New streetcar doesn't want your money?

Payment on Seattle's new South Lake Union streetcar was supposed to be on the honor system, anyway.

But the honorable are having a tough time. The ticket machines often won't take the money.

Riders are to insert bills or coins into a machine in the center of the streetcar, then get a ticket to display in case a transit supervisor asks for proof of payment. The problem is, dollar bills are becoming stuck, preventing the next person from paying.

It happens "three or four times a day" per train, and operators haven't yet determined why, said Rochelle Ogershok, a spokeswoman for King County Metro Transit, which operates the $52 million, city-owned system.

At noon Wednesday, only one of five people who boarded the orange train at Westlake Avenue and Thomas Street could pay for the trip to Westlake Center. He used coins.

"By the time they [the machines] figure it out, I'm already here," said another rider, David Eim.

An hour later, the northbound red train's ticket machine was jammed, until a Metro supervisor unlocked it and extricated a wrinkled $1 bill.

Streetcar rides were free when the line opened Dec. 12. This month, fares kicked in — $1.50 per adult — on the 1.3-mile route from the Westin Hotel to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

The ticket machines are under warranty, and operators are working on a fix with the train maker, Inekon of the Czech Republic, said Ethan Melone, the city's streetcar project manager.

One solution might be to eliminate them.

The city already had planned to reprogram a few parking-sticker kiosks to dispense streetcar tickets — and install them at four of the line's 11 stops — starting Jan. 20. That way, people wouldn't need to fumble for change on the trains. Riders at other stops would still use the on-board machines.

But long term, Melone said, sidewalk ticket kiosks are "definitely worth exploring" for the entire route.

Mike Lindblom: 206-515-5631 or mlindblom@seattletimes.com