avenue subway line that has been haunting us for years. Now there is some money, go ahead and get it started already! The east side of Manhattan only has one train line at the moment. Should anything happen to the 4-5-6 line, whether natural or manmade disasters, that side of the island will be cut off. It will cost millions of dollars in lost revenues for businesses, not to mention a crash in property values. That subway needs to be built. [...]
November 9th, 2005 at 9:11 am
Congratulations 2045seattle! You’ve got a terrific website and approach for bringing people together to work at common purpose. This is no mean feat given the very complicated and busy lives we all lead.
Thank you for recognizing that rapid transit is key to a successful future for Seattle. The election results tell us that the barnacles still need to be scrapped off the hull so we can get going faster. Yours will be the generation to do that.
Keep up the good work. I’m really looking forward to what you come up with next!
November 9th, 2005 at 9:20 am
Once the monorail project really got rolling about two years ago, I began to turn my attention towards bicycle facilities. Why? Improving bicycle facilities to stations would dramatically increase the reach of each station by a factor of 10! Now, of course, it’ll be several years before we get any rapid transit beyond the seven new stations planned for light rail in Seattle, but this provides even greater incentive to provide excellent facilties for bikes, such as bike-ped paths, bike lanes, and bike boulevards.
But we shouldn’t stop with that. We need improved sidewalks, crosswalks, and bus waiting areas. (I have hoped that some of the monorail station properties could be held and transformed into neighborhood transit centers with covered and heated waiting areas, automated readerboards to indicate the arrival of busses, coffee stands, news stands, bikestations, and so on…but I doubt that any other agency would have the gumption to buy out those properties at the mandated market-rate prices.) For trips where a car is not necessary, we should create facilities and policies that encourage the use of bicycles, electric assisted bicycles, electric mopeds, and ultra-low-emission mopeds.
How do we do this? Over the last two years I’ve been pondering what it would take to put together an “active transportation levy”. With the increasing rates of obesity and gas prices that will never drop to the prices of yesteryear, we need to start investing in alternatives that get us moving outside of our single-occupant-vehicles. Meanwhile, we have less than 50 miles of bike facilities (compared to Portland’s 280+), and many of our neighborhood lack adequate sidewalks, if they even have any.
What do you think?
November 9th, 2005 at 9:20 am
Anticipating the unfortunate demise of the monorail project, I and another transit supporter have already started circulating among City Council members the idea of a Link light rail spur from its most-southwest point in SoDo out to the Alaska Junction in West Seattle.
Initial dinner-napkin cost estimates — coming from a current Link civil engineering contractor, so not in fact all that “dinner-napkin” — put the cost at perhaps $300M and the construction time at perhaps 18 months (once environmental impact, engineering & design, and right-of-way acquisition are completed, that is).
I have received positive feedback on this idea from three council members, including this from Richard Conlin: “I have been exploring this option, and I think there is a real possibility that this could be done. [...] I will do my best to pursue this, [...].”
November 9th, 2005 at 9:48 am
For all you did, brought to the table, and fun we had. I wish I could do more than just say Thank You. I look forward to 2045 Seattle continuing on.
You didn’t like what you saw and did something about it.
Be proud, and cheers all around.
Much Appreciated.
Jurgen
November 9th, 2005 at 10:43 am
Thanks for all you have done to show where the real leadership in Seattle resides… with its citizens.
I had a vision of what the monorail could do, and very few transportation options are capable of doing it– allow that Ballard kid the means to see a special arts event or attend a nature lecture, one that has fired his or her unique imagination, even though it’s in West Seattle, and that’s a long hard route at 6pm. No parents required! Monorail it! (Take the cell phone.)
It’s a real vision. Keep up the good work. Vaja con Dios.
November 9th, 2005 at 10:59 am
Christian and all,
I really admire you guys getting out there. When fighting the political establishment and the media superpowers in this city, its an uphill battle due to the stranglehold on information. You guys helped greatly.
Seattle has made a big mistake that will cost the taxpayers much more in the long run on light rail and the viaduct. Good luck Seattle, the city where no megaprojects will get built.
November 9th, 2005 at 11:15 am
Well I sure slept good…*wink*.
With that, I’d say I’m pretty much over it…—but now comes the fun part.
I have a plan that I believe is much better. Instead of a system through downtown, how about the same proposed city-wide plan by SMP–but–start with 1 single corrider first. For example, our ["delayed"] yes vote for monorail should approve a system from West Seattle to Downtown Seattle somewhere (whether in the heart or to the edge of Ride-Free Zone). This would seem most considerate because, considering W.S. uses the soon-to-be-extinct viaduct this would really help them, a “medium-sized” system would break ground faster, be less expensive, more $ towards system integration of corridor, and faster to pay off.
What ya’ll think? I’m 21 and I still can’t wait for “Opening Day.”
November 9th, 2005 at 2:53 pm
Please come to our forum to begin exploring the options …
Monorail: What’s Next? forum
Tuesday, Nov. 15
Seattle REI Flagship Store, 222 Yale Avenue N.
7:30
Refreshments provided
Now that Seattle has given up its monorail dream, what are the prospects for new mass transit in our city? Should we continue to pay the motor-vehicle excise tax so we can invest in other transit options? Who will decide, and what might a new plan look like? We’ll hear from the political players who will make the decisions, including Seattle City Council members Nick Licata and Richard Conlin, state Senator Ken Jacobsen, Josh Feit of the Stranger, and others. The Seattle Channel’s C.R. Douglas will moderate.
Sponsored by: The Sierra Club, Seattle group
Kevin Fullerton
206.547.2306
November 9th, 2005 at 3:26 pm
Thank you Christian and All!
You’ve encouraged a lot of us who are slightly older but no less troublemakers!
We have a great chance to develop and strengthen alternate infrastructure for ideas, communication, action, and results.
November 9th, 2005 at 6:21 pm
I realize this is a lot of my frustration coming out…but talking about “the alternatives” now? Are you all kidding? With the public trust shattered, exhausted and beaten-down defeated after 4 “YES” votes in the past decade over the issue of building mass transit in this city…you will be lucky if you get ANYTHING approved in Seattle in the next 20 years, let alone built…and at that point it will cost you 4-5 times what the monorail would have cost (assuming it won’t go to the polls for approval more than once).
Again, I’m just so frustrated right now, but I do want to say thank you to 2045 for trying to get the word out over these last few months. I sincerely appreciate your hard work and efforts.
November 9th, 2005 at 8:12 pm
As a Seattle native and current urban planning student who has been temporarily transplanted to Chicago, then NYC and now the Bay Area, I was watching this election very closely, telling myself that if Seattle can finally get some momentum behind mass transit, it might have hope for improvement and I could finally move back. 2045, you fueled my optimism and I applaud you all for your great efforts. I am now at a loss for words and wondering if I can ever move back to the city I love, knowing that I will likely have to be car-dependent after more than a decade of happily riding along on the El, Subway and BART. This is hard to stomach: that Seattle, what I remember as such a forward thinking place continues to mire itself in indecision, falling further and further behind comparable cities such as Portland and Vancouver.
November 9th, 2005 at 9:39 pm
i totally agree with shawn….what’s the point? we voted FOUR TIMES YES for this…and still it didn’t get built….last night’s vote was a sham. I don’t see the monorail defeated so much as I see City Hall’s ignoring the vote. My confidence in voting even is shaken. REally i can’t believe we had to vote 5 times for the same project…it’s embarassing!
November 10th, 2005 at 4:51 pm
Let me just say as someone who moved here 1 year ago from Munich, Germany (just as the 4th vote signaled majority approval for the monorail), I was excited to see that my new ‘home’ was working towards providing real public transportation options. I am an American from the East Coast who has lived and traveled extensively - and I am devastated by this defeat and beginning to think that the stereotype of the xenophobic, ignorant, gas-guzzling American is actually correct. Nice going, Seattleites who voted against the Monorail - it appears you just don’t want to pay for anything!! HELLO, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Thank goodness, though, for the Monorail/public transportation/bicycling supporters, who offer a sane reminder that things HAVE to change. Having lived in Munich for seven years and NEVER having had or driven a car even once while there (yet being able to travel all over the world in that time using the available modes of public transportation), it is nice to know there ARE those in the States who believe that the love affair with the car here will lead to a dead end. Let’s keep up the momentum - I know it’s there - and build on it, since with all the people I hear talking about how awful their long commutes are and how they hate having a lack of commuting choices, there WILL be a revolt against Mayor Gridlock and his cowardly actions (or lack of actions…). Go Monorail!
November 11th, 2005 at 1:05 am
I know it’s hard to take this in, but yes, we cannot give in now. If we don’t persevere, “our” generation won’t have rapid mass transit. And while all the media, city leaders, mayor, etc. can tempt our decisions, it’s ultimately “us” who decide what we want. I want monorail because I know it is superior to the rest of city transit. The sooner we build it, the cheaper it’ll be, you know. Cost-of-living was so cheap back in the 60’s, look at it now. “C.o.L.” will continue to rise. I say we should regroup now because the sooner we do, the sooner it’ll break ground, the sooner it’ll zip people to where they want to go, the sooner it’ll finally be built.
November 11th, 2005 at 1:21 pm
Hey Folks,
It’s fine to say that this site and its supporters have been energized, informed, so on and so forth, by participating in this process. But in the end, that’s mostly rhetoric. What will matter in the end can be summed up in one word - CONSEQUENCES!. The politicos of Seattle need to be made to suffer consequences for their actions, specifically, at the voting booths. The aptly named Mayor Gridlock won handily. How many supported the monorail and yet voted for him because he was the mainstream Democrat? I am not a one-issue-politics kind of person, but it seems to me that the issue of transit in the Seattle area is a huge one - big enough to justify one-issue voter groups. What is needed is for all politicians here to be put on notice - ignore transit, and you’re gonna lose voting blocs. Democrats should be able to count on NOTHING, and you know damned well that they do - they know they have the liberal youth vote in their pockets at the end of the day. That presumption needs to be disrupted.
November 11th, 2005 at 2:10 pm
I voted for Runte, not because of monorail transit as a single-issue vote, but because monorail transit was/is connted to the other issues that I believed Runte had a better plan for.
We have to demand that the mayor/city council/king county/state come up with a plan for early 2006 construction of a 100% grade separated rapid and time-certain transit line serving the western portion of the city, all within the next 30 - 45 days. The four previous votes (4 to 1) for monorail require it.
November 11th, 2005 at 5:28 pm
Ok, we lost, and badly. But the most important points in this transit system debate (or should I call it a war) are still there. Seattle needs a transit system with a dedicated right of way. The local geology prohibits building a subway. And, building at grade is going to have both a body count, and cause an increase, rather than a decrease in conjestion. Elevated is the way to go, and the safest, least visually impacting, and lowest cost way to elevate is a monorail. Seven spineless members of the city council seem to recognize these basic truths, as evidneced by their day late and dollar short letter. It’s time to hone the rhetoric down to teh basics. I think that our most powerful argument is to start zeroing in on the body count that light rail is going to rack up, and press the point that the carnage begins in a neighborhood that traditionally is both poor and politically without power. Just as Katrina unmasked the harsh reality of continuing economic racism in the South, we need to shine that ugly light on our city as well. It is time to take off the gloves. We need to stick the body count issue right in front of Sims and Nichols in every embarrassing way possible.
November 11th, 2005 at 6:04 pm
Leadership failed to provide what the people voted four times for. And yet they got re-elected. What does that say about *some* of the people of Seattle?
Real transit solutions are needed. Light rail is a tinkertoy. Think it’s cheap? Check out how much the one in Miinneapolis cost. It’s a tinkertoy.
Definitely hold these people’s feet to the fire for their failure. They didn’t have a better idea. They didn’t have any plan at all. Just like Bush. Who cares if they’re Dems? WE EXPECT RESULTS.
November 12th, 2005 at 12:30 pm
The irony continues… even today’s (Nov. 12) PI “Snark Attack” from Thomas Shapley continues to purpetuate the dead $11Billion financing plan as if it were current news… Quote: “Imagine Chairwoman Kristina Hill blaming the media for the project’s failure, after she defended the $11 billion financing plan to our little slice of the media. ” What Shapley fails- and what almost all the media failed- to report is that “plan” was dead-on-arrival last June and was never even approved by the SMP board. (BTW- thanks to the West Seattle Herald for their honest, investigative journalism that reported the real situation.) That “plan” led to the almost immediate resignation of the two men who put it out without getting board approval first, and ultimately, to a nationwide search for John Haley, who was able to cut that cost down to a third of the $11B. Gee, you’d a thought that would have been news.
November 12th, 2005 at 4:29 pm
In order to continue moving forward on transit, folks here and elsewhere need press for solutions for both West Seattle and Ballard.
Excho’ing one of the postings above, it needs to be done by separating West Seattle and Ballard into two lines and finding the right solution for each. With Light Rail now in place between Downtown, SODO and Rainier Valley and with the existing monorail in place north of Westlake there are unique opportunities that can be explored for each
If 2045 is the conduit to get these two done then great. At the very least, the obviously like-minded folks here need to be hooking up with their like-minded cohorts elsewhere.
If folks are interested in pursuing this farther, we should get together and discuss rather than waiting for some of the more establishment folks to make it happen for us. Please feel free to contact me at chad@clear-power.com 206.390.0518
November 12th, 2005 at 4:54 pm
For Anne and others who think that Seattle is not willing to pay, this is just not the case at all. After all, we just voted quite convincingly to pay higher gas taxes. What Seattlites are not willing to do is throw good money after bad. And it is not so much the project as it is the leadership. In this case, I think that there were two enormous leadership problems. First, Sims, Nichols and the two councils have shown no willingness to lead, and when the monorail board was faced with its own miscalculation on the tax collection rate, the second problem kicked in. At that point they really needed a collaboration with the other leaders on how to proceed, and instead they were dissed and left to figure it out for themselves and they made a horrible miscalculation.
I actually think that a pay-as-you go construction plan, that used zero bond money, and brought small sections on line as they were completed would sell quite nicely. Also, I think that we have to get out of this total project concept. Having one set of politicians oversee the technology selection, operations setup, operations management, neighborhood negotiations for route selection, construction contracting and construction financing is a sure formula for disaster, which I think we have now proven beyond a doubt.
What we need to do is to break these several functions into separate teams that are experts in their respective fields. But it starts with simple choice, should Seattle have a dedicated right of way mass transit system, and if so, should we start building it? I think that we have that answer, and it is a definitive “yes.”
So let’s put together a package that is split into four separate teams. Each will require its own separate initiative to be put on a ballot. Team #1 would be the route and neighborhood planning team. It would be a public body whose sole function would be to work with every last neighborhood in Seattle to develop a mass transit system route plan. Part of this would be to work with those neighborhoods and the cities with their zoning and building permit process, to start having the neighborhoods slowly adapt to the target rights of way. No matter where the routes are put, virtually every property along the way is going to have to adapt in some ways. This route development and adaptation does not have to wait until construction is imminent. Thinking of State Route 522 as an example, the rights of way and some initial grading to eventually make it a freeway all the way to Monroe was actually begun decades ago. Gradual adaptation to a target route has worked very well.
Team #2 would be the transit ways and means team. It would be their job to plan the budget allocations for both system construction and operations. They would be required to maintain forward looking plans in five year increments, with each five year plan becoming more solid as it draw nearer. As a baseline legal requirement, this team would be forbidden to use bonding as a source of funds. Tell the public that we are going to pay as we go and make every dollar count, and they will support it.
Team #3 would be the technology and construction management team. Their number one charge would be to build a safe system. It has to be safe for riders, and for pedestrians, bicycles, and other vehicles operating in the vicinity of the lines. A zero death rate due to preventable system design and operation characteristics is an imperative. As an aside, this would rule out doing light rail at grade, except in special no-conflict zones, such as freeway medians. Beyond safety, this team would be charged with minimizing environmental impacts due to noise, equipment emissions, visual impacts, and total system energy consumption. They would also be charged with developing the system such that it reduces total congestion, including all existing transit elements, along the routes as they are installed.
Finally, Team #4 would be the operations team. This team would be charged with providing a least cost approach to daily operations, such that the system is both maintained, and provides maximum usability. My thought is that the right way to craft this team?Äôs authorizing initiative is to reauthorize the Metro portion of King County?Äôs charter, such that the transit arm is put in operations charge of all locally funded public transit systems in the area. That would combine all bus, street car, and dedicated right of way systems. This would simplify the whole HR system for managing staffing levels, and negotiating wages and benefits.
Four proposals, specialized, and each within a reasonable scope of management for human beings.
November 16th, 2005 at 1:06 am
I went to the Monorail Forum at REI today and I wish it was longer, to say the least. I was in the front row, far left, wearing khakis, black nikes, a gray shirt, and black hair (rather young). The following of Nov. 8 caused alot of people to think about new transit alternatives for the corrider….. I am unphased. Monorail is the best technology for that corrider. It does minimal damage to land propertys, streamlined, 100% safe, and relieves stress (don’t worry about accidents, stop lights, traffic, etc. blah blah). No BRT! No EFFIN streetcars! No effin light rail conglomerate! Yes on monorail. hoorah hoorah!~!~
November 16th, 2005 at 1:35 am
Hey Daren,
I was there too. I found Councilmember Licata to be the most reasoned voice, aside from Erica Barnett of course. My personal summary of what I heard tonight is “Roads, Roads, Roads” and perhaps we’ll get a few more buses out there for ya while we study this whole transit thing.
November 21st, 2005 at 6:51 am
For anyone who was not able to make the meeting at REI, to say Licata was the most reasoned is more a comment on the sad state of transit planning in this city than it is a comment on the reasonableness of any of the panelists.
During the meeting, Licata cited that cost of the monorail to be $11billion- The truth is, that $11B finance plan that Horn and Weeks released in June, without the approval of the Seattle Monorail Project (SMP) board, was dead-on-arrival. It is irresponsible and misleading for people, especially politicians and members of the press, to keep citing $11B as if that?Äôs what it would have cost to build the monorail. I find it difficult to believe that Licata was unaware of this fact, since it was he who wrote a letter immediately after the release of that plan in June, calling for the resignation of Horn and Weeks. Thankfully, they resigned the first weekend in July.
The SMP Board then did a nationwide search and hired John Haley, perhaps the best transit expert in the country, who immediately began work on a new finance plan. By Sept. 15, the arbitrary date mandated by the mayor, the SMP was well on the way towards drafting a new finance plan- and indicated that by sending a letter and outline of a new finance plan to the city council and the mayor. However, even with four previous pro-monorail votes over eight years, that was not good enough for the mayor and city council to have another month to work out the details. Citing ?Äúexperts?Äù who were hired to find fault with the SMP?Äôs dead plan (gee, they could have saved the taxpayers some $ and just asked the SMP board why they hadn?Äôt approved it three months ago), the council and the mayor gave the SMP the choice of shortening the line or raising the MVET (motor vehicle excise tax) rate, or the council/mayor would withhold the use of the public right-of-way.
In mid-October, a new finance plan was submitted by the SMP under the leadership of John Haley. The debt service on this now shortened line was reduced by nearly two-thirds, bringing 10.5 miles of separated grade rapid transit to a total of $3.9 billion to DBOM: design, build, operate, and maintain- INCLUDING debt?Ķ less than the cost to BUILD the mayor?Äôs proposed tunnel (not including design, debt,…). In John Haley?Äôs assessment, had this project received political support and not been forced on the ballot before the new finance plan was completed, we would be breaking ground on a 14 mile (not 10) rapid transit line next year- at a FIXED-price of $1.9 billion ($1.7 was the cost to DBOM the shortened line) that was negotiated prior to this year?Äôs spike in energy and materials costs, on the property the taxpayers, via the SMP, now own.
BTW- What does the council plan to do with this land now? The members of the city council delivered a letter to the SMP board the day after the election asking the SMP to hold onto the land for a few weeks- they said they thought they might want to use it for transit?Ķ Interestingly, the are two city council meetings this week, a whole council meeting at 2 today (11/21) and a transportation committee meeting tomorrow (11/22) at 9:30am. The 14 mile transportation corridor we (taxpayers) own isn?Äôt on the agenda of either meeting.
Anyone else have a problem with that?
November 21st, 2005 at 2:49 pm
Denise appeared at the City Council hearing today (Monday) and got an agreement from council to add disposition of the monorail land as a line item for tomorrow’s (Tuesday) council hearing. We should attend the Tuesday hearing (November 22, 2:00 pm, City Council chambers - 5th floor City Hall).
November 21st, 2005 at 8:06 pm
My apologies to Chas and others?Ķ Tomorrow?Äôs (11/22) transportation committee meeting is at 9:30 in the morning. Council Chambers on the 2nd floor of City Hall: 600 Fourth Avenue, Seattle.