Tacoma Link is a tiny 1.6 mile light rail line (as it is advertised) that really more fits the designation of a modern streetcar. The Light Rail Line opened on August 22nd, 2003 with 5 stations (a sixth infill stop, Commerce Street opened on September 15, 2011) that connects the Tacoma Dome Transportation Center and Park and Ride with stations in downtown Tacoma. It is a completely free line and no infrastructure to collect fares with. The line is a hybrid between a modern streetcar and light rail because all the stations have benches, enclosures that are larger than just a bus shelter and bus shelters. The line is almost entirely street running in dedicated lanes mainly in the middle of streets. There is also a short section on a dedicated ROW, when the line curves from Commerce Street to Pacific Street. It is the first streetcar line in Tacoma since 1938.

For Rolling Stock the line has 3 (Numbered 1001, 1002, 1003) Skoda Dopravni Technica Low-Floor 10T Tramcars, built in the Czech Republic, and are the same cars that are used by the Portland Streetcar. They were ordered together. Service operates very simply using only two of the three LRVs at one time (with single streetcar service at off peak times). Trains leave each terminal station (Tacoma Dome or Theater District) at the same time, pass each other near the Union Station stop, and arrive at their respective destinations about 8 minutes later when the system originally opened today it is closer to ten minutes, with the frequency officially reduced in September 2011 from every ten minutes to every twelve minutes.

On September 16, 2023, the line was extened 2.4 miles, making it (although still closer with lots of mixed-traffic running) more like a hybrid streetcar/small light rail line out of Downtown Tacoma. The Hilltop extension has added 6 new extensions to the route that I hope to photograph on my next trip to the Pudget Sound Region!