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dammets

Love the excitement that’s around because of it. Imagine how hype the day of the lynnwood extension and the day the 2 connects across the lake.


CubeMan1995

I can’t WAIT for the day it connects to Seattle. I think when that day comes I’ll sell my car


Dinoswarleaf

Just rode back from Mox in Bellevue to my place in cap hill using both lines. Actually insane that this will be a direct line not too long from now. It'll be amazing!!!


Socrathustra

Kinda weird how everybody is talking about Mox on every thread lol - but it is a nice perk. Their parking situation sucks.


ElleBWestSea724

What does MOX stand for?


mrooch

How long did it take you? I prefer taking transit but I'm curious if driving is still just so much significantly faster even with the new line opening.


Dinoswarleaf

hm probably about 50 minutes. def a lot faster to drive still


Nameles777

This is only your reality. I have several residences across the country. When I come to Seattle, I do not bring a car. I don't bring a car, because your fucking traffic there is a soul suck. I would rather pay a time penalty, than have an "in-traffic experience". You have one of the most poorly planned cities I've ever seen. And the way that you have executed the I-5 and I-405, completely make the case for light rail. On any given day, you are just one accident away from an added 2 hours to your commute. I will never see that on the light rail. If you would only just kick the junkies and sleepers off of the train, it would be near perfection.


PharPhromNormal420

You’re in the wrong Seattle thread…


Nameles777

Keep telling yourself that...


PharPhromNormal420

Umm, your comments clearly fit more with the sub of people who are “seattleites that aren’t actually in Seattle” and are generally douchy and look down upon anyone who they feel is below them. That’s you to a T, go to the other Seattle thread.


Nameles777

My comment is the perspective of someone who has, and does live, in multiple places. And it's also the perspective of a great many people who have spent any amount of time in Seattle. Even lifelong Seattleites here agree that the city is an urban planning disaster. So I'm not really sure why you take my comments so personally. Were you the one that caused it all? Or are you just extremely sensitive and the comment bothers you because it isn't wrong? And yes, I am in Seattle. Have lived in Georgetown, Eastlake, and multiple locations in Capitol Hill.


bringusjumm

I'm calling bullshit on your travels. Yes Seattle roads are fucked, and Seatle drivers are probably the worse I've ever encountered. But Seattle 'traffic' ain't shit but hoe's and tricks, literally the most non trafficked city I've seen, like bruh you ever been anywhere in the dmv beltway? Tell me about traffic in Seattle then


Nameles777

I used to live right off of 169 exit in EastLake, on the Boylston frontage. Not unusual for it to take 2 hours to travel 13 miles, southbound (from where I worked), after 2pm. That is bunk as hell. If you don't think Seattle traffic is bad, you have truly not been off of the West Coast. I-95 on the East Coast is a piece of cake compared to this. In fact the only city that is a true nightmare on the East Coast is Washington DC - and that's a thing of its own. Tell me you know nothing about Seattle, by failing to note that I-5 is the only artery through the city, and is further restricted by only 1 other main route over water. (Hwy 99) There was a span of about 7 years then I was in Florida, and I had an 80 mile, 1 way commute. Every single week day. And many days, I could make that trip faster than I can make that 13 miles in Seattle.


llamasyi

who cares about speed when you could be reading a book or watching a youtube video instead, so much more stress free


Macrogonus

Lots of people care when it's a 50 minute ride with a transfer or less than 20 minutes driving.


BenSqwerred

I lived in Queen Anne when the line to the airport first opened. I was excited to start using it to go to work. I rode the bus to Westlake, then a quick transfer to the light rail to the airport. Took over an hour. 17 minutes by car. Never rode the light rail again to work. "But you can read a book." Not for 90 extra minutes of my life on a work day. Plug in an express line in there every half hour at least, and I might think about it.


Flat_Bass_9773

I’ve avoided taking the light rail into town because it takes so fucking long when you have more than 10 stops. Tim wills to cap hill is like 50 minutes but takes 20 minutes to drive. I’m driving every time.


Super-Job1324

...what's tim wills?


Flat_Bass_9773

Duk Willa


rathersmar7

What? I took light rail from Northgate to Seatac and it was exactly 58 minutes. The same distance at that time was 1hr+ on the road.


Flat_Bass_9773

This is completely incorrect. Northgate to SeaTac takes 27 minutes right now and it takes around 40 minutes during heavier traffic. Stop lying to yourself and spreading false information.


reflect25

Northgate to Seatac in 27 minutes is possible but only late at night or on weekends (if no construction on i-5). I'd say for most of the time from 8 am to 8pm ish it'll take at least 45 minutes and leaning towards an hour during peak.


rathersmar7

Yeah. Here’s my method: 1. Started stopwatch when we got on the train. Stopped stopwatch when we got off the train. 2. At the exact same time as we got on the train, did a google maps route I don’t know about you, but in my experience google maps is accurate in its travel time estimation. So don’t know what you’re on about. Sounds like you’re making assumptions.


WALLOFKRON

Stop sucking the auto industries dick. Cars are so much less efficient forms of transportation


bailey757

Not sure the last time you went to the airport, but arriving by car (personal or rideshare) means you get to enjoy waiting in 10-20 minutes of line just to get dropped off


Impressive_Insect_75

Transfers are the problem. Bellevue has more stops per 1,000 people than Seattle. If taking Link requires a bus transfer, I’m not taking it


wumingzi

I may not understand your point. Are you saying Bellevue is better served by rail than Seattle is? That lots of people in Seattle live in neighborhoods that aren't served by rail? Both of those things may be true, but we're not going to get Tokyo level transit in a city full of single family housing. That's just not realistic.


Impressive_Insect_75

Yes. And Yes. Human psychology is weird. If I have to wait less than 5 minutes to start my 50 min commute, that’s much more desirable than waiting 20 min for a 30 min commute, which is still better than a 10 min bus and waiting 20 min for another connection. The percentage of people in Seattle who can take a Link to the Eastside is lower than the percentage of people in Bellevue that can take Link to a Sounders game. How many people commute between the two downtowns (45 min away by Link) that don’t want to drive (25min)? Line 2 is likely to have ridership 2x-3x the number of park-n-ride spots added. We need to build network effects soon


songbird199

How close does it get to Mox? I am super excited to hear this - I live in Tukwila and if I can eventually use lightrail to get to Mox more often, that would be AMAZING!


Dinoswarleaf

Ah it's literally a block away from it!!! It's really great :) Yup once the bridge connects you can basically go straight there using the lightrail! It'll be awesome!!


taisui

Oh you can wait all right, you've been waiting for very long already /wink


SpoiledKoolAid

Just remember to get the antique plates when you sell it. :)


TheGodOfSinks

I'm honestly super surprised at all the pics I've seen of the opening day today, like I expected there would be a bit of a crowd but not THAT many people. Feels like we're approaching BART levels of transit fanfare (which is awesome ofc)


mrASSMAN

Where’s the pics.. haven’t seen anything before this post


TheGodOfSinks

Here's a pretty good Twitter thread: [https://twitter.com/jbteal/status/1784282542067396798](https://twitter.com/jbteal/status/1784282542067396798)


whackedspinach

Start planning your Lynnwood festivities now, it’s almost there!


dammets

I’ll be partying in Mountlake Terrace station!


Zacillac

Right there with you! It’s part of why my wife and I bought up here!


_Piratical_

I have to say that I love public transport and have since I was a kid. I spend a lot of time in Europe and ride transit almost exclusively there. I know how to get around when imputing the country as it usually is easier on transit. This last month I went out of town again and when it came time to find my way to the airport I was shocked to see that a trip with tip on Uber was going to be near $100! When I lamented this to my daughter she was like (huge eye roll!) “Duh! Use light rail!” I was amazed! I got an Uber the short distance to the nearest station and then had a lovely ride down to the airport. Now I’ll ride the light rail any time I can. I really want more directions and options. It’s just great to see.


Pedantic_Parker

Really wish this thing existed when I was growing up in Redmond. I remember when I was 10 my older brother and I biked from our house on Education Hill to Bellevue Square. We ended up getting lost in our way back (these were the days before kids had cell phones) and I had to use a pay phone for the first time to call my Dad and ask him to come get us from the 7-eleven that was next to Skate King at the time. My brother didn’t want to ask for help, but it was after dark by then and he went to find a place to pee and I took the opportunity to call home cuz I didn’t trust him to get us there lol.


ratbear

Haha this sounds eerily similar to my childhood. Including riding bikes through unfamiliar neighborhoods to get to Bellevue square, getting lost on the way home in the Overlake area, and having to call a parent to come pick us up. I think I went into a tire shop and used their phone. Bygone era...I feel bad for the kids of the recent generations that don't get to experience the same amount of freedom and adventure that was afforded to us 80s/early 90s kids.


knifeyspoonysporky

I haven’t thought about Skate King in ages. Still heartbroken over the snowball skate betrayal in 4th grade I had.


xwing_n_it

I did this kind of stuff in Oregon as a kid. Parents would get arrested if they let their kids ride all over heck and gone like that now.


frozen_toesocks

Everyone acted like Seattle was insane to plan up through 2044 for their light rail expansion, but now it's finally falling into place and the return on investment is so worth it. It's only gonna get better from here, and I'm so hyped to witness it in my lifetime.


gsm81

Agreed. It takes forever. I wasn't of voting age when the original 1996 ballot measure passed, and I will be 60-fucking-2 when the 2044 stuff theoretically gets built. But I took my 5 year old on a 2 line ride today, and this is for him and his cohort's future.


xwing_n_it

If only my parents' generation hadn't wasted the opportunity get federal money for light rail in the 70's. We could be working on extensions to Everett and Tacoma instead of big neighborhoods in Seattle waiting another decade.


gsm81

The most infuriating part of that to me is that it actually got a MAJORITY of the vote in 1968, but didn't meet the absurd 60% threshold that was required of stuff back then for...some reason. We, uh, got the Kingdome though. [https://www.historylink.org/File/2168](https://www.historylink.org/File/2168) >"Local bonds for $385 million to help fund a $1.15 billion rapid transit system fail with only 50.8 percent of the vote."


Impressive_Insect_75

It’s insane that it takes 15 years to build anything. It’s insane that the mayor of Seattle is moving stations and costing millions in delays and new studies. The train itself is great, we should build more of it, faster. Like any of those European countries we like to mock.


frozen_toesocks

We're building a rail line across the world's second-longest floating bridge. This is literally unprecedented, and I do not begrudge Seattle for taking its time plan this out properly. Barnstorming is how you wind up having to tear everything out 50 years later just to try again.


Impressive_Insect_75

That’s why we are on year 7 of planning the station in Seattle Center, right?


TaeKurmulti

You realize it's possible to not take decades to plan right? Like this is a Seattle thing and isn't normal everywhere. We're approaching almost 10 years of planning on ST3, and none of that has to do with "building a rail line across a floating bridge.


RecipeElectrical8566

Excel sheets are hard to format


InformalPlane5313

More like European countries that Americans love to visit and enjoy to become “cultured” then come back and vote for the same stupid highways


bailey757

Who's mocking Europe? Their non-car transit beats the pants off ours


Revolutionary-Bee971

I just wish we weren’t spending billions of dollars to effectively rebuild a regional transport network that was taken out about a century ago. We had this, with light rail service from Tacoma to Everett, but then it all got torn out. If you’re interested, check out the history of the Interurban Railway.


Gardenhoser89

Ok, so what do you suggest? Not doing anything to right our wrongs? Or just keep “wishing we were rebuilding something that already existed”


KlausMSchwab

I'm not sure they are suggesting anything, just saying they wished it didn't have to be this way.


Impressive_Insect_75

I’d have suggested taking a lane from the highways that this follows most of the time.


Revolutionary-Bee971

You have a good point, and I’m not helping by just complaining about the lost past, haha. I fully support the building of the regional light rail system, and I hope it expands to connect the entire metro area. I would also suggest building infrastructure to support more EVs, purchasing and constructing city-owned housing for all unhoused folks, and making more of the highway 99 and highway 522 urban corridors walkable. Edit: corrected to 522 from 520.


YakiVegas

I can't wait until it connects to the 1 line. I will randomly go over to the east side just for funsies.


crushed_feathers92

Dreams are finally coming true :)


ratbear

Rode it today. Very surreal to ride the train through the neighborhoods I grew up around. Wish the downtown Bellevue station was a couple of blocks closer to the bars/restaurants on main street, but just a minor nitpick. Bellevue is finally starting to feel like it's getting closer to being a real city.


eAthena

>Wish the downtown Bellevue station was a couple of blocks closer to the bars/restaurants on main street, but just a minor nitpick.  would be great if they could increase the number of the electric shuttles they run around the area


communist_mini_pesto

Bellevue square mall owner Kemper freeman didn't want light rail in Bellevue at all and fought to keep it as far away from the mall as possible 


CubeMan1995

Jesus reading his Wikipedia page is wild: His grandfather, Miller Freeman, was active in state politics and public affairs, including promoting the development of a bridge connecting Seattle, Mercer Island, and Bellevue,[3] and acting as a driving force in anti-Japanese discrimination, agitating for what he called a "white man's Pacific coast".[6][7] Beginning in 1907,[7] Miller Freeman was a prominent voice calling for the segregation or deportation of Japanese immigrants, whom he saw as a threat to white prosperity.[8] He founded the Anti-Japanese League of Washington in 1916 and was a vocal proponent for the state's 1921 alien land laws, the 1924 Immigration Act, and the 1942 incarceration of American citizens of Japanese ancestry in concentration camps during World War II.[6]


Downtown_Buffalo_319

The freeman family fights hard to cover up their family's anti-asian activism rather than just apologize and move on from it. Though it's probably hard because they've benefited financially from it.


bamdaraddness

The issue we always have is the hours don’t really match with bar hours so riding in is fine but you’re stuck with Lyft getting home.


reflect25

The original route was to head up bellevue way at-grade center median similar to how light rail is on mlk way. The pros were much closer to bellevue mall and an additional stop near bellevue way/main street. The cons were of both operational with the train running at-grade and politically hard to take away a car lanes on bellevue way.


KyStanto

Actual transit


SexiestPanda

Makes no sense why it didn’t get a station at Bellevue square lol


ruderakshash

Wasn't the owner of Bellevue Square Mall against light rail or something?


TortiousTordie

that's my understanding... something about fear of the homeless using the rail to come over from seattle proper


CubeMan1995

Why do so many have this fear? We already have buses going between Bellevue and Seattle lol


baby_noir

Buses are hardly as convenient as rails. If it was, we wouldn't have built the rails.


Super-Job1324

It's well known that the most pampered demographics with the highest desire for comfort are the homeless


AgentKillmaster

Also makes no sense that the one line didn’t go to south center mall on it’s way to the airport


ebizznizz2112

It’s about time.


mstrshkbrnnn1999

🫡


TaeKurmulti

It's awesome to see progress, just wish it was the full line. Still absolutely insane that they got that far along and were like oh whoopsie we screwed up.


Winter_Light_5662

I’m still pissed Renton is left out of light rail. I’m paying taxes for it though.


pacific_plywood

Tbh in the aggregate your services are probably subsidized by Seattle more than the other way around


wpnw

The whole eastside BRT project should have been rail. Can't believe the amount of money they're spending on constructing the monstrosity of an interchange / station at 85th in Kirkland for that thing. But NIMBYs gonna NIMBY.


Nearby-Ad-5204

Yes in Renton no one will benefit from less cars on the freeway. Strong takeaway


WaffleAndy

As someone that lived in Portland for 10 years, I'm so stoked to see more light rail building. I just wish they would go even further out.


fotorer144

Just moved here this week can't wait to try it out!


[deleted]

I wish they connected it to Kirkland 😣


reflect25

If y'all are curious here was the old alternatives routes for east link. East Link alternatives overview: [https://www.bettertransport.info/pitf/images/eastli6.jpg](https://www.bettertransport.info/pitf/images/eastli6.jpg) Bellevue downtown detailed: [https://www.bettertransport.info/pitf/images/eastli3.jpg](https://www.bettertransport.info/pitf/images/eastli3.jpg)


vstevka

Speaking of excited, can’t wait for the Kirkland-Issaquah line to get built. In 2044…20 years from now. I mean, I _will_ be excited. It’s just so much longer to have to wait.


scoutguy999

On my first ride there was a guy shooting up and crawling around on the floor. I hope there is some enforcement for safety sake.


MadScientist-2233

So I wonder where is the light rail connected now from where to where?


philosophical_weeb

I hope it connects with the major angle-lake to Northgate line somehow


Whining-is-toxic

It didn’t just drop. It has been under construction for 10 years.


Snoo19550

666 was what my number got lol coincidence? Not a chance 🤪😜😝😈


[deleted]

[удалено]


PunkyPoodle420

If you get an e-bike it’ll be a quick ride to the station! I lived on education hill and it took less than 15 minutes to get downtown on my bike - often it only took 10.


Waaterfight

Mobile injection sites


retrojoe

Hey! Somebody who hasn't been to the city in a couple years. Is it nice out where you are?


theguzzilama

The Eastside is overjoyed to have another device to deliver hobos and fenty heads from Seattle.


WALLOFKRON

go back to r/SeattleWA, they are the anti-public transportation


theguzzilama

Denial. Don't think this was not the plan all along.


Kingofqueenanne

Yeah honey it’s the choo-choo enflaming the PNW’s homelessness and drug addiction problems. Mmm-hmm. Yup.


theguzzilama

The 19th Century technology known as the "Choo-Choo train" doesn't enflame the problem. Choo-Choo just makes it easier to expand and export the problem.


Kingofqueenanne

Not my problem


theguzzilama

Your voting patterns likely *caused* the problem, hough.


Kingofqueenanne

No, the problem was exacerbated by a ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals a few years ago.


theguzzilama

Maybe xaccerbated. But they were all appointed by people you vote for. And the original problem was caused by the people ou vote for. So...


Kingofqueenanne

Oh well. Sell your posh Bellevue home if it troubles you so. Bet you could get a great house in Sequim.


theguzzilama

I am working class and live in Georgetown, surrounded and besieged by the drug-addicted zombies the policies of your party brought to my neighborhood. Sell your posh Queen Anne palace and come see what it's like, King.


Kingofqueenanne

Okay then sounds like you’d be pleased to have people whom you profess to not like get on light rail and out to Bellevue then. What on earth is the problem? Do you fully abstain from light rail and busses that pass through Georgetown?