This weekend, Seattle will be joining an exclusive list of cities with light-rail transportation. The Link light-rail project between downtown Seattle and Tukwila begins operation on Saturday, July 18. While this represents an important milestone, light-rail service has been long overdue in Seattle.

With smaller metropolitan populations than Seattle, Portland and Vancouver have been operating successful rail transit systems for more than 20 years. The Vancouver SkyTrain began operation in 1985, with Portland’s Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) following in 1986. Ten years passed before Seattle voters approved funding for the Link light-rail project. The nearly 2 1/2 decade delay represents an enormous loss of opportunity.

A 1989 study by BC Transit indicated that Vancouver’s light-rail and ferry system had helped spur more than $5 billion in private investment. The Transit Cooperative Research Program found similar results for Portland’s MAX light rail. In a 1996 report, they identified more than $1.23 billion of development that had occurred near the light rail’s line since it began construction.

Even though both Vancouver and Portland have shown the light rail to be a good investment in the Pacific Northwest, Seattle’s foray in passenger rail has been in danger from the start. In 1996, it took four tries before voters approved the initial funding. Since then, nearly everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

In 2006, the original plan called for a $1.7 billion line between Sea-Tac Airport and the UW opening. Since then the cost has risen to $2.7 billion, the opening has been delayed to this year, and the line has been truncated at downtown Seattle. Sound Transit has been regularly plagued with resignations, lawsuits and design changes in relation to the Link light rail. The whole plan came close to being scrapped early in the decade as Sound Transit almost lost its federal funding for light rail.

The project will become easier now that the first section in Seattle has been completed. The benefits of the light rail are easier to picture from the seat of a passenger car. Construction on the line from downtown Seattle to the UW began in March, while expansions to Federal Way, Redmond and Lynnwood are under development.

The history of the light rail in Seattle has been long and controversial, even among mass transit enthusiasts. Some view rapid bus service as a superior option to the light rail. However, there is nothing stopping us from doing both. Buses and the light rail are complementary transit options as shown by Sound Transit’s integration of bus routes into the Link light-rail plan. Until the final tracks between Tukwila and Sea-Tac airport are finished in December, light-rail passengers will use a special bus route between the stations.

Thirteen years is a long time to wait for light-rail service, but the effort has been worthwhile. Seattle will now join its sister cities to the north and south in providing passenger rail service to its citizens. Best of all for UW students, the Link light rail will accept the U-PASS. When the line to the UW is finished in 2016, getting around the city will be even easier for adventurous huskies.

Reach columnist Mike Noon at opinion@dailyuw.com.