The streetcar crash

NY Times - First, suburban Arlington, Va., abandoned long-laid plans last fall to build a streetcar line its leaders hoped would help revitalize a neglected corridor.

Now, across the Potomac, the District of Columbia is rethinking the whole idea, after spending $160 million to bring the trolleys back to the nation’s capital, after more than half a century.

Just a few years ago, the streetcar revival was all the rage in cities across the country. Portland, Ore., seemingly set the trend with its 11.5-mile system, which opened in 2001 and was said to spur economic development while carrying 16,000 passengers on weekdays.

Elsewhere, New Orleans is extending its streetcar lines, while Atlanta, Tucson and Salt Lake City have also moved ahead with similar systems, almost always pegged to the promise of transit-related economic growth. Continue reading the main story Related Coverage

Yet as several cities inaugurate new systems or expand older ones, the streetcar revolution, facing fiscal and operational challenges, has stalled elsewhere. Last July, San Antonio abandoned its planned streetcar system after changing mayors, reallocating the $92 million it had set aside.

Even the most ardent streetcar supporters acknowledge that the challenges are daunting, though they argue that the rewards far outweigh the costs in terms of the economic development and quality of life that make cities more livable and attractive.

William S. Lind, director of the American Conservative Center for Public Transportation and a strong right-leaning voice for streetcars, said that trolleys remained “not only a viable but an essential component” of successful cities. “That said, there have been some blunders.” These include, he said, building short lines “that don’t go anywhere,” infrequent service and excessive and widely varying costs per mile, from $5.1 million in Kenosha, Wis., to $67.5 million in Washington.

“But last year, the District council, worried about escalating costs, cut the planned system in half. Meanwhile, 11 accidents occurred between cars and streetcars sharing H Street since last October, and, in one incident, a sparking overhead wire caused a fire.

Starting dates were repeatedly announced and canceled under the former mayor, Vincent C. Gray, while a federal oversight body cited lingering safety concerns. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser, who took office in January, also expressed misgivings. Her transportation director, Leif A. Dormsjo, has been cautiously noncommittal, while a team from the American Public Transportation Association reviews the entire project.

While Mr. Dormsjo said he would like to see the streetcars proceed, especially linking the H Street line with a Metro rail station east of the Anacostia River “and really unify the city in a significant way,” he said he had not ruled out scrapping them altogether. “I’ve really tried to hit the reset button,” he said. “I want to make the issues crystal clear, so we understand what’s at stake here.”

“The project, the concept and what it’s aiming to do is very desirable,” he said. “What we’re trying figure out right now is, are there correctable measures we can take to address some of the legacy issues of the project? A series of decisions were probably made in the wrong order, and a series of commitments made without credible evidence to support what the government said it was going to do. We can’t turn back time. We’ve got to do the best we can under the circumstances.”

Note: As former streetcar enthusiasts, we noticed that when the subway solution lost considerable support because of its outlandish costs and less than promised results, the cost of building streetcar systems began to soar. Before they became popular they were quite cost efficient. That is no longer true. - TPR