West Seattle Skylink - Aerial Transit System
Donation protected
With the Seattle area’s rapid growth, traffic congestion has become a major problem. This is especially true for West Seattle as traffic funnels through a few bridges. This increases travel time, emissions, and stress for drivers as well as transit riders who rely on buses traveling on the same congested routes.
Sound Transit proposed building a light rail to connect West Seattle to its regional transit network. As it would run on an exclusive pathway, it would offer West Seattle a more dependable, faster, public transit option. However, light rail entails lengthy and costly construction since it requires a new bridge across the Duwamish and a high, elevated track through hilly, densely developed West Seattle. As a result, light rail would not be available until 2032 to SODO (the Stadium Link station), and would not connect directly to the International District station (downtown and Eastside Link trains) until 2038 – dates which most likely will be delayed even further due to Sound Transit’s multi-billion dollar budget shortfall.
The SkyLink gondola we are proposing would provide the fast, dependable transit promised by Sound Transit – only much sooner, for $2 billion less. Aerial gondola systems are used throughout the world for high capacity transit. Skylink would have more than enough capacity to handle all the riders Sound Transit projects would use the West Seattle light rail line.
Imagine stepping into a cabin in the Alaska Junction (or Avalon or Delridge), taking a seat, then gliding over tree tops and traffic, arriving at the SODO Link Light Rail station in just 14 minutes. From SODO, you are 26 minutes on Link from SeaTac Airport or you can continue your gondola ride for 3 minutes to the International District Transit Hub. At the International District, you can board Link for a quick ride to downtown stations, a 13 minute ride to University of Washington, or a 20 minute ride to Bellevue. Or you can catch a bus, train, or street car.
We will use the money raised in this fundraiser to educate the community about the urban gondola alternative to light rail with the ultimate goal of persuading the Sound Transit Board to fund a detailed engineering study. We are confident that if Sound Transit gives an urban gondola alternative a fair study, they will realize it is a far superior alternative to building light rail to West Seattle and the system will become a reality. The money will purchase yard signs, flyers, and professional graphic services to show what the gondola would look like compared to the light rail system.
For more information on this project and how an urban gondola system is a great alternative to light rail for West Seattle, see our website , or connect to our Facebook group .
Sound Transit proposed building a light rail to connect West Seattle to its regional transit network. As it would run on an exclusive pathway, it would offer West Seattle a more dependable, faster, public transit option. However, light rail entails lengthy and costly construction since it requires a new bridge across the Duwamish and a high, elevated track through hilly, densely developed West Seattle. As a result, light rail would not be available until 2032 to SODO (the Stadium Link station), and would not connect directly to the International District station (downtown and Eastside Link trains) until 2038 – dates which most likely will be delayed even further due to Sound Transit’s multi-billion dollar budget shortfall.
The SkyLink gondola we are proposing would provide the fast, dependable transit promised by Sound Transit – only much sooner, for $2 billion less. Aerial gondola systems are used throughout the world for high capacity transit. Skylink would have more than enough capacity to handle all the riders Sound Transit projects would use the West Seattle light rail line.
Imagine stepping into a cabin in the Alaska Junction (or Avalon or Delridge), taking a seat, then gliding over tree tops and traffic, arriving at the SODO Link Light Rail station in just 14 minutes. From SODO, you are 26 minutes on Link from SeaTac Airport or you can continue your gondola ride for 3 minutes to the International District Transit Hub. At the International District, you can board Link for a quick ride to downtown stations, a 13 minute ride to University of Washington, or a 20 minute ride to Bellevue. Or you can catch a bus, train, or street car.
We will use the money raised in this fundraiser to educate the community about the urban gondola alternative to light rail with the ultimate goal of persuading the Sound Transit Board to fund a detailed engineering study. We are confident that if Sound Transit gives an urban gondola alternative a fair study, they will realize it is a far superior alternative to building light rail to West Seattle and the system will become a reality. The money will purchase yard signs, flyers, and professional graphic services to show what the gondola would look like compared to the light rail system.
For more information on this project and how an urban gondola system is a great alternative to light rail for West Seattle, see our website , or connect to our Facebook group .
Organizer
Gary Lai
Organizer
Seattle, WA
