My name is Bob Fleming, and I believe strongly that the Seattle area needs a good high-speed rapid transit system as the basic backbone network for a more complex system of public transportation. This backbone would consist of high-speed links serving the busiest transit corridors.

The characteristics of the high-speed network would be high speed and high capacity trains operating over fixed routes at high frequency, so that during most of the day riders would have to wait no more than a few minutes to catch a train.

My proposed high-speed backbone network would be monorail, because of the advantages of monorail over other forms of transportation in this kind of service.

LOCAL GEOGRAPHY: For those unfamiliar with the geography of the area around Seattle, I will give a quick description. Yes, a map would be invaluable here, but so far I don't have the technical means to produce maps for web pages (the few maps I have on this site were copied from other sources -- I can't create my own.)

The City of Seattle is located on the eastern shore of Puget Sound, a long arm of the Pacific Ocean in western Washington State, in the northwestern part of The United States. The part of Puget Sound near Seattle runs north and south.

On the east side of Seattle is Lake Washington, a fairly large lake also running primarily north and south. Puget Sound and Lake Washington are only a few miles apart, and Seattle fills much of the space between the two bodies of water.

Seattle has a population of about 550,000. About 30 miles north of Seattle is Everett, with a population of about 50,000. About 30 miles south of Seattle is Tacoma, with about 200,000 people. Of course there a a number of smaller cities and towns in between these three cities.

East of Seattle, across Lake Washington, are several other cities and towns. Because this area is on the east side of Lake Washington, it is commonly called “The Eastside”. The largest city on the Eastside is Bellevue, with over 50,000 people, but Kirkland, Redmond, and Issaquah are also significant.

Seattle is located in King County. The next county north is Snohomish County, with Everett, and the next county south is Pierce County, with Tacoma.

RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE PROPOSED REGIONAL MONORAIL SYSTEM: There is already an agency set up for building and operating a regional transit system. Sound Transit is the common name for the agency. Sound Transit already operates a fleet of express buses throughout the region and a limited commuter rail service between Tacoma, Seattle, and Everett. Sound Transit also operates a short light rail line in Tacoma and is building a light rail line in Seattle.

Sound Transit is the logical and appropriate organization to build and operate a regional monorail system. Unfortunately, the agency is committed to light rail and refuses to consider monorail in its plan. As a result, the citizens of Seattle have voted to build their own monorail line, and there is now a movement to build other lines between Seattle and some suburbs and between some of the suburbs. There have also been other proposals for monorail lines elsewhere in the region. If this trend continues we are going to have several different agencies operating monorail lines.

In order for everything to work together efficiently, I think eventually we need to consolidate all monorail and other regional transit systems into one agency, and Sound Transit is the logical agency to do the job. But first there needs to be a change in its leadership to accept monorail as a viable alternative to light rail.

PRIMARY ROUTES: Primary routes would form the main backbone network, and would serve the highest volume routes.

The most important regional route would run north and south through Everett, Seattle, and Tacoma. From Downtown Seattle, it would go north mostly along Aurora Avenue North through Seattle and Shoreline, and in Snohomish County would follow Highway 99 through Edmonds and Lynnwood, and would continue on through Everett to Marysville. Going south from Downtown Seattle, it would follow Highway 99 to SeaTac Airport, and continue on along Highway 99 through Federal Way, Fife, Tacoma, and beyond. The Seattle Monorail Project’s Blue Line would probably be part of this route.

Another primary route would follow roughly along Interstate 90 from Downtown Seattle through Mercer Island, Factoria, and Issaquah.

Another primary route would go from Downtown Seattle north through the University District, Lake City, Lake Forest Park, Kenmore, Bothell, and Woodinville.

Another primary route would go southeast from Downtown Seattle through the Rainier Valley district to Renton.

Another primary route would go from Bothell/Woodinville through Kirkland, Bellevue, and Newcastle to Renton, then west through Tukwila, including a station at Southcenter Mall, to Burien.

Another primary route would go from Seattle via Highway 520 through north Bellevue to Redmond.

SECONDARY ROUTES: Secondary routes are important routes with lower ridership than the primary routes, and generally shorter in length.

Secondary routes would include the Seattle Monorail Project’s Green Line with extension, from West Seattle to Downtown Seattle, then north to Ballard and Crown Hill, then east to Northgate and Lake City.

Another secondary route would go from Downtown Bellevue northeast along Bel-Red Road to Redmond.

Another secondary route would go from the southwest corner of Boeing Field (connecting with the Highway 99 route) and take Interurban Avenue South to Tukwila and then south roughly along the West Valley Highway through Kent, Auburn, and Sumner to Puyallup, then west to Tacoma.

TERTIARY ROUTES: Tertiary routes are shorter routes, generally with lower ridership, to fill in some important gaps in the system.
 
Tertiary routes would include the Seattle Monorail Project’s Gold Line along Capitol Hill and Beacon Hill; the Purple Line running from Ballard east through Fremont, Wallingford, the University District, and Laurelhurst; and the Red Line from West Seattle to South Seattle.

Other tertiary routes could serve areas such as Downtown Edmonds and Mill Creek, and another line could branch off of the Primary line up Highway 99 to serve Mountlake Terrace, east Lynnwood, and Alderwood Mall.

SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS: All of the monorail routes would be interconnected to form one integrated regional system. Therefore, the design of the guideways and trains must be compatible so that any train can go anywhere within the system. The main exception would be the number of cars in a train. Shorter trains could be used on less busy routes.

However, in the interest of compatibility, even the least busy and shortest routes would have to meet the minimum system specifications.

Physical dimensions would include the width of the guideway, location of the train wheels relative to the top of the guideway, location of the electrical contacts, width and height of the cars, etc.

Electrical specifications include whether the electrical supply is AC or DC and the voltage.

The train cars should be fairly wide and high for comfort, and fairly long for adequate capacity, and should be of walk-through design, meaning that passengers may freely walk through the train from one car to another. Seating should be comfortable and there should be enough seats so that passengers seldom need to stand except during rush hours or enroute to or from special events.

Although slower trains may be acceptable on shorter routes, especially if stations are close together, trains should be designed so that they can be easily equipped with powerful motors for high-speed travel, up to 70 mph or more, for longer intercity routes.