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The Seattle Streetcar—South Lake Union Line is a streetcar line, covering a total route, connecting the South Lake Union neighborhood to Downtown Seattle, Washington. Service began on December 12, 2007. Currently it is the only operational line of the developing Seattle Streetcar Network. ==History== The Seattle Electric Railway and Power Company laid streetcar tracks on Westlake Avenue, along which the present service primarily runs, in 1890.〔Kit Oldham, HistoryLink.org, (Officials break ground for Seattle's South Lake Union Streetcar on July 7, 2006 )〕 In April 1941, the Seattle Municipal Street Railway converted its last two streetcar routes - 19 Eighth Avenue Northwest and 21 Phinney Avenue - to buses (now numbered 28 and 5, respectively);〔University of Washington Libraries, (Guide to the Seattle Municipal Street Railway Photograph Collection ), accessed October 2009〕 both used Westlake Avenue to reach the Fremont Bridge from downtown.〔Seattle Municipal Street Railway, (system map ), January 26, 1941〕 Restoration of rail service on Westlake Avenue was originally envisioned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen to help improve the South Lake Union neighborhood, in which his venture capital company, Vulcan Inc., is heavily invested. Allen's main supporter from the beginning was Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, but he was not universally supported by the Seattle City Council, which was concerned about the lack of public support for the line and questioned if it should be moved ahead of Seattle's other transportation needs. After heavy lobbying by South Lake Union businesses, including Vulcan, the Seattle City Council approved the development of the neighborhood into a biotechnology and bio-medical research center. Included in that plan was funding to investigate a , US$45 million streetcar line. The line was approved in 2005 at a cost of $50.5 million, with $25 million paid by property owners along the streetcar's route and the remainder paid by federal, state, and local funds. The final cost was $56.4 million; additional costs were mostly utility work needed after the line opened.〔("Streetcar cost overruns: What about the next line?" ), by Mike Lindblom, ''Seattle Times'', December 23, 2009〕 The majority of property owners along the alignment supported the project, despite being asked to pay increased taxes to fund its construction. Only 12 of 750 affected property owners formally objected to the proposed "Local Improvement District" tax. The project was modeled after the Portland Streetcar, a similar modern-streetcar system that had opened in Portland, Oregon, in 2001. Construction began in July 2006.〔 Some local residents and business owners opposed to the streetcar claimed that it was originally called the ''South Lake Union Trolley'', which abbreviates to S.L.U.T. While there is no evidence that this name was ever used as an official name, the acronym's popularity has caused it to become an unofficial one. Service was inaugurated on December 12, 2007, and until the end of the month, all rides were free. Streetcars run every fifteen minutes, seven days a week. The line uses three 2007-built Inekon 12-Trio three-section articulated streetcars: one red, one orange and one purple, internally numbered 301, 302 and 303, respectively. There were minor collisions with motor vehicles and several service stoppages when the Seattle Streetcar first began service. In 2009, election candidates in local Seattle politics, including almost all for city council and both candidates for mayor, said the streetcar was a bad idea.〔("South Lake Union Streetcar -- a loser in this campaign season" ), by Susan Gilmore. ''Seattle Times'', October 6, 2009〕 The City Council President, Richard Conlin, was an exception, and wants to expand the line through Fremont to Ballard and use stronger traffic signal preemption (as is used with Central Link) to allow the streetcar to move quickly through traffic.〔("Meet Your New Mayor", by Dominic Holden, ''The Stranger'', November 3, 2009 )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「South Lake Union Streetcar」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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