Seattle Monorail Station Reconfiguration Feasibility Study + Improvements
Seattle, WA
The Seattle Monorail connects Westlake Center and Seattle Center, shuttling residents, commuters and tourists between two terminal stations located in major business/civic campuses in Downtown Seattle and the original site of the 1962 World’ Fair. The monorail stations, now over 50 years old, were identified as needing reconfiguration to best meet today’s usage demands.
VIA Architecture was selected by Seattle Monorail Services and Seattle Center to develop and evaluate potential improvements to the Monorail that would increase capacity, improve accessibility, and better connect it with the regional transit network, downtown transportation infrastructure, and other downtown resources. The results and recommendations of this study identify ridership goals for different levels of investment in the existing system and demonstrate that, at a relatively low investment, the Monorail can provide an effective connection from Seattle Center to high capacity regional transit services more than 11 years before the proposed Sound Transit 3 line will connect there.
VIA is now providing an economical approach to maximizing rider capacity while still refreshing the look, feel, and comfort of the stations. Upgrades will brighten up finishes, provide more advanced security systems and streamline the platform. With new fare operations and more room on the Westlake platform, capacity will double from the existing condition, carrying up to 6000 people in each direction per hour.
