Today’s a big day for transit nerds: Mayor Nickels announced that the Light Rail line between Westlake and Tuwila will open July 18th 
The One Regional Card for All (ORCA) system also went online today. You can order your own newfangled futuristic bus pass here.
man, now I’ll never get my family to pick me up from the airport.
That is awesome.
That *is* awesome! I wonder if there will be space to store a second luggage bag–I hate holding on my lap on the bus . . .
Godzilla ate Tuwila. But that was back in the days when it was called Tukwila.
Not quite. Airport service won’t be open until December. They’re putting buses on from Tukwila to the airport until then.
But the Tukwila station IS just kittycorner (across two of the biggest streets in Seattle; it will probably take as long to cross on foot as it did to ride from downtown) from one of the best breakfast joints in town, Pancake Chef.
You should see the hilarious picture they chose to illustrate their station with on their own website — it looks across what appears to be twelve lanes of automobile lanes: http://www.soundtransit.org/x1647.xml
Woo-hoo! Can’t wait until we can ride it all the way to the airport.
I just ordered my Orca card!
I am kinda annoyed Light Rail won’t be open for my trip the first week of July. It’s some horrible tease.
Sweet that’s totally not in time for my trip this summer.
Would be good to have some speed/ frequency contrasts with 194 service to Sea-Tac, along with cost comparisons for the Tukwila/ airport extension piece alone.
Also is there any though of having shuttle service from Southcenter mall to the Tukwila light rail? I remember the Renton City Council being pissed about Southcenter being bypassed.
Fnarf, that would be 6+ lanes (construction and offramps right there makes the count hard to officially peg) of the 509 freeway.
I tried to use my Orca card but a killer whale ate it.
correction: 519, not the 509.
DAMN YOU WASHINGTON STATE FREEWAY SYSTEM!
Where is this “Tuwila” place? It sounds lovely and exotic!
I’m visiting Tukwila as we speak.
(shh, I’m trying to type)
@12, I know. I like to exaggerate for effect. The point is, it’s hilarious to advertise your shiny new light rail with a picture of a freeway.
If you’ve been to SeaTac lately you can see that the final “Terminal Dock” that the light-rail train will end at is still being built (you drive under it as you leave the airport…just on the other side of the parking garage). It looks like there’s a bit of construction left to do on it, so it doesn’t surprise me that it will be end of the year before it’s all done
So when will the Roosevelt light rail station near my house in Greenlake open up? 2016, I think? Awesome.
Seriously, it will be awesome, taking the light rail downtown and to the airport will rock, but I’ve got a ways to go before this is even remotely useful for me. For the moment, it’s just a novelty that I can brag about, but never really use.
I just bought my Orca card for next month! I’m excited to get it in the mail.
@15,
Well if your choices are 518, 99 or a Arco station, i guess the freeway is the least evil. Im guessing it works best cause they can say “look, take the light rail! You can ignore this 12 lane monstrosity”
hehehehe. SPD and the Transit cops are already calling it the “victim express”
Straight from the airport to The Valley, and with most of the passengers jet-lagged and certified weapons-free, courtesy of TSA.
Ride it now, before the bloodstains show up on the upholstery.
(And no – I’m not “The Troll With a Thousand Names”)
One Regional Card for All?
Didn’t know this was happening. Finally, to be able to pre-pay just the amount of transit I use instead of being forced to buy a fixed number of rides a month, whether needed or not.
Funny how the name makes me think of Tolkien though: “One ring to rule them all…and in the darkness bind them.” If they start offering implantable microchips to store fares I think I’ll take a pass on that.