Talk:T Line (Sound Transit)

Does this run in mixed traffic?
Does Tacoma Link run in mixed traffic? If it runs in lanes with cars, then it is a "streetcar line". If, however, if it runs in a completely segregated/separate right-of-way for its entire route, then it is truly "light rail". The article doesn't address this issue, so I can tell. Pinging: ... --IJBall (contribs • talk) 22:04, 29 March 2016 (UTC)
 * The line has some exclusive segments, but the majority is street-running in mixed traffic. But it's irrelevant as Sound Transit calls it light rail and puts it equal to Central Link, which is on the high, high end of what light rail can be.  Sounder Bruce  22:46, 29 March 2016 (UTC)
 * This system runs in reserved lanes, not in mixed traffic, over about 63% of its length (1.0 mile of a 1.6-mile line). Streetcars share lanes with other traffic on most parts of Commerce Street, but all other sections of the line have the track in streetcar-only lanes (or, on one short section near the Convention Center only, private right-of-way). It's clearly visible in Google Street View (for example here, looking west on 25th at D Street), and the distances can be easily measured in Google Earth (which I did for this comment). Even the two blocks of non-revenue track between the south/east end of the line and the carhouse are in a streetcar-only lane, and if that stretch is included, the proportion of the line that is not in mixed traffic amounts to two-thirds (about 1.2 miles of 1.8 miles). SJ Morg (talk) 23:49, 29 March 2016 (UTC)
 * Adding to my own comment: The Tacoma situation contrasts sharply with the Portland Streetcar and Seattle Streetcar systems in this regard (albeit not with regard to vehicles), as the Portland and Seattle systems both have roughly 95% of their tracks in lanes shared with other traffic, compared to Tacoma's approx. 35%. – SJ Morg (talk) 00:06, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
 * My $0.02 is it would be a very good thing to add this info to the article (perhaps in a 'Route' or 'Character' section). --IJBall (contribs • talk) 01:32, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
 * The definition of a "streetcar" seems tenuous... but Tacoma Link is definitely a streetcar. Sound Transit refers to it publicly as "light rail" largely for political purposes, but has acknowledged that by American definitions, it's a "modern streetcar." From the opening day press release:

""Light rail has arrived in the Puget Sound region!" With those words - amid fireworks and a shower of confetti- Sound Transit Board Chair and King County Executive Ron Sims today officially launched service on Tacoma Link Light Rail. The 1.6-mile line is the first modern streetcar service in Washington State - and the first streetcar to run in Tacoma since 1938."


 * Tacoma Link is very unique amongst modern streetcars here in the US in that it spends very little time in mixed traffic/general lanes. For the majority of the route it operates in reserved lanes or a separate right-of-way and the section that it does operate in mixed traffic is along the Commerce Street transit mall. That's certainly worth mentioning in the article. --RickyCourtney (talk) 05:57, 31 March 2016 (UTC)