Seattle Is Building Light Rail Like It’s 1999

Seattle Is Building Light Rail Like It’s 1999

Decades ago, the Pacific Northwest city launched a multibillion-dollar transit building boom. Now the new lines and stations are drawing riders — and criticism.

Seattle is Building Light Rail Like It's 1999

Seattle was late to the light rail party -- the city rejected transit ballot measures in 1968 and 1971, missing out on federal funding that built Atlanta's MARTA, and didn't approve a plan including rail until 1996 -- but the Pacific Northwest city is now in the middle of a multibillion-dollar building boom that has produced the highest post-pandemic ridership recovery of any US light rail system. The Link system opened its first line in 2009, f…