Line T (Sound Transit)

The T Line, formerly known as Tacoma Link, is a light rail line in Tacoma, Washington, part of the Link light rail system operated by Sound Transit. It travels between Tacoma Dome Station and Downtown Tacoma, serving six stations. The line carried 972,400 total passengers in 2016, with a weekday average of over 3,200 boardings. Tacoma Link runs for eight to 14 hours per day, using streetcars at frequencies of 12 to 24 minutes. Fares are not charged and operating expenses are funded by a subsidy from a downtown business association.

Tacoma Link was approved in a regional transit ballot measure passed in 1996 and began construction in 2000. It was the first modern light rail system to be constructed in Washington state and succeeded a former streetcar system that ceased operations in 1938. Service on Tacoma Link began on August 22, 2003, at five stations, replacing a downtown shuttle bus. A sixth station, Commerce Street/South 11th Street, was opened in 2011. It was designated as the Orange Line in 2019 and renamed to the T Line in 2020.

Sound Transit plans to extend the T Line by to the Stadium District and the Hilltop area west of Downtown Tacoma in late 2023. A longer western extension to the Tacoma Community College campus via South 19th Street is also planned to open in 2041.

History

Background and proposals

Public transit service in Tacoma began with the opening of the city's first horse-drawn streetcar line on May 30, 1888, running on Pacific Avenue between Downtown and Old Town. The city's streetcar system was expanded and electrified, growing to by 1912 and serving outlying areas while feeding into the Seattle–Tacoma Interurban. The streetcar and cable car network was gradually replaced with motor buses, with the final streetcar leaving service on June 11, 1938. Bus service in Tacoma was gradually consolidated under the Tacoma Transit Company, which was acquired by the city in 1961 and folded into Pierce Transit in 1980.

A regional transit system, later named Sound Transit, was formed in the early 1990s to address traffic congestion in the region and proposed several projects for the Tacoma area. Tacoma had been targeted for urban revitalization, particularly around the University of Washington branch that opened in 1990. Among the proposed revitalization projects was the construction of a multimodal station near the Tacoma Dome that would be connected to Downtown Tacoma by a "shuttle" light rail line, costing approximately $40 million to construct. The Tacoma Dome Station would also be served by commuter rail and a regional light rail line continuing north to Federal Way, Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, and Seattle. The light rail lines were part of a $6.7 billion ballot measure that was rejected by voters in March 1995, but planning for the multimodal Tacoma Dome Station continued.

Approval and planning

A second transit plan was proposed without the Federal Way line, which was dropped in favor of express bus service, but retained the Downtown Tacoma connector. It was passed by voters in November 1996, allocating $50 million for a line in Tacoma that would be built as a "starter line" within the following six years. Tacoma Dome Station opened for buses in October 1997 and a shuttle bus connecting to Downtown Tacoma operated by Pierce Transit began service on February 2, 1998. The Downtown Connector was transferred to Sound Transit in 2000.

Route planning for the Downtown Tacoma line, named "Tacoma Link", began in early 1998 with the intent to create a new transportation connection to downtown retail and cultural attractions. A set of 20 potential route alignments were considered for connecting Tacoma Dome Station to the University of Washington campus, the South 13th Street area, and the Theater District. The preliminary options were narrowed down to five candidates in the draft environmental impact statement, which were grouped based on their use of either Commerce Street or Pacific Avenue to travel north–south through downtown. The line's cost rose by $12 million to $77 million due to the choice of low-floor streetcars that would be level with the platform.

The Commerce Street alignment was favored by the Tacoma city government, but a final decision by the city council and Sound Transit was delayed in favor of further studies. The Pacific Avenue option was narrowly favored by downtown businesses due to its increased traffic, but Commerce Street was seen as a less controversial route that would allow for easier expansion to the Stadium District. The city council approved the Commerce Street alignment in May 1999, and Sound Transit followed suit in July. Sound Transit also endorsed studies into making Tacoma Link a fare-free system due to projections that the costs of fare collection would exceed revenue on the line. Designs for the line's five stations were completed in early 2000, based on simple stations with unique design elements that reflect neighborhood identity.

Construction and disputes

Construction of the light rail line near the Tacoma Dome began in August 2000, resulting in a reduction in parking that drew complaints from business owners. A formal groundbreaking was held on October 18, 2000, shortly after the commencement of Sounder commuter rail service to Tacoma Dome Station. Work on the downtown section was delayed into the following year due to a contract dispute and design changes to avoid buried telecommunications systems. During bidding for the $25 million construction contract, a low bid was rejected due to not meeting Sound Transit's small business participation standards. Gary Merlino Construction was awarded the contract in February 2001 and began in July; construction on the line's operations and maintenance facility in the Dome District had already begun a month earlier under a separate subcontractor.

The transition between Pacific Avenue and Commerce Street near the future Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center was to be via a public plaza, which began construction in June 2001. The first rails were laid in November 2001, with a formal ceremony the following month to mark the start of work on the entire Link light rail network. Sound Transit agreed to handle operations of the light rail trains on an interim basis for an indefinite period of time, opting not to contract with Pierce Transit or the city government. Major construction along Pacific Avenue began in February 2002, causing periodic closures that affected buses and businesses who requested the use of mitigation funds to make up for lost revenues. The three streetcars ordered by Sound Transit for Tacoma Link were manufactured in the Czech Republic by Škoda Transportation and delivered in September 2002, costing $3 million each. The cars were put on public display in Tacoma and Seattle over the following months to promote light rail projects.

As light rail construction prepared to reach Commerce Street, Qwest filed a lawsuit against Sound Transit to receive compensation for relocating its telecommunications lines away from the tracks; a U.S. District Court judge ruled in favor of Sound Transit, due to the use of public right of way by Qwest for their telecommunications lines. Another dispute, with BNSF Railway over a railroad crossing on Pacific Avenue that would intersect the light rail tracks, was settled in January 2003 with an agreement to suspend freight operations through the intersection. Commerce Street was re-opened for use by buses in February 2003 as light rail construction neared completion. The final section of track was welded in place in early April, marking the ceremonial end of track construction, and the installation of overhead power systems began later in the month. Testing of the streetcars began on June 18, 2003, as the line was electrified for the first time 65 years after the discontinuation of the original streetcar network. The first accident for the new line occurred during testing on August 5, when a delivery truck driver scraped a streetcar while illegally parked on the tracks.

Opening and later projects

Tacoma Link opened for service on August 22, 2003, becoming the first modern light rail system in Washington state. 4,400 people rode the train on the opening day, which was marked by a ribbon-cutting event and a community festival at Tacoma Dome Station. Weekday ridership on the line averaged 2,000 patrons during its opening month, matching original projections for regular ridership in 2010; the system reached 500,000 boardings in April 2004 and one million by December. The project's total cost, $80.4 million, ran above the original estimates due to inflation and additional street improvements, including sidewalks, lighting, benches, and bicycle racks.

Prior to the start of light rail service, the Puyallup Tribe of Indians proposed an extension of Tacoma Link to their new casino-hotel complex, approximately southeast of Tacoma Dome Station near Interstate 5. A study into the extension was commissioned in 2004 by the Puyallup Tribe, with Sound Transit finding that the project would cost and estimated $38 million to $72 million depending on which of the four potential routes were chosen. The study also projected that ridership levels would require a new fleet of two-car trains and longer platforms for the rest of the line, leading to increased costs. Two additional extensions to the west were also studied by Sound Transit for inclusion into a long-range plan, but were deferred due to their high costs. The Tacoma city government also proposed a network of streetcars in 2007, looking to emulate the Portland Streetcar system rather than extending Tacoma Link.

The city government also proposed the construction of an infill station between the Convention Center and Theater District to serve downtown commuters. Sound Transit approved the proposal and opened Commerce Street/South 11th Street station on September 15, 2011. It was constructed using funding from the city and tied into a new plaza built atop a nearby parking garage. Due to the addition of the new station, train frequencies were reduced from every 10 minutes during peak hours to every 12 minutes. Tacoma Link was renamed to the Orange Line as part of a systemwide rebranding by Sound Transit in September 2019. The name was later withdrawn due to issues with the Red Line in Seattle; an updated designation, the T Line (colored orange), was introduced in 2022.

Hilltop Extension

A extension of the T Line from Downtown Tacoma to the Stadium District and Hilltop neighborhood west of downtown is under construction. The project includes six stations and will run north on Stadium Way, west on Division Street to Tacoma General Hospital, and south on Martin Luther King Jr. Way to South 19th Street near St. Joseph Medical Center. Each station will have decorative canopies designed by Tacoma artist Kenji Hamai Stoll.

The Hilltop Extension was approved by voters as part of the Sound Transit 2 ballot measure in 2008 and is estimated to cost $217 million, primarily paid for by local funding and federal grants. Construction began with a groundbreaking in November 2018 and track laying in June 2019 under the direction of Walsh Construction. , construction was 75 percent complete, including most trackwork and installation of catenary poles. The T Line suspended operations and was replaced with shuttle buses for ten weeks beginning in August 2022 to connect the extension's tracks, electrical infrastructure, and other systems to the existing line. The original shutdown was extended after the discovery of stray electrical current, which required additional work to prevent corrosion.

The extension was expected to open in early 2023, but is delayed to an unknown date due to construction issues that were identified after track installation. Once open, the T Line will have ten-minute headways during weekdays. The extended T Line will run mostly in mixed traffic and is projected to increase daily ridership to over 10,800 by 2035. Theater District station was closed permanently in 2022 and is planned to be relocated one block north to the Old City Hall.

Route

The T Line is long and runs at-grade in mixed traffic as well as an exclusive lane for its single-track section. Trains travel west from an operations and maintenance facility located on East 25th Street near McKinley Avenue to the line's southern terminus at Tacoma Dome Station. Tacoma Dome Station has a single side platform for Link trains, located south of the 2,283-space parking garage and bus station and north of the Sounder commuter rail and Amtrak station. The single-track railway continues west in the median of East 25th Street and crosses under Interstate 705 before reaching South 25th Street station on the south curb of the street near A Street.

T Line trains then turn north onto Pacific Avenue and travel in the median for several blocks parallel to Interstate 705, splitting into two tracks after South 21st Street. The dual-tracked railway reaches Union Station/South 19th Street station, located adjacent to the historic Union Station (now a courthouse), the Washington State History Museum, the Museum of Glass, and the University of Washington, Tacoma campus. Near the Tacoma Art Museum, the tracks leave Pacific Avenue and travel northwest onto Commerce Street above Tollefson Plaza, crossing over the Prairie Line Trail and stopping at South 15th Street near the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center. Link trains then travel north on Commerce Street, a major bus transfer area for Pierce Transit, and share its lanes with mixed traffic. Trains stop at South 11th Street in the center of Downtown Tacoma before merging into a single track at South 9th Street. The line formerly terminated at Theater District station, located near Tacoma's city hall and the historic Pantages and Rialto theaters.

Stations

The six original stations on the T Line are built with platforms that are long enough to accommodate one car at a time, but were designed to support further expansion for multi-car trains. Each station features shelters, seating, rider information, and public artwork that reflects the history of the surrounding neighborhood.

Service

T Line trains run 17 hours per day on weekdays, from 5:00 am to 10:12 pm, 14 hours per day on Saturdays, 7:48 am to 10:12 pm, and 8 hours per day on Sundays and holidays, from 9:48 am to 6:00 pm. Trains operate at a frequency of every 12 minutes during the day on weekdays and Saturdays and every 24 minutes on Sundays, holidays, and during early morning and evening service on weekdays. Operating hours are occasionally extended into the late evening for events at the Tacoma Dome, with trains running more frequently.

The T Line takes approximately 10 minutes to traverse its entire route from the Tacoma Dome Station to Commerce Street. A maximum of two trains are able to operate on the T Line due to the single-track section between Union Station and Tacoma Dome Station. Prior to the opening of Commerce Street/South 11th Street station in 2011, trains ran at frequencies of 10 minutes during the day and 20 minutes during other hours.

Ridership

The T Line carried a total of 934,724 passengers in 2019, averaging 3,109 riders on weekdays. Ridership on the line fluctuates based on several factors, including special events scheduled at the Tacoma Dome or hosted in Downtown Tacoma, and class times at the University of Washington campus in Tacoma. T Line patronage peaked at 1.024 million annual riders in 2012, but has since declined due to the loss of several major downtown employers. Total ridership from 2017 to 2018 declined by 7.6 percent year over year due to the closure of the Tacoma Dome for renovations, but rebounded in 2019. Ridership fell to under a half-million total passengers in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fares

Fares are not charged on the T Line, with operating costs covered by Sound Transit and a $29,000 annual subsidy from the Tacoma Business Improvement Area. Sound Transit chose to launch the service without fares due to the cost of collection exceeding projected revenues. A budget shortfall caused by the late 2000s recession caused Sound Transit to consider a $1 fare in 2010, but the decision was pushed to a later date.

The Sound Transit Board approved a $1 base fare in September 2013, taking effect the following year and rising to $1.50 in 2016, to raise enough revenue to cover fare enforcement and installation of ticket vending machines. The proposed fare was unpopular with riders, business owners, and local boosters due to the potential impact on tourism, with a predicted 25 percent drop in ridership. Before the fare could take effect, the Downtown Tacoma Business Improvement Area agreed to subsidize the difference in revenue by paying $29,000 annually to Sound Transit for two years of free fares.

The Tacoma Business Improvement Area agreed to renew its $29,000 annual subsidy in April 2016, covering the equivalent of a $2 fare until the opening of the Hilltop extension. A $1.50 adult fare and $0.75 senior and disabled fare is planned to be collected beginning in early 2023. Fares for passengers under the age of 18 are waived as part of a statewide program.

Rolling stock and equipment

The T Line fleet consists of three low-floor articulated Škoda 10 T streetcars, numbered 1001 to 1003. They were manufactured in the Czech Republic by Škoda Transportation and are identical to cars used by the Portland Streetcar system in Portland, Oregon. The cars are long, wide, and have two articulation joints, between which is a low-floor central section. Each vehicle has 30 seats and can carry an additional 85 passengers at crush load. The cars and platforms are built for level boarding, with a mechanical wheelchair ramp deployed by operators upon request.

The Škoda cars each weigh and can reach a top speed of . They are unable to be coupled and draw their electrical power from overhead catenary that is energized at 750 volts direct current. The cars are stored and maintained at an operating base located east of Tacoma Dome Station and Freighthouse Square. The system has several operational differences from the 1 Line fleet, including electrical systems and its minimum turning radius, that makes the two lines incompatible with each other.

In November 2017, Sound Transit ordered five Liberty-model streetcars from the Brookville Equipment Corporation, at a cost of $26.5 million, for use on the future Hilltop extension. At the time of the order's being placed, the 34-seat cars were projected to be delivered in late 2020 and early 2021, but were delayed to March 2022. The first vehicle was unveiled in late April and the final unit was delivered in November. The contract with Brookville includes an option to order five additional cars.

Future expansion

Tacoma Community College Extension

An extension beyond the Hilltop neighborhood to the Tacoma Community College campus in western Tacoma was funded by the Sound Transit 3 ballot measure, approved by voters in 2016, and is scheduled to open in 2041. The extension would use South 19th Street and stop at six stations, carrying approximately 18,000 daily riders and costing up to $478 million. Train frequency would be increased to six minutes during peak periods and a section of the original line near Union Station would be double-tracked.

References

External links

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Tacoma Link schedule

Tacoma Link Expansion: Hilltop Extension

{{USLightRail

2003 establishments in Washington (state)
Link light rail
Railway lines opened in 2003
Transportation in Tacoma, Washington
Zero-fare transport services
750 V DC railway electrification