SEATTLE -- Seattle's south Lake Union streetcar is now in service, making its maiden run Wednesday at 12:12 p.m. between the downtown retail core and the developing area where the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center is located.

And then about five hours later, it encountered its first glitch.

Someone found a ball bearing down on one of the tracks, up on the Terry Avenue portion of the line. The streetcar stopped and everyone on board got off and then loaded up on another car.

Workers are now trying to figure out where the ball bearing came from.

The temporary shutdown kept a group at the Fred Hutch stop waiting about 30 minutes for the next car, double the usual wait time. But service was operating normally by 6 o'clock.

The 1.3 mile line has 11 stops where the streetcar passes every 15 minutes. From the Westlake location, it heads to Fairview Avenue North and Ward Street, and then back around.

Besides giving people another way to get around, developers really hope this gives the south Lake Union area a boost.

About 350,000 people are expected to ride the streetcar that passes right by businesses like the Denny Deli.

For manager Gene Um, that's a lot of chances for his business to be seen by people that may have never passed by.

"We're expecting it to help, just more foot traffic," Um said. "The more people down here the better."

But not everyone is excited to see the streetcar running.

Some think it's more of a hindrance than a help and several property owners near the line don't want their taxes going to the streetcar's $52 million price tag.

Commuters say the "Mercer Mess" is even messier with the addition of a new stop light at Terry and Valley.

And some bicyclists say it's just dangerous. The tracks are wide enough that bike tires get caught -- and already people are crashing.

The streetcar will cost $1.7 million a year for Metro to operate. Rides are free this month. Then the fare will be $1.50.