Commuter Challenge, which brings you this web site, is beginning its
eighth year; the goals of the Commute Trip Reduction Law, implemented in 1993, have been
reduced by the 1997 state Legislature; Metro Transit has become the King County Department
of Transportation; and the Regional Transit Authority is gearing up for 10 years of design
and construction. Our economy is thriving, our eyes are on the future... and our need for
public transportation remains a constant.
Let's not forget where we've been and how far we've come. This following timeline tells
the story of the history of transportation in King County. A series of related articles
describe the History of the Commuter Challenge Program and take a look at TDM in King
County: Two Decades of Growth in Commuting Programs.
Note: The following timeline was adapted from "Routes, A Brief History of
Public Transportation in Metropolitan Seattle," by Walt Crowley, 1993.
Transportation Timeline
1853 First American steamboat on Puget Sound.
1871 For 50 cents, teamster/livery stable owner Robert Abrams offers pedestrians a
lift in his wagon up and down Skid Road (now Yesler Way), and all the way to Lake
Washington. Abrams expands stage service to Georgetown and Renton.
1884 Horse-powered "Seattle Street Railway" offers rides down Second
Avenue for a nickel in its "hay-burners."
1887 Seattle's first cable railway.
1889 Seattle's first electric streetcar. Public worries about runaway bolts of
electricity. Electric railway to Renton built. Washington attains statehood.
1890s Street rails reach Ballard, Fremont, Georgetown, West Seattle, Greenlake.
1899 Stone & Webster, a national utility holding company, consolidates
ownership of Seattle's 22 street railways and private electric utilities as Seattle
Electric Company.
1900 First auto (electric-powered) arrives in Seattle.
1901 Seattle-Tacoma and Seattle-Everett interurban railways built and acquired by
Stone & Webster.
1912 Seattle voters reject Virgil Bogue's "Plan of Seattle," which
included "rapid transit" system and interurban rail tunnel under Lake
Washington. Stone & Webster fold Seattle Electric Company and other holdings into
Puget Sound Power, Light and Traction Company, forerunner of Puget Powernow Puget Sound
Energy.
1914 First auto ferry on Puget Sound.
1918 Seattle purchases Seattle Electric's street railways for an inflated $15
million.
1920 Height of "Mosquito Fleet" with 350 ports of call to move goods and
people across Puget Sound.
1934 Puget Power created out of anti-trust break up of Stone & Webster.
1939 Seattle gets $10 million federal loan to pay off street railway debts, convert
to trackless trolleys and buses.
1940 Lacey V. Murrow Floating Bridge opens between Seattle and Mercer Island.
1941 Last Seattle streetcar completes route. World War II begins, spurs transit
patronage.
1944 Annual Seattle Transit ridership peaks at all-time record of 130 million
trips.
1951 State purchases ferry fleetbirth of Washington State Ferries.
1953 Alaskan Way Viaduct opens. State begins planning the future Interstate 5.
1956 Federal Aid Highway act authorizes billions of dollars for highways.
1957 State Highway Department rejects second Seattle Transit System proposal to
incorporate light rail transit in new I-5 freeway design.
1958 Voters reject then approve creation of "Municipality of Metropolitan
Seattle" to undertake sewage treatment, transit, and comprehensive planning.
1960 Seattle population grows to 560,000, while King County suburban areas swell by
43% to 378,000 residents.
1962 Evergreen Point Floating Bridge opens.
1968 Voters pass seven Forward Thrust proposals, including the Kingdome, but rail
plan fails. Nine-member County Council and elected County Executive put into place by King
County voters.
1969 State Legislature authorizes use of MVET for transit if matched by local tax
dollars.
1970 Seattle population shrinks while rest of King County population balloons 67%.
Boeing begins lay offs of 65,000. Forward Thrust rail plans again rejected.
1972 Seattle voters scrap proposed Bay Freeway (to solve "Mercer Mess")
and Expressway from U District to Southeast Seattle. King County voters approve 0.3% sales
tax increase to allow Metro to take over Seattle Transit and suburban bus companies.
County-wide transit ridership at low of 31 million.
1973 Metro Transit begins operations. Free "Magic Carpet" transit zone
created in downtown Seattle. State opens first HOV lane on SR520. OPEC declares oil
embargo on U.S., and transit ridership increases 8%.
1976 Metro buys 145 articulated diesel coaches rather than ones using natural gas.
Seattle, Mercer Island, Bellevue, King County and State Highway Commission agree on
smaller I-90 with six traffic lanes and two transit lanes, plus landscaping and lidding.
1977 SAFECO Insurance becomes first employer to subsidize transit passes for its
workers.
1979 King County voters reject plan to "merge" Metro with King County.
Expanded services and high gas prices result in annual ridership of 58 million. City of
Seattle starts Commuter Pool with 21 public vans.
1980 Census shows 1.27 million King County residents, of whom 494,000 live within
Seattle city limits.
1984 Seattle Commuter Pool and 130 vans transferred to Metro
1985 King County adopts Comprehensive Plan to concentrate development in existing
urbanized areas.
1986 "Incentive Agreement" between Metro, City of Bellevue and Bellevue
Downtown Association to develop "Transportation Management Association" and
increase transit services is implemented.
1987 Boeing transfers its fleet of 100 vans and 65 vanpool groups to Metro
Rideshare.
1986 Metro agrees to share downtown bus stops with Community Transit for express
bus service from Snohomish County. Metro signs "Eastside Action Plan" to
increase intra-suburban service among Kirkland, Redmond, Bellevue and other destinations.
1989 Commuter Challenge program formed.
1990 Metro declared unconstitutional by U.S. District Judge William Dwyer. Downtown
Seattle Transit Tunnel opens for service. Federal Clean Air Act passed. King, Pierce and
Snohomish counties set up Regional Ridematch System.
1991 U of W students approve "U-Pass" program. State passes Commute Trip
Reduction Law. Seattle area congestion rated fourth worst in the nation. High gas prices
push annual transit ridership to 74.6 million.
1992 Merger of Metro and King County passes.
1993 Pierce, Snohomish and King counties join Regional Transit Authority. Employers
with 100 or more full-time employees implement staff commuting programs to comply with CTR
Law.
1994 Metro becomes King County Department of Metropolitan Services. Metro's vanpool
program tallies 2.7 million passenger trips.
1995 Regional Transit Authority rail proposal is defeated by voters. 530 Metro
Rideshare vans in use.
1996 Reduced Regional Transit Authority proposal passes.
And the rest, as they say, is not yet history! |