Link light rail
Link light rail is a light rail rapid transit system serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It is managed by Sound Transit in partnership with local transit providers, and consists of two non-connected lines: Line 1 (formerly Central Link) in King County, which travels for between Seattle and Seattle–Tacoma International Airport; and Line T (formerly Tacoma Link) in Pierce County, which runs for under between Downtown Tacoma and Tacoma Dome Station. The system carries 24.1 million passengers annually, primarily on Line 1, and runs trains at frequencies of 6 to  24 minutes. The Link light rail system was originally conceived in the 1980s following several earlier proposals for a heavy rail system that were rejected by voters. Sound Transit was created in 1993 and placed a ballot measure to fund and build the system, which was passed on a second attempt in 1996. Tacoma Link began construction first in 2000 and opened on August 22, 2003, costing $80 million. Central Link construction was delayed because of funding issues and routing disputes, but began in November 2003 and was completed on July 18, 2009. Central Link trains initially ran from  Downtown Seattle to Tukwila International Boulevard station before being extended south to the airport in December 2009, north to the University of Washington in March 2016, and further south to Angle Lake station in September 2016. Sound Transit plans to expand the Link light rail network to and 70 stations by 2044, using funding approved by voters in 2008 and 2016 ballot measures. An extension from the University of Washington to Northgate opened on October 2, 2021. Suburban extensions to Bellevue, Redmond, Lynnwood, and Federal Way are scheduled to open between 2023 and 2024. Later projects will expand the system  to cover the metropolitan area from Everett to Tacoma, along with branches to Kirkland, Issaquah, and the Seattle neighborhoods of Ballard and West Seattle. History. In November 1996, voters in King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties approved increases in sales taxes and vehicle excise taxes to pay for a US$3.9 billion transit package that included $1.7 billion for a light rail system, including Central Link and Tacoma Link. Over the next several years, debates raged over various issues surrounding the Central Link line. In the late nineties and early 2000s, Sound Transit underwent a series of financial and political  difficulties. The cost of the line rose significantly, and the federal government threatened to withhold necessary grants. In 2001, Sound Transit was forced to shorten the line from the original proposal, and growing enthusiasm for the proposed monorail brought rising opposition to the light rail from Seattle-area residents. But by the end of 2002, Sound Transit decided on a route and became more financially stable. On August 22, 2003, the Tacoma Link light rail line in Downtown Tacoma opened and quickly reached its forecast ridership. On November 8, 2003, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the Central Link light  rail line. Central Link opened between Westlake Station and Tukwila on July 18, 2009, and was extended to SeaTac/Airport on December 19, 2009. In November 2006, the U.S. Federal Transit Administration approved Sound Transit's plan for University Link, a project to extend light rail north to the University of Washington after completion of an Environmental Impact Study. A grant was approved in November 2008, which allowed University Link to begin construction in December 2008. The line opened, including the University Link Tunnel, on March 19, 2016. In September 2019, Sound Transit renamed Central Link to the Red Line  and Tacoma Link to the Orange Line as part of their update to transit branding. Two months later, the agency announced that it would consider a new name for the Red Line after complaints because of the similarity of the "Red Line" with redlining as well as confusion over King County Metro's RapidRide system (which utilizes red bullets for its service routes). A new naming scheme will come into effect in 2021, using "Line 1" (green) for the existing line in Seattle, "Line 2" (blue) for East Link, and "Line T" (orange) for Tacoma Link. Future light rail extensions  will use "Line 3" (magenta) and "Line 4" (purple), alongside new names for Sounder and bus rapid transit services. Since December 2020, the Link light rail system has been running fully on carbon emissions-free renewable energy through Puget Sound Energy's wind electricity purchase program and Seattle City Light's fully carbon-neutral power supply. Lines. Line 1. Line 1, formerly Central Link, is a light rail line serving Seattle, SeaTac, and Tukwila, using trains of two to four cars that each carry 194 passengers. It connects Northgate, the University of Washington, and Downtown Seattle to the Rainier Valley  and Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, using tunnels, elevated guideways, and surface-running sections. The line carries 23 million passengers annually and 72,000 on an average weekday, making it the busiest transit route in the Seattle region. The initial segment of the line was opened on July 18, 2009, connecting the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (a facility shared with buses until 2019) to Tukwila International Boulevard station. The line has since been expanded four times and spans as of October 2, 2021. Line T. Line T, formerly Tacoma Link, is a streetcar line running through downtown Tacoma and surrounding neighborhoods. This  line connects the Tacoma Dome Station (a regional hub for local and express bus, and commuter train service) with downtown Tacoma, making stops near the city's convention center, theater district, the University of Washington's Tacoma campus and several museums. The line was completed in 2003. Future extensions. Sound Transit's 2008 ballot measure, named Sound Transit 2, approved several light rail projects, extending Link northward to Northgate and Lynnwood by 2021 and 2024, respectively, and east to Bellevue and Overlake in 2023. It also extended the existing line one new station in Angle Lake, which opened September 26 , 2016. Other improvements in the package included Sounder commuter rail improvements and expansion of Tacoma Link. Sound Transit 3, passed in 2016, funded new extensions of Link that will open between 2024 and 2044. Several deferred or truncated projects from Sound Transit 2, including extensions to Federal Way and Downtown Redmond, were funded and accelerated by the plan. Land-use impacts. An expressed purpose in building the Link light rail system has been to support a "smart growth" approach to handling the region's population growth and development. By concentrating new development along light rail lines (a practice known as  transit-oriented development), more people can live more densely without the increases in automotive commuting traffic that might otherwise be expected. In addition, the concentration of residents near stations helps maintain ridership and revenue. Climate change activists also point out that compact development around light rail lines has been shown to result in reductions in residents' emissions, compared to more conventional suburban automotive commutes. Environmentalists, transportation groups and some affordable housing advocates have sought greater government regulatory support for transit-oriented development along Link light rail, and in 2009 a bill was introduced in the Washington State Legislature that would  have raised allowable densities (as well as lowering parking requirements and easing some other regulations on development) in station areas. As part of Sound Transit 3 in 2016, the Washington State Legislature mandated that Sound Transit reserve at least 80% of the surplus land surrounding light rail stations for affordable housing developments.