What's It Called? Monorail!

When we were young, Seattlest used to try to negotiate our allowance. It never worked. Upon growing older, and becoming veterans of negotiation with car dealers, landlords, and girlfriends, we realized why. We lacked leverage. There was no other set of parents offering a better deal. The only negotiating tactic we really had was to whine and stomp our feet.

This is where the Seattle Monorail Project finds itself. It has exactly one bidder for its West Seattle to Ballard Green Line, and, not surprisingly, that one bidder is asking for $200 million more than the Monorail wants to spend. Negotiations have going on for six months.

There may be leverage on the horizon. A group led by Canadian train manufacturer Bombardier, which withdrew its bid at the last minute, now wants to submit after all. But though Bombardier has an awesome name, their track record includes a monorail in Las Vegas which has functioned only marginally better than did the one in Springfield.

While the Monorail explores financing options, negotiations continue. Let's hope that the folks at the Monorail know how to throw one hell of a temper tantrum.