All Photo Credits: Visit Seattle/Rachael Jones Media

In celebration of MLB All-Star Week in Seattle July 7-11, 2023, the Seattle Center Monorail presents the first-ever art installation on monorail guideway columns! In collaboration with Visit Seattle, Seattle Monorail Services, Seattle Center, and Climate Pledge Arena, local muralist Brady Black created sixteen murals depicting eight baseball players and eight Seattle sports fans to adorn the monorail columns. Highlighting both players and fans alike, Black wanted to signify the connection between baseball and the community. When designing the murals, Black utilized a paint-by-number system allowing both youth artists from Urban ArtWorks as well Seattle residents to participate in the mural creation.

“I am thrilled to announce an extraordinary public art program that celebrates the talents of our local artists and pays tribute to the stars of baseball,” says Marshall Foster, Interim Director of Seattle Center. “This groundbreaking initiative merges the worlds of sports and art, captivating our community and visitors alike. The Seattle Center Monorail, an iconic symbol of our city, will transform the support columns along 5th Ave into a moving gallery, adorned with stunning renderings created by our talented local artists. We invite everyone to join us in experiencing this unique installation downtown as we celebrate and welcome MLB All-Star Week to Seattle and embrace the dynamic fusion of athletics and art!”

Reflecting on the Seattle Center Monorail’s importance as a community connector – especially during major citywide events – Seattle Monorail Services President Megan Ching says, “Seattle Center Monorail was built for the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair to provide a fast, direct connection between downtown and the Fairgrounds. Sixty years later, the system continues to serve as an important transportation link to Seattle Center and its surrounding neighborhoods. We look forward to welcoming baseball fans to our city! We are excited to play our part in supporting local artists, promoting major civic events, and helping to re-energize downtown Seattle with new and interesting art displayed on this historic system.”

The post Murals on the Monorail Columns for MLB All-Star Week (July 7-11, 2023) appeared first on Seattle Monorail.

Free Youth ORCA Rides at Seattle Center Monorail

All Aboard!

Effective May 1, 2023: Youth (ages 6-18) with a valid Youth ORCA card will receive $0 fare upon tapping their card at Seattle Center Monorail. Youth without a valid Youth ORCA card must purchase a monorail ticket ($1.75/one-way) from a monorail ticket vending machine. Student IDs & verbal communication of age are not accepted for free youth ORCA fare.

How to Use ORCA at Seattle Center Monorail

• For all ORCA cards, you only need to tap on (like a bus) and do not need to tap off
• ORCA Lift and RRFP ORCA cards are accepted
• Regional day passes purchased on an ORCA card are accepted
• Transfers on an ORCA card are accepted – if your fare purchased within the 2 hour transfer period has a trip value less than $3.50, the difference must be paid through E-Purse.
• ORCA PugetPass with a trip value of at least $3.50 are accepted – if your PugetPass trip value is less than $3.50, the difference must be paid through E-Purse.
• Paper tickets/transfers are not accepted
• As of May 14, 2022, the new ORCA system at all transit agencies only allows for one (1) ORCA card to be used per person
  • Regardless of E-Purse balance, all yellow ORCA readers only allow one tap per card.
  • Any additional people must purchase a monorail ticket or use their own ORCA card.

How to purchase a Youth ORCA card

Youth ORCA cards must be purchased online or at a transit agency customer service location. Seattle Center Monorail does not sell or renew Youth ORCA cards.

Buy Online: https://www.myorca.com/buy-online/

• Online Card orders have an estimated delivery time of 5-10 business days of purchase. Orders are not processed on weekends or holidays. ORCA agencies are not responsible for delays in the US Postal Service
• Proof of age documentation is required before adding to shopping cart.
  • K-12 student ID, state ID or driver’s license, birth certificate, or passport

Buy In-Person: ORCA Customer Service Locations

• Must bring proof of age documentation in-person (listed above)

The post Monorail Participating in Free Youth ORCA Rides on May 1, 2023 appeared first on Seattle Monorail.

You’re invited! Join us for the Monorail’s 60^th Birthday Celebration at Seattle Center Station on Tuesday, March 29, 2022. Stop by for snacks and fun – enjoy music, activities, raffle prizes, memorabilia on display, and we hope you’ll sign our birthday banner! The festivities begin at 11:30am, and the first 200 guests to arrive will receive a special commemorative monorail coin. The Monorail will be free to ride from 11:00am-1:00pm for the festivities!

Where: Seattle Center Monorail Station (near the Space Needle)

When: 11:30am-1:00pm on Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Who: Open to the public

The post Community Celebration for Seattle Center Monorail’s 60th Birthday appeared first on Seattle Monorail.

Hours of Operation

Monday-Friday: 7:30am-9:00pm

Saturday-Sunday: 8:30am-9:00pm

Hours of operation will be extended for events at Climate Pledge Arena to provide transportation to and from Arena events. For a full list of extended hours of operation for Arena events, Visit Here.

*Please check our “Rider Alerts” for current updates.

Below is a comprehensive list of COVID-19 safety measures at the Seattle Center Monorail.

Safety Procedures & Social Distancing Implementation

• Seattle Monorail Services strongly encourages wearing a mask in the stations and on the trains.
• To reduce our employee’s exposure to germs, the Monorail is only accepting ORCA cards and credit/debit cards. The Monorail is temporarily suspending the acceptance of cash, which requires employees to handle bills and coins from the customer and increases risk to our employees.
• Regular PA announcements encouraging people to spread out on the platform and inside the train to abide by social distancing guidelines.
• Stanchions are blocking off the far ends of both trains to provide distance between where the public sits, and where our monorail drivers sit and operate the trains. Find a seat anywhere else on the train, but not next to or behind the monorail driver.
• The doors closet to the drivers (at the very far ends of each train) are temporarily turned off to prevent passengers from boarding or disembarking near the driver.

Our Cleaning Procedures

The following protocols are implemented to help reduce the transmission of COVID-19:

• Seattle Monorail Services (SMS) is only operating one train per day to ensure concentrated effort on sanitizing the train that is carrying passengers.
• Each day, a deep clean occurs on the train that will be in service the next day.
• All employees are provided with paid breaks throughout their shifts to go and wash their hands and wipe down their workstations. SMS employees will clean their workstations before and after their scheduled shift and their designated breaks; all employees will be provided with ample paid time to do this.

Employee Protocols

In addition to recommendations from the CDC and FTA guidance, all SMS employees are required to adhere to the following procedures:

• Mandatory temperature checks occur for all SMS employees before they begin a shift.
• All employees are provided with Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) which includes washable cloth masks and nitrile gloves.
• All employees are required to wear masks during their shift.
• All employees completed a mandatory training on online safety training. All employees have completed the training before returning to work. Hands-on training is also provided on-site. Safety and disinfecting processes are audited by managers and supervisors.
• All employees are required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to be eligible to be scheduled unless SMS has formally waived the requirement due to a written physician recommendation or employee notification of sincerely help religious beliefs against the vaccination.

Signage

The signage below reflects current safety protocols and is posted in stations, on ticket booths, and throughout the trains.

The post Seattle Center Monorail Reopening Information appeared first on Seattle Monorail.

Since 1962, Seattle Center Monorail has been the fastest, most direct way to travel between downtown and Seattle Center. Today, we are excited to announce a partnership between Seattle Monorail Services and NHL Seattle! Seattle Monorail Services (SMS) is the private company that operates the City-owned Monorail through a Concession Agreement. Seattle Center Monorail will be included as a key transportation partner for the new Arena opening in 2021.

In just shy of a month from now, Seattle Center Monorail will celebrate its 58^th year of service in Seattle. The Monorail was built for the 1962 World’s Fair. During the six months of the Fair, this system carried over 8 million passengers, equivalent to about 45,000 passengers per day.

SMS is thrilled about the commitment NHL Seattle has made to identify alternative ways to manage transportation.

SMS and NHL Seattle will make private capital investments at Westlake Station that will double system capacity, improve accessibility, and better connect the Monorail with the regional transit network. These improvements are an investment in an enduring and iconic system, leveraging the vision that City leaders had nearly six decades ago.

These improvements were informed by the Station Configuration Evaluation Report completed by VIA Architecture in 2018. A major recommendation from the study was to increase capacity by decreasing the amount of time it takes to load and unload passengers from each train. Monorail station improvements seek to accomplish the following:

• Once the improvements are implemented at Westlake Station, passengers will be able to exit and enter the monorail through all eight doors.
• Vertical access to street level, Link Light Rail, and parking will be improved with access to Westlake Center’s retail elevator and escalators during peak ridership periods in addition to the existing elevator and stairwell which already provide direct access to 5th Avenue and the Downtown Transit Tunnel.
• At Seattle Center Station, during peak ridership periods, the platform will be able to be reconfigured to allow boarding from both exterior platforms, currently where passengers are used to exiting from, to maximize capacity and keep lines moving quickly.
• Operationally, at both stations, SMS is working towards a solution where passengers will be able to tap their ORCA cards or redeem their monorail tickets at automated fare gates; passengers who need to purchase their tickets will be able to do so at ticket kiosks.

VIA Architecture is working with Seattle Monorail Services and NHL Seattle to design this transformative project.

Public transportation is an important way attendees will get to NHL games at the new Arena. Today, NHL Seattle also announced that they will offer subsidized public transit for all fans attending hockey games at the New Arena.

NHL Seattle becomes the first Seattle-based sports franchise and only the third professional sports organization in the U.S. to offer a free public transit benefit for fans. Only the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and the Golden State Warriors have similar programs-and Seattle’s is by far the most ambitious. The only exception will be fans who already receive ORCA card subsidies from employers.

The post Seattle Monorail Services Announces Partnership with NHL Seattle appeared first on Seattle Monorail.

Ever wished you could go inside a storybook? In Story Drama we go beyond reenactment to create new characters and dramatic situations in which we work together to overcome all sorts of challenges. Experience the excitement of drama and working as an ensemble while actively enjoying the best in children’s literature.

Saturday October 28, 2017 at 10:30 – 11:30 am

Climb aboard our parked train for an interactive presentation of the book Leonardo the Terrible by Mo Willems!

THE BOOK

Leonardo is truly a terrible monster—terrible at being a monster, that is. No matter how hard he tries, he can’t seem to frighten anyone. Determined to succeed, Leonardo sets himself to training and research, only to find that scaring people isn’t quite as satisfying as he thought it would be.

WHO THIS IS FOR

Children ages 3.5–5 and their accompanying adult, up to 80 guests.

DETAILS

• Receive a free round-trip ticket to ride the Monorail
• Qualify for a door prize
• Restrooms available at the Armory

Click here to register!

Hosted by the Seattle Monorail

Presented by Seattle Children’s Theatre

The post Story Drama Aboard the Monorail! appeared first on Seattle Monorail.

The event began at the Seattle Center Platform, where families arrived to balloon animals, caricature drawings by the talented Vincent Yee, and festive drinks and snacks.

The evening continued with a special VIP ride on Red train with a mid-journey stop for a special on-train raffle and announcement. Thanks to generous donations from local businesses, every family went home with multiple prizes.

While The Holidays are a great reminder to give, it is also a time to be thankful, and we would like to take a quick moment to thank all of the amazing donors who made this event possible. We would like to thank Teatro ZinZanni, Safeco Field Tours, The Museum of History and Industry, Ride the Ducks of Seattle, The Museum of Glass, The Burke Museum, The 5^th Avenue Theatre, Argosy Cruises, The Space Needle and MoPOP, all of whom made amazing contributions.

We would also like to give particular thanks to The Woodland Park Zoo, The Seattle Aquarium, The Seattle Children’s Museum and The Pacific Science Center, who went above and beyond the definition of generosity. Will Daugherty, the CEO of Pacific Science Center Science Center, was even on board to announce that, as part of the new Youth Access Membership Program which gives youth in foster care free access to the museum, that every family in attendance would be going home with a free annual membership to the Science Center! We thank you all, and find inspiration in your organizations this Holiday season.

After Red Train boarded at Westlake Center, us at The Monorail headed back to Seattle Center, but for the families in attendance the fun didn’t end there! To see more photos and hear where Ride Into The Holidays went next, head on over to Treehouse’s website!

This event is very near and dear to our hearts and we are not exaggerating when we say that without the donations from these amazing organizations, we would not be able to host this event that is so important to us and many others. So again, from us at The Monorail, we say thank you, Happy Holidays and stay warm!

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While the bunny is at our monorail, he has had a few adventures. Here are some pictures of all the fun he has been having! Check out the complete album on our Facebook page!

The post The Adventures of Monorail Bunny! appeared first on Seattle Monorail.