The potential of a system to move cargo (people in this case) is limited by many factors. To hit 12,000 riders per hour you'd need to run 30 trains per hour, at full capacity. ST runs at most 8 trains per hour, split 4 in each direction.
Limited parking to each station means your rider count will drop once the garage is full. Tracks in the in street means some joker making a left in front of the train can ruin your commute, plus the trains have traffic lights to contend with - I kid you not - and you've got a novelty system that will never reach numbers even close to ST's estimates.
And it is funded by your car tags, property taxes and a sales tax to the tune of $100 billion.
I don't mean to sound cynical. I've ridden ST to work and the numbers on board are far lower than they'd have you believe. The only times trains run close to capacity are during morning/evening commutes, and games/events at downtown stadiums. Which means the vast majority of runs are nowhere near capacity.
One bit of irony...when the Seahawks won the Superbowl in 2014, a parade viewed by nearly 700,000 was organized in Seattle. Folks were encouraged to ride the bus, take light rail, walk, bike, anything but drive. Great opportunity for ST to help out, right? Nope. ST did not add any extra trains to the schedule.
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