PM Network - August 2014

Streetcar Revival

The future of U.S. public transportation bears a striking resemblance to its past. At the turn of the 20th century, streetcars dominated the nation’s transportation system before ceding to buses and automobiles. Now, more than 30 cities have initiatives to put electric streetcars back on the roads.

Streetcars are cheaper to build than subways, and quieter and often more attractive than buses. They not only solve the problem of getting people to their destinations in high-density areas, they help revive urban neighborhoods by increasing foot traffic to local shops.

“In urban areas where there is the need to rehabilitate or just minimize congestion, the streetcar is an option they’re looking at right now,” says Ronaldo Nicholson, chief engineer, Department of Transportation, Washington, D.C., USA.

After an analysis indicated that streetcars would improve Washington, D.C.’s transit options, the city launched a project to lay down 37 miles ( 60 kilometers) of tracks along the same streets where they had been ripped out more than 50 years ago. In 2013, the city completed the first segment of the project— 2. 4 miles ( 3. 9 kilometers), which is expected to open to riders this year. Of the 37 miles to be completed over 30 years, planners have prioritized 22 miles ( 35 kilometers) of track—a US$1.2 billion initiative that will be executed during the next five to seven years.

Meanwhile, other streetcar projects are being completed across the country: from Atlanta, Georgia and Dallas, Texas in the South to Tucson, Arizona in the Southwest to Seattle, Washington in the North-west. Projects are in development in U.S. cities such as Cincinnati, Ohio and Charlotte, North Carolina.

A Bumpy Ride

But the streetcar’s comeback hasn’t always been a smooth one. In Arlington, Virginia, USA, a proposed project to build a 4.9-mile (7.9-kilometer) line at a cost of US$310 million by 2017 has encountered strong public opposition. As in most cities where the rail projects have been proposed, Arlington residents and transportation analysts have raised concerns about the system’s high upfront costs and argued that the money would be better spent improving existing bus systems.