Light rail moves less than 2 percent of 1.1 million drivers on I-5
Recently, in a Seattle Times op-ed, former Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels bragged that the Link light-rail system is carrying “thousands of passengers every day.” [“Don’t derail region’s transit gains,” Opinion, May 16.]
This is true. It is also true that back on Feb. 11, 2000, then Metropolitan King County Councilmember Nickels claimed in a similar op-ed that light rail would carry passengers “equal to a 12-lane freeway,” thus “finding [us a solution] to traffic congestion.”
Since the claim was ridiculous, I e-mailed him, asking if he really believed this. He e-mailed me back and said, “Why, yes I do.” He went on to up the ante by claiming that Link light rail would carry the transit capacity of a 16 freeway lanes.
Wow —and I thought it was illegal to smoke that stuff. Anyway, here are the facts. Based on onramp data, I-5 moves more than 1.1 million people per day in the corridor. Link light rail moves less than 2 percent of that amount.
So, is light rail a nifty toy? Sure. Does it move as many people as a crowded urban freeway or do anything noticeable about traffic congestion? Please.
— Donald Padelford, Seattle