Guest opinion: Seattle World’s Fair highlighted electric transportation network | Sequim Gazette

Seattle’s 1962 World’s Honest was awe-inspiring. It previewed developments that may enhance our each day lives within the subsequent millennium. Whereas “Century 21” recollections have light, three of its landmarks stay as reminders of the improvements it impressed: The Seattle Heart, the Area Needle, and the monorail.

One factor many keep in mind is “The Bubble-ator,” a glass ball-shaped elevator within the coliseum (now Local weather Pledge Area) which step by step climbed to the center of a contoured map of the Puget Sound area. Because the narrator described Seattle within the 12 months 2000, tiny lights lit up exhibiting a monorail community linking downtown to suburbs.

The Honest highlighted the Pacific Northwest’s life-style and financial benefits which nonetheless contains low value, dependable and considerable hydropower.

In 1962, the Seattle Metropolitan space’s inhabitants was 1.5 million. In the present day, it’s 3.5 million and site visitors planners are scrambling to find new methods to scale back congestion and air air pollution.

The monorail was envisioned as an all-electric folks mover. It was elevated avoiding site visitors jams. The identical system was put in at Disneyland in 1959 and was expanded to different Disney leisure parks.

In the course of the Century 21 Exposition’s six-month run, the monorail carried greater than 90 p.c of World’s Honest guests — a complete ridership of seven.4 million. Honest-goers might experience the town’s electrical trolley buses to the monorail terminal at Westlake Heart and zipped above the congested streets to Seattle Heart.

The monorail was speculated to be the centerpiece of a brand new land-locked transportation system. Despite the fact that it had broad help from the residents it might serve, the monorail by no means expanded past its one-mile route. It was deemed too pricey construct out.

Quick ahead 60 years when enhancing air high quality is a prime precedence. A lot of the CO₂ is generated by automobile emissions. In Washington, billions are being invested to decarbonize our air by changing gasoline and diesel powered vehicles, vehicles, buses and even ferry boats with electrics.

In 2021, Washington state’s legislature set a non-binding 2030 objective requiring all new automobiles bought in Washington be non-greenhouse fuel emitters. It created a gross sales and use tax exemption for hydrogen-powered automobiles which emit water and warmth fairly than CO₂ and different greenhouse gases.

Changing fuel and diesel fueled vehicles, vehicles, buses and ferries will take time and shall be pricey. Earlier this month, Seattle Occasions’ David Kroman wrote: “Although gross sales of electrical automobiles have grown lately, simply 1.3 p.c of vehicles on the highway in Washington run on battery energy. And for a lot of, the associated fee stays prohibitive.”

The objective needs to be modern, achievable and dependable options. We have to encourage methods to make newer automobiles extra inexpensive very like Henry Ford completed in 1913 by transferring the meeting line of the Mannequin T.

One instance is Seattle’s bus system. King County Metro is changing outdated trollies with new battery-electric buses which use 30 p.c much less electrical energy and might maneuver off overhead powerlines to keep away from site visitors congestion and canopy non-electrified streets.

One other instance is Bellingham boat maker, All America Marine which constructed our nation’s first hydrogen fueled ferry — the Sea Change. It’s powered by hydrogen gas cells very like these offering electrical energy to the Area Station. Beginning in June, it can carry 75 passengers to numerous stops across the San Francisco Bay. Its vary is greater than 300 miles.

Washington plans to exchange its 21 ferries diesel-electric ferries with battery operated boats. Norway is the chief in electrical ferries. It put three battery operated ferries in service and is understanding points with fast recharging techniques which has been a drawback.

The underside line is Seattle’s World Honest gave our area an enormous raise. Hopefully, it can present a “blue-print” for future success and inspiration.

Don C. Brunell is a enterprise analyst, author and columnist. He retired as president of the Affiliation of Washington Enterprise, the state’s oldest and largest enterprise group, and now lives in Vancouver, Wa. He may be contacted at theBrunells@msn.com.