Does anyone like riding this thing? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Does anyone ride this thing? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ SDOT

A few months into the operation of the long-delayed First Hill Streetcar, local reporters have been wondering: How many people are riding that thing? The response they've gotten from the Seattle Department of Transportation: We're not sure.

Zach Shaner at Seattle Transit Blog:

Curious about the line’s ridership both before and after ULink, I asked SDOT for ridership data a couple weeks ago. Sadly, it appears that ridership data for the First Hill line is not available due to yet more technical difficulties. In a twist out of our robot overload future, it appears the computers know the answer but the humans don’t.

Even without precise ridership data, SDOT has released the number of ORCA card taps at the streetcar stations, which shows just 50,159 taps in March, or about 1,600 taps a day.

Meanwhile, light rail is breaking ridership records. Shaner points out that while the light rail and the streetcar lines are not really comparable in scale or efficiency, those ORCA numbers mean "Link carries in a day what the First Hill Streetcar carries in a month." Indeed, the streetcar's only value may be, as Charles says, that it's "aesthetically satisfying."

Speaking of Seattle Transit Blog, those wonderful (if almost entirely male) nerds are doing a fundraising drive right now. They do important, wonky work that will be especially critical this year as voters consider Sound Transit 3. Kick a few bucks their way if you can.