Streetcars, Anyone?
Wed, 12/09/2009 - 1:59pm | by mides
Portland's Street Car. providing service since 2001
It seems that streetcars are making a comeback. This post over at the infrastructuralist shows that 45 cities have plans for extending or creating streetcar line(s). This is great news, but yet will make competition for $130 million funding even more difficult.
Again, PDX, who had the political will and capital to put in a streetcar years ago is planning to expand the service over the river to finally create the streetcar loop.
Just in case you didn't know, Minneapolis has its own plans for a streetcar network that should hopefully supplement the bus, LRT, and BRT (down the road) network we currently have. Plus here is the work done around the planned streetcar along our beloved Greenway.
Comments
Barely better than buses
Streetcars would have been as frozen as the buses were by the blizzard the last couple days. Better to save the money for a grade-separated transit system.
Another thing I thought of today - if you've spent any time riding a high-frequency route, you've noticed that when they run late they tend to leapfrog each other, which actually can help out the riders. A streetcar, on the other hand, cannot leapfrog and as such is only as fast as the slowest streetcar.
Pros of Streetcars
But streetcars do have many benefits:
-They are much better catalysts for economic development. Bus routes can change and are not permanent. Developers are more likely to invest in an area when there is permanent infrastructure.
-They are much better at attracting new transit riders. Many people have a negative image toward buses and some even refuse to ride a bus. Trains are much more desirable and display a positive image for a street and city.
-Streetcars are on tracks, so you can see where they go. With many buses, it can be difficult for unfamiliar riders to hop on because they make unpredictable turns.
There are more, but that's all I could think about for now.
Good, better, best
Oh I agree that streetcars have many advantages, but most if not all of their advantages are also found on systems that run on their own right-of-way. Streetcars should be a part of the transitscape in the Twin Cities, but not as high priority as RoW-separated LRT or even commuter heavy rail.