Streetcars
Basics
Atlanta Streetcar’s Early Ridership Numbers Disappoint
The first batch of numbers are in for ridership on Atlanta's brand new $98 million, 2.7-mile downtown streetcar -- and the project is off to a rocky start.
February 20, 2015
Will Arlington Streetcar Foes Support BRT Instead?
News broke yesterday that Arlington, Virginia, is abandoning plans for a 7-mile streetcar along Columbia Pike.
November 19, 2014
Curtains for St. Louis’ Delmar Loop Trolley Plans?
For years, St. Louis and adjacent University City have been planning a 2.2-mile streetcar that would connect the thriving Delmar Loop business district to the museums in nearby Forest Park. In 2010, the plan won a competitive $22 million federal "Urban Circulator" grant. That funding, along with a 1 percent sales tax increase approved by area property owners, made the $43 million plan looked like a sure thing.
November 11, 2014
How Should Streetcars and Bikes Interact?
Streetcar service could finally begin this year in Washington, DC. Trial runs are already taking place. And the debate about how people on bikes will navigate the tracks is already raging.
September 3, 2014
San Antonio Abandons Streetcar Plans. What’s Next?
While Tucson's new downtown streetcar system enjoyed a successful debut weekend with an estimated 60,000 trips, San Antonio was busy scuttling its streetcar plans.
August 1, 2014
Talking Headways Podcast: Hug This Streetcar
Jeff Wood of the Overhead Wire (now working with NRDC's crack transportation team) and I talk to Randy Simes in this week's podcast about the streetcar movement in Cincinnati -- and how they finally grabbed the long-elusive gold ring.
February 20, 2014
Cincinnati Mayor Offers Last-Minute Plan to Save the Streetcar
Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley, who campaigned on the idea of killing the city's under-construction streetcar, announced today he will allow the project to continue if operating costs can be funded through fares, advertising and private donations for the first 30 years.
December 12, 2013
Talking Headways Podcast: Get Off My Lawn
Jeff Wood and I talk about the news of the week that most tickled us or burned us -- the BBC's exposé of anti-social urban design features intended to repel people, San Francisco's social tensions over the Google bus, and the decision by Cincinnati's new mayor and City Council to "pause" construction of the streetcar. (Update: The streetcar might be salvaged!)
December 12, 2013
It Could Cost More to Shut Down Cincy Streetcar Than Finish It
Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory is frustrated that all his work to bring the streetcar to fruition might be for naught, now that anti-streetcar John Cranley has been elected to take his place. “I’m from the tough part of town,” Mallory joked. “I will take the guy in a dark alley. I’m not afraid to use the threat of physical violence.”
November 21, 2013
Construction Continues on Cincy Streetcar, Mayor-Elect Still Wants It Stopped
Two days after Cincinnati voters elected anti-streetcar candidate John Cranley mayor, construction continues on the city's partially-built streetcar system.
November 7, 2013