Right now, the monorail’s *ok.* It’s a great way to get between Westlake (since it’s directly connected to Westlake Station) and Seattle Center and is a fun tourist attraction, but it’s loud, kinda bumpy, and rattles like no other. We won’t need it in the future though, as the 1-line extending to Seattle Center will make the Monorail pretty much useless, only useful if you want to go directly between Westlake and Seattle Center. Plus, the 1-line, since it’s on train tracks, it’s a much smoother and more pleasant ride. Youth also can’t ride on the Monorail for free, while they can on the 1-line, so youth will ride on the 1-line a whole lot more than the Monorail to get between Westlake and Seattle Center.
Having grown up in Orlando constantly going to Disney World, I love the monorail in Seattle. My only gripe is that it starts service SO late in the day, it's really more of a tourist attraction than useful transit, especially with the ballard line opening in the next decade (or potentially longer thanks to corporate interest, the Urbanist has some really informative articles). Still cool to have such a multimodal city
I’m a sucker for an underground line, I always favor them, but the monorail does show me the appeal of an elevated line through downtown. One of the best views of the city, along with the top of the Columbia Center (yes I’m excluding the obvious one)
I rode the monorail back on October 7th this year to go to the space Needle and MoPop. It's an amazing experience and a must do in Seattle. The monorail and the Light Rail in Seattle are both underrated transit systems in the US. Definitely convenient and worth of your time. Also, VERY CLEAN IN BOTH!!!
with the kraken it's at least useful again, used it more since they moved in than in my first 30 years living in seattle yes I have kraken season tickets so me and others have said the kraken saved the monorail/ made it relevant again.
Having been to the Word's Fair in 1962, the monorail goes in hand-in-hand with the Needle in my memory. But we never rode it! Monorails here in Japan enjoy reasonable (tho not stellar) success, with the oldest being Tokyo Monorail (more recently acquired by JR East) opening just in time for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, connecting Haneda Airport with downtown Tokyo. A number of cities around Japan have a monorail system with mixed success. Many of them tend to be clunky and bumpy. Tokyo's second monorail didn't open until 1999, as a line connecting many of the commuter lines with each other that originally ran basically parallel to each other into Tokyo's urban hubs. This line, which I ride fairly often, has been successful in garnering a decent ridership and runs comfortably connecting a number of suburban centers, and is finally undergoing its first extension... which won't open until the mid 2030s... oh well, that day will come!
I take it probably twice a month. I'm downtown a lot (live in Capitol Hill)... am partially disabled, and somedays I need to get from Westlake to 5th/Mercer... and these days that is just too daunting a walk. Used to be a piece of cake for me. But it cuts out a TON of walking... and I can't resist looking at/taking yet another photo of the Space Needle!
Absolutely the main way I get to and from Kraken games. Fun Fact: They keep Westlake Center open in order to facilitate easy access to the Westlake Light Rail Station after Kraken games, even if it's really late! It's a few short escalator rides to hop right on.
I took it a couple of weeks ago for one Climate Pledge Arena event. The monorail trains are about the sized of one Link light rail car. They have improved them by adding some railing which passengers can hold onto when there's standing room only.
This summer I got to stay in Seattle for an internship and it was awesome! On my last day before flying back home I visited the Seattle Center and rode the monorail to get back to the hotel interns were being housed at. It was a nice, fast ride but it was also pretty bumpy. I think it was my first time on a monorail. The Westlake station looks really nice and the Seattle Center station has a neat robot sculpture. Pretty convenient way to get from the heart of downtown Seattle to its number one tourist destination.
To me this is Seattle’s version of SF’s cable car, though not as useful. I enjoyed riding the Disneyland monorail in the 80’s as a kid though it felt more like another ride than transportation. I’m looking forward to visiting Seattle someday & experiencing this line.
