1. What was Old is New Again …

2. IN THE BEGINNING …..
 Streetcars were the backbone of transit:
 First developed 1885-1889
 Fostered economic development of
urban areas.
 Near the streetcar’s peak in the early
1920’s, in the United States, 821 transit
agencies operated 82,672 cars over
47,283 miles of track.

3. BY 1960, A LOT HAD
CHANGED …
 Only a few streetcar lines remained
 No new cars had been ordered in a
decade
 Our cities were losing population
 Downtowns were suffering from
disinvestment
 Traditional transit was on the ropes

4. THESE SYSTEMS
REMAINED:

5. JULY 4, 1959 – AN OMEN
 Boston’s Riverside Line
 Built on its own right-of-way
 Used streetcars in multiple unit
 Prototype for conversion of some of the
remaining streetcar lines to LRT, and the
construction of many new lines

6. RIVERSIDE
Not your grandfather’s
streetcar!

7. OF THE STREETCAR CITIES
REMAINING AT THE
BEGINNING OF 1960 …
 Some have built new light rail and heavy
rail lines
 Some have upgraded former streetcar
lines to light rail
 Some have modernized streetcar lines

8. PITTSBURGH AND
CLEVELAND

9. ST. LOUIS AND LOS
ANGELES

10. NEWARK AND BOSTON

11. PHILADELPHIA and SAN
FRANCISCO

12. STREETCAR REBIRTH
BEGAN WITH HERITAGE
LINES
 Streetcar museums were popular
 Some tourist trolleys were in operation
 Bicentennial raised interest in history
 The cable cars of San Francisco were
storied in movies and song
 New Orleans’ streetcars were widely
known and had great appeal

13. NEW ORLEANS STREETCAR
1835 (Mulecars) - DATE
 St Charles line is oldest in the world
 System was down to one line in 1960,
four other lines built since then
 Replica new cars and rebuilt old cars

14. TANDY CENTER SUBWAY (Ft.
Worth)
1963 - 2002
 0.7 miles, 4 stops
 Second-hand cars from Washington, DC
 Primarily a remote parking lot shuttle to
downtown Ft. Worth

15. DETROIT BI-CENTENNIAL
LINE 1976 - 2003
 One mile long, with 9 cars from Europe
 Served to link downtown hotels and
attractions

16. SEATTLE WATERFRONT LINE
1982 - 2005
 Two miles, five cars from Melbourne
 Served Seattle’s Waterfront and King St
railroad station

17. MUNI’S “F” LINE
1983 - DATE
 1983 – 1987: Substitute for San Francisco
cable cars while that system was totally
rebuilt.
 1995: Became a permanent part of Muni
 6 miles, 32 stops, 23,000+ daily ridership

18. LOWELL, MA (National Park
Service)
1984 - DATE
 1.2 miles, 3 cars
 Cars built new as replicas
 Plans to serve downtown Lowell, MBTA
commuter rail station and UM campus

19. SAN JOSE’S DOWNTOWN
CIRCULATOR 1987 - 2003
 Intermixed with LRT system
 Downtown loop
 Intermittent special operation

20. GALVESTON ISLAND
TROLLEY
1988 – 2008
 6.8 miles of track, four cars, 22 stops.
Does not use overhead wire
 Hurricane Ike badly damaged system
and led to suspension of service – 2008
 Service to be resumed in 2017

21. MCKINNEY AVENUE TRANSIT
1989 - DATE
 4.2 miles, 6 cars, 12 stops
 Operated as part of DART system
 No fare is charged

22. PORTLAND HISTORIC
STREETCAR
1991 - 2014
 2.3 miles, 4 cars
 Shared track with Tri-Met, operated and
maintained by Tri-Met

23. MEMPHIS STREETCAR
1993 - DATE
 3 routes totaling 8.3 route-miles
 35 stops, 18 cars owned
 Service currently temporarily suspended

24. OLD PUEBLO TROLLEY (Tucson,
AZ)
1993 - 2011
 1 mile, 3 cars, 11 stops
 Replaced and extended in 2014 by Sun
Link, a modern streetcar line.

25. AS THE NEW CENTURY
DAWNED …

26. KENOSHA STREETCAR
2000 - DATE
 1.7 miles, 7 rebuilt PCC cars, 15 stops,
15 minute headway
 Part of mixed-use development project
 Major extension planned and funded

27. PORTLAND STREETCAR
2001- DATE
 The iconic modern streetcar
 7.2 route miles, 17 cars
 2014 ridership – 5.6 million

28. TECO STREETCAR (Tampa,
FL)
2002 - DATE
 2.7 miles, 11 cars, 11 stops
 Mostly single track with passing sidings
 Connect downtown with Ybor City via
cruise ship terminals

29. WATERFRONT RED CAR (San Pedro,
CA)
2003 - DATE
 1.5 miles, 3 cars, serves cruise ships
 Shares track with freight railroad
 High-level platforms

30. TACOMA LINK
2003 - DATE
 1.6 miles, 3 cars, 6 stops, 12 minute
headway
 Owned and operated by Sound Transit
 Studying extension

31. LITTLE ROCK RIVERRAIL
2004 - DATE
 3.4 miles, 5 cars, 15 stops
 Operated by Central Arkansas Transit
Authority
 Serves two independent cities

32. SEPTA RTE. 15 (Philadelphia)
2005 - DATE
 8.4 miles, 18 rebuilt PCC cars
 Operated by SEPTA
 11,000 average daily ridership (FY2014)

33. SAN FRANCISCO MUNI T
LINE
2007 - DATE
 Built to modern upgraded
streetcar standards.
 Fully compatible with
other Muni lines

34. SEATTLE LAKE UNION
STREETCAR
2007 - DATE
 2.6 miles, 11 stops, 4 cars
 Owned by City of Seattle, operated by
King County Metro
 2013 ridership – 760,900 (2,600/day)

35. SALT LAKE SUGARHOUSE
LINE
2013 - DATE
 2 miles, 7 stops, 20 minute headway
 Uses same cars as LRT lines, but single
units only and different paint scheme
 Runs on former D&RGW RR trackage

36. TUCSON STREETCAR
2014 - DATE
 3.9 miles, 8 cars, 21 stops, 10 to 30
minute headways
 Links downtown to university and
medical area

37. ATLANTA STREETCAR
2014 - DATE
 2.7 miles, 4 cars, 12 stops, 15 minute
headway
 Links downtown to historic district

38. DALLAS – OAK CLIFF
2015 - DATE
 1.6 miles, 2 cars, 4 stops
 Low-floor cars, much of route is wireless

39. CHARLOTTE STREETCAR
2015
 1.5 miles, 3 replica cars, 6 stops
 Phase 2 will add 2.5 miles and change
to modern cars.

40. SEATTLE FIRST HILL
2015
 2.5 miles, 10 stops, 6 cars
 Partially wire-free (downhill)
 10-min peak headway

41. WASHINGTON DC
STREETCAR
2015?
 1 line underway, test track built, 6 cars
delivered, testing begun
 Revenue service date not scheduled
 Projected to be part of larger system

42. BY THE END OF 2015…

44. KANSAS CITY STREETCAR
IN OPERATION: 2016
 2 miles, 4 cars, 16 stops
 Major economic impact already evident

45. CINCINNATI STREETCAR
IN OPERATION: 2016
 3.6 miles (track), 5 cars, 17 stations
 City owns, SORTA operates
 Project has been politically charged

46. ST LOUIS LOOP TROLLEY
IN OPERATION: 2016
 2.2 miles, 10 stops, 2 cars
 Independent of Metro, serves 2 major
MetroRail stations
 Replica heritage streetcars

47. DETROIT M-1 STREETCAR
IN OPERATION: 2016
 3.3 miles, 6 cars, 12 stops
 Partial off-wire operation
 Major private funding

48. EL PASO STREECAR
IN OPERATION: 2017?
 4.8 track-miles, 7-9 rebuilt PCC cars
 Downtown to UTEP Campus
 Construction begins 2015

49. SOME OF THE CITIES WITH
PLANS
New Starts Extensions
 Oklahoma City
 Tempe
 Milwaukee
 Providence
 Minneapolis
 Los Angeles
 Sacramento
 Ft Lauderdale
 Los Angeles
 Portland
 Seattle
 Tacoma
 San Francisco
 Dallas
 Charlotte
 Atlanta
 Cincinnati
 Kenosha

50. CLOSING THOUGHTS AND
LESSONS LEARNED …
 Streetcar benefits can be measured by
three basic metrics:
 Transportation
 Economic Development
 Sustainability of the Urban Area

51. CLOSING THOUGHTS AND
LESSONS LEARNED …
 Streetcar technology is simple and
adaptable to many urban design
configurations; we don’t need to over-
complicate it.

52. CLOSING THOUGHTS AND
LESSONS LEARNED …
 Streetcar costs are escalating. Over-
complicated design leads to over-priced
and un-affordable systems, which don’t
get built!