It travels 1. The South Lake Union Streetcar was the first modern line to operate in Seattle, beginning service on December 12, , two years after a separate heritage streetcar ceased operations. The streetcar line was conceived as part of the redevelopment of South Lake Union into a technology hub, with lobbying and financial support from Paul Allen and his venture capital firm Vulcan Inc. Construction began in July and was completed over a year later by the Seattle Department of Transportation.
The line is owned by the City of Seattle, with operation and maintenance contracted out to King County Metro. The line is popularly known by its nickname, the South Lake Union Trolley abbreviated as "SLUT" , which is used on unofficial merchandise sold by local businesses.
The streetcar was controversial in its first few years due to its slow speed, low ridership, public funding, and connections to real estate development. Improvements to the streetcar's corridor since have increased service and improved schedule reliability, but ridership has declined since peaking in The first electric streetcar to run along Westlake Avenue was operated by the Seattle Electric Railway and Power Company and opened five days after the company was awarded the city government's first streetcar franchise in October Restoration of streetcar service within the city was proposed in the s to complement the planned light rail network put forward by Sound Transit and a proposed municipal monorail system.
One streetcar proposal from Mayor Paul Schell in included re-routing a surface light rail line between downtown and the University District to serve the Seattle Center and South Lake Union , at the time a low-rise industrial area.
Allen and Vulcan Inc. The original creators of the "Ride the S. Streetcar service between the Pacific Place shopping center, South Lake Union, and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center began on December 12, , with people at the ribbon-cutting ceremony and each train carrying a hundred people throughout the day.
