In Seattle, A Ride On The S.L.U.T. Is Good For the Earth
by Andrew Posner, Providence, Rhode Island on 01. 6.08
Normally, when Paul Allen invests in something, he gets it right (exhibit A: co-founding Microsoft). But in the case of the Seattle trolley developed by Vulcan, his private asset management company, he got almost everything right. The trolley will be servicing "a 1.3 mile route, connecting South Lake Union, the new waterfront park, the Denny Triangle and the Downtown Retail Core/Westlake." So far, so good. The problem is that they decided to call it The South Lake Union Trolley, or S.L.U.T. for short. Already, a nearby coffee shop has begun selling T-shirts that read "Ride the SLUT." Not surprisingly, they've been quite popular, proving the maxim that "there's no such thing as bad publicity."
According to CNN.com, however, at least some of the name calling has more to do with "resentment over changes in the old working-class neighborhood" than with the extremely unfortunate acronym. One local described a meeting with city representatives this way:
"They asked us, 'What we could do for you?' Most people raised their hands and said, 'Affordable housing,"' he said. "Then the people from the city huddled together -- 'whisper, whisper, whisper,' -- and they said, 'How about a trolley?"'
Name and neighborhood issues aside, the trolley will connect with "light rail, regional buses and the monorail," and with a projected ridership of " 330,000 in the first year, growing to over one million as the area develops," the project should make leaving the car at home that much easier to do.
Whether or not the trolley will bring economic growth to the community remains to be seen. But one thing is for certain: in Seattle, a ride on the S.L.U.T. is good for the Earth.
Via: ::G Living and ::CNN
See Also: ::Streetcars Back On Rails in America, ::A Picture is Worth. . .Map of Urban Rail Transit Around the World, ::A Monorail for Seattle?, ::Bicycle Master Plan For Seattle, ::Popularity of Public Transportation Increasing in US and ::Seattle Garbage Trucks To Spew Less Garbage Into Air
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The streetcar is officially known as the South Lake Union Streetcar. It was residents of the area who conferred the title of South Lake Union Transit, or S.L.U.T.
I rode it several weeks ago. It is clean and modern, but has much less seating for the space used than a bus or the monorail. The route it takes primarily serves the properties being built by Vulcan, with such existing destinations as Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center about 6-8 blocks away through heavy traffic.
With such heavy traffic flow problems in Seattle, it seems many people in the area have questioned whether this was the best use of downtown land.
The grooves for it's rails are a hazard to bicycles. It's unfortunate that they did not design that better.
Ride a bicycle perpendicular to the rails, not parallel! Be careful in the wet as those rails can be slick.
Anyone who says the SLUT got almost everything right doesn't live in Seattle.
The route isn't very useful. It is short and services an area which presently doesn't have a lot of business or residences.
The alignment in the road is on the right, so it interferes with cyclists. It is placed along one of the most useful N/S routes for cyclists and the major one for going from the University of Washington area to downtown.
If they had built a median and run it down that it could have been wonderful, even with the less useful initial route. As it is the system doesn't have any advantages over a bus and has many disadvantages compared to one.
"Ride perpendicular to the rails, not parallel"
That is pretty hard advise to follow if you are riding along the same route as the SLUT. Vehicular traffic can force you over and then you are faced with the possibility of falling into the track and wiping out.
As Alex points out: what is the benefit of the SLUT over an articulated electric bus running the same route?
Seattle would be better served by BRT(bus rapid transit) and a comprehensive light and commuter rail rather than a patchwork of limited transit options.
The SLUT is a novelty.
For some reason, this post reminded me of my dad's beloved Harley Davidson, a red FXRT. My mom took to calling it "The Scarlet Whore"
just felt like sharing
-rc
Wow Thanks for the insight into taking our transportation infrastructure down this road!