Parts Evolution
For this exercise, it felt natural to break down the story into the different types of transit and then see how modifying those would have an effect on the collective story as a whole. Buses were a part of the future that seemed like maybe they did not belong in this vision of the future so I decided to remove those, the story unfortunately became a little less believable with this aspect though. For the next part of the vision I decided to multiply the streetcar mode of transit, effectively replacing all the buses that would have been present with streetcar lines. This effectively brought back a retro form of transit and updated it to the modern day and era. This also resulted in a future where there was nothing but rail transit for public transportation. I found this thread interesting to be going down so I decided to take note of it going forward so that I might be able to utilize it in some form in the future. Overall felt this story was cohesive but lacking in some areas since it felt a bit disjointed at some points sticking with the original idea that I had for overcoming the monster with this story and keeping the timeline strictly meanderly and episodic.
Seattle Reimagined: From Buses to Rails
The year 2040 is here and Seattle has finally finished construction on it's bold strategic vision ST2040. It's a comprehensive vision for what public transit in Seattle should be in order to make it enticing for people to use and climate friendly so that we drive down our contributions to climate change. The big components of this plan involved eliminating the bus system in the metro region since it contributed the most to waste and greenhouse gas emissions and replace it with more permanent and easier to maintain rail based systems.
We now have an integrated light rail and streetcar system that stretches across the entire metro area making it easy to get from as far south as Tacoma all the way up to Everett in the north. Or maybe I wanted to start in Seattle, I'm now able to take a light rail train from downtown all they way out to Snoqualmie out west and get there in the matter of an hour without having to drive my car. It was shame that before what we had to do was take a cars and waste hours in traffic or take the bus and then get stuck in that exact same traffic when there could have been better options for us to explore as a society.
If we look back to where Seattle is today versus where it was not too long ago we realize that as a city we have come an incredibly long way. If you looked to the city back in the 1920's you would have seen a sprawling urban center. There were streetcar networks that connected every neighborhood within the city. The steep hills were being traversed by cablecars, making it easy to get to the top of Queen Anne or Capitol Hill. There were interurban trains running to the major developing cities of Everett and Tacoma. All of that changed though when the automobile came into light and world war two ended.
Like most major cities within the United States, Seattle ripped out all of it's existing rail infrastructure or began to pave over it. All of that rail was replaced with pavement and cars. Instead of using trains for mass transit the city began to use buses to replace them. Initially the buses were electrically powered by overhead wire, preserving the air and reducing the amount of noise that was caused by them. But, unfortunately, the city began to tear out the overhead wiring as well in many spots, resulting in buses being converted back over to loud and noisy diesel engines.
The city kept in that state for a long time though, but began to work itself out of the rut in the 1960's during the World's Fair the took place within the city of Seattle. Along with the construction of the Space Needle, a monorail was also built. It was short but people were ecstatic that the city finally had a new source of public transit that allowed them to get from downtown to the world fair grounds. A few decades later, this monorail inspired the city of Seattle to create the Monorail Transit Authority to construct a mass transit system based on the monorail. Nothing happened with it but it inspired voters to vote for a new light rail system to be built within the region. This was know as ST3 and it served as the backbone for the vision that was completed today. ST2040 brought further vision, what if our region were able to eliminate is bus network and replace it with a reliable system based entirely on rail that's mostly separated from traffic,
Now we have light rail spines that act as major thru-way connecting all of the suburbs in the area. Streetcars were built to act as local connectors within these neighborhoods. We also designed the light rail and streetcar systems so that they're interoperable with one another. One could now catch a streetcar in Bellevue and be whisked away on it to a hub were there is now a seamless transfer over to a light rail line which takes them rapidly all the way to downtown Seattle.
These new interconnected rail systems have allowed for the region to eliminate all of it's greenhouse gas emissions and allow for people to easily move about to wherever they need to go. The increase in mobility also did wonders for the local economy allowing for Seattle to flourish and attract a ton of talent to the region and it became a beacon of sustainable living while also being an economic powerhouse. Seattle residents are proud that the had the foresight to create a city that looks towards the future and maybe is able to do more of that as we progress forward in time. Maybe even high speed rail is in its future.