My mother and my aunt brave riding the problematic Seattle Monorail on July 11, 2008. (Photo by Bryan Dorr).

Once again the Seattle Monorail had another malfunction, leaving 150 passengers stranded high above the Seattle city streets Saturday afternoon. The fire rescue crews were able to evacuate all passengers safely with ladders. It is just another black mark on the 46-year old monorail’s list of recent mechanical failures.

Really, this thing should be taken out of service until improvements are made to its evacuation procedures and equipment. The evacuation equipment should be self-sustainable and not need the assistance of fire truck ladders. No incident could emphasize the importance of this than the fire that broke out in the blue train in 2004, which sent several passengers and a firefighter to the hospital for smoke inhalation.

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