The Green Line is the first phase of a proposed five-line monorail system to be constructed in Seattle, Washington by the Seattle Popular Monorail Authority, also known as the Seattle Monorail Project. The fourteen-mile line will run from Ballard to West Seattle via Seattle Center, Belltown, Downtown, Pioneer Square, the International District, and Qwest Field.
Construction is expected to begin in autumn 2005 and be completed in 2009. The agency is presently conducting confidential negotiations with Cascadia Monorail Company to develop the contract to design, build, operate and maintain the line, which under their proposal will use Hitachi trains. Another consortium called Team Monorail had to drop out of the bidding for financial reasons, but is now lobbying to be re-considered; they say that their proposal, using Bombardier trains, would be less expensive than Cascadia's and provide better services. However, with the recent official unveiling of the final plan for the project and the beginning of the period for official public comments, this is unlikely to happen.
The project has fallen under intense public scrutiny, as actual revenue from the motor vehicle exise tax that pays for the line has fallen as much as 30% under projected income, while projected costs have risen by as much as 10%. To accomdate this, the SMP has proposed extending the tax out nearly 75 years, causing a small uproar in Seattle-area politics. Even local monorail boosters such as local alternative weekly The Stranger have begun to question the future of the project as it currently stands.
In response to public criticism regarding the above finance plan, the Seattle Monorail Project's board of directors killed the plan. A new plan has not been developed.
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