Seattle’s hourglass shape and steep hills challenged land transportation from the very beginning. By the 1920s, with continuing population growth and the popularity of automobile transportation, traffic congestion had increased drastically. Concurrently, the city’s street railway system was losing money. In 1925, the Rapid Transit Committee of the Seattle City Planning Commission put together an extensive report, proposing that a well-planned rapid transit system was the best way to deal with this issue into the future. In July 1926, a group of Seattle businessmen formed the Seattle Rapid Transit Club to assist the city in educating the public about the desirability of a rapid transit system and how it might be paid for, at a cost of $4 million.
The Rapid Transit Club produced “To Hustle Us Home” to further the cause. The booklet contains arguments for a system (supported by data from New York City) as well as a map of the proposed system and a perspective view.
Caption information source: HistoryLink.org Essay 9925; The Seattle Daily Times, July 30, 1926.
ID Number: 1987.66.3
Date: 1926
Physical Description: 1 booklet (16 p.) ; 4 x 8.75 in.
Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant. Metadata updated as part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.
