Tacoma Link doubles in length Saturday. Sound Transit isn’t delivering what they promised
Note: A previous version of this story contained an incorrect location for Saturday’s ribbon cutting ceremony.
It’s long-delayed and over-budget and now it looks like Tacoma will get a little less than promised when Sound Transit starts carrying passengers on the Hilltop Extension of the city’s streetcar line Saturday.
After the speeches and festivities conclude, Tacoma Link trains will arrive at stations every 12 minutes instead of the 10-minute intervals that Sound Transit promised before ground was even broken on the project.
Earlier this week, the project website was still stating that 10-minute figure. But the newly published timetable shows T Line trains running every 12 minutes.
Chris Karnes, chair of the Tacoma Planning Commission, first noticed the discrepancy on Sept. 8. He says the 10-minute interval has long been promised to the community and was in the plan Sound Transit submitted for a $75 million federally-funded capital grant for the extension.
“Twelve-minute service is 16 percent less than what was promised to Hilltop, which is a lower benefit or a reduced service in an area with underserved populations,” Karnes told The News Tribune.
Sound Transit said the change was necessary to maintain a dependable schedule.
“The decision was made by T Line operations because as discovered during testing, 10 minutes proved too difficult (to) maintain due to the challenges of operating in the right of way,” Sound Transit spokesman David Jackson told The News Tribune.
During a demonstration of the system Wednesday for news media, Sound Transit’s CEO Julie Timm said safety for operators, riders and pedestrians was also a factor. The 10-minute windows were found to be too tight for streetcar operators to take breaks.
“We will look at opportunities to recover that (time loss),” Timm said. “We’ll be looking at future extensions, future projects. We’ll be working with the city to add reliability in the route.”
During most of its route, T Line cars share the road with cars, trucks and other vehicles on Tacoma’s streets. That creates congestion and, sometimes, accidents or blockages can slow or stop streetcars.
The system ran at 10-minute intervals when it first opened in 2003. It shifted to 12-minute intervals after the construction of the Commerce Street Station in 2011, Karnes said. The extension would have restored the 10-minute intervals.
Matt Stevens, co-chair of Tacoma’s Transportation Commission, said the increased wait for trains was disappointing.
“It’s a significant decrease in service and it’s concerning that we’re unable to deliver what the city and the voters and the residents were promised,” Stevens said.
Opening festivities
After nearly five years of construction and $282 million spent, the extension brings streetcar service into Tacoma’s Stadium and Hilltop districts, adds 2.4 miles to the existing 1.8 mile line and adds six stations.
A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held in the parking lot of the Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center located near the Hilltop District station at 11th and MLK Jr. Way Saturday at 10 a.m. There will be commemorative T-shirts as well as remarks from elected officials and community leaders and performances by
dancers and NW Sinfonietta.
The new stations are:
St. Joseph (Martin Luther King Jr. Way south of South 17th Street)
Hilltop District (South 11th and MLK Way)
6th Avenue (at MLK Way)
Tacoma General (MLK Way at MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital)
South 4th (at South Stadium Way)
Old City Hall Station (Commerce Street north of South 7th Street)
The project comes in $65 million over budget and a year late.
The Hilltop extension relocated the original end-of-the-line station on Commerce Street at South 8th Street further north toward Old City Hall. It also necessitated the construction of a larger maintenance facility near Freighthouse Square and added five new trolley cars.
Sound Transit estimates 2,000-4,000 riders will use the T-Line daily by 2026.
Karnes hopes that Sound Transit will eventually keep its promised 10-minute interval, “... instead of brushing this off as an error in traffic modeling during project development.”
T Line Fares
The system has been free to ride since it began service in 2003 but with the opening of the extension, Sound Transit will start charging adult riders $2.
Riders will be able to tap their ORCA cards as they do on Sounder trains. Passengers can also buy one-way, return or all-day tickets. Ticket machines will accept cash and credit/debit cards. Tickets can also be purchased with the Transit GO ticket app.
Trains will run from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday; 7:20 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturdays; and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays. Monday through Saturday, trains will run at 12-minute intervals from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. and every 20 minutes all other times and Sundays, according to Sound Transit.
Adult (age 19-64): $2
Low-income adult (ORCA LIFT): $1
Senior/Disabled (age 65+ or qualifying disability): $1
Youth (18 and under): Free
Staff photographer Tony Overman contributed to this report.
This story was originally published September 14, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
