First Hill Streetcar Begins Service

At approximately 11.00am yesterday, the first trip on the First Hill Streetcar departed its Pioneer Square station at Occidental Avenue & Jackson Street with Mayor Ed Murray, SDOT Director Scott Kubly, City Councilmembers Rob Johnson and Tim Burgess, and a few other Seattle notables on board.

Some of our tweets from yesterday as events were unfolding:

We are here at the launch of the First Hill Streetcar! pic.twitter.com/u6usJ9Ni4v

— The Urbanist (@UrbanistOrg) January 23, 2016

The mayor making remarks, saying Seattle is "decades behind" but making progress. "It's a good day." pic.twitter.com/OJTxbabxx1

— The Urbanist (@UrbanistOrg) January 23, 2016

Mayor asked about the delay. "When you're mayor, issues walk in the door." Fines for delay on streetcar manufacturer could total $1.5M

— The Urbanist (@UrbanistOrg) January 23, 2016

Clapping as the first streetcar leaves Occidental and Jackson with the Mayor, Scott Kubly, and Tim Burgess on board.

— The Urbanist (@UrbanistOrg) January 23, 2016

The mayor and the SDOT director chatting as I tweet without a handhold- bad idea. pic.twitter.com/cI9WMvC9vK

— The Urbanist (@UrbanistOrg) January 23, 2016

But on its first day, the streetcar’s runs were not without any hiccups. One of the first trips today was delayed by a loading Metro Access van in front of the Northwest Kidney Center on Broadway. And at about 5.30pm, a crash on Jackson Street delayed the streetcar for approximately an hour while the officers from the Seattle Police Department cleared the scene.

With general purpose lanes being converted to streetcar and bus lanes in South Lake Union, and dedicated lanes coming to First Avenue for the Center City Connector that will unite the two systems, the First Hill segment having no dedicated right-of-way might make it an outlier as we expand the Seattle Streetcar system.

But to quote Mayor Ed Murray as the first car departed today, “today is a good day.”