Why streetcar

The transportation benefits of streetcars are challenged in the literature, due to the limited range and capacity of streetcars, especially when compared with most other modes of transit. For example, the distance for streetcars funded in recent years ranges from 0. Furthermore, streetcars are not separated from traffic, which contributes to their lower costs of construction, but also their lower value in addressing congestion issues.

But the actual development impacts of these new streetcar projects are not well understood or studied. The academic literature on the impacts of streetcar systems is nearly non-existent and most of the expectations for streetcars are based on the experiences of lines in Portland and Seattle.

Given the substantial amount of investment from localities and the federal government, great expectations for new development, and wide array of cities attempting to construct streetcar systems, the economic development impact of streetcars is important to study and understand. I examined documents from around the country, interviewed federal and local officials, and used property value data to measure the development impacts of streetcar lines in Tucson and Atlanta.

This study helps explain why streetcars are so popular, measures the development impact in two corridors and identifies some possible necessary factors for streetcar corridor success. The Elysian Fields are the land of the dead in Greek mythology. Sex leads to death for others Blanche knows as well. Her fall into madness can be read as the ending brought about by her dual flaws—her inability to act appropriately on her desire and her desperate fear of human mortality.

Both Blanche and Stella see male companions as their only means to achieve happiness, and they depend on men for both their sustenance and their self-image.

Blanche recognizes that Stella could be happier without her physically abusive husband, Stanley. Yet, the alternative Blanche proposes—contacting Shep Huntleigh for financial support—still involves complete dependence on men. When Stella chooses to remain with Stanley, she chooses to rely on, love, and believe in a man instead of her sister. Williams does not necessarily criticize Stella—he makes it quite clear that Stanley represents a much more secure future than Blanche does.

The program got off to a rocky start. While the modern streetcar trend is relatively new to the U. In some European cities, streetcars were introduced or reintroduced in the s. Halfway around the globe, Melbourne has the biggest streetcar network in the world, with more than miles of tracks.

Could American cities be headed that way? Twenty years ago, Michael Powell picked up a newspaper and saw the news he thought would destroy his business. He figured the impact of the streetcar preparations would be the same. Bluemenauer was one of the leading proselytizers helping bring around business owners like Powell. Like the D. The biggest impact, however, has come not in mobility but rather on the development front.

This is the crux of the streetcar conundrum. But at its essence, the streetcar is a city-building tool — and by most accounts a very successful one. According to a report by the Portland transportation department and Portland Streetcar, Inc.

Within one block of the route, developers built to an average of 90 percent of the allowable density, versus just 43 percent at three or more blocks from the streetcar, a sign of the perceived value of property near the line. Prior to , 19 percent of development in the central business district occurred within a block of the future streetcar lines. Does that speak to you? He attributes it, however, to subsidies for transit-oriented development, not the mere addition of the streetcar.

According to a study conducted last year by the D. Local businesses are giddy at the prospect. What is it about streetcars that make them such an effective development tool? Take the tracks. What happens if someone double parks or breaks down in the streetcar lane, or if a delivery truck is too wide and juts into the route? A bus would simply maneuver around the obstruction, but a streetcar must wait.

How about if emergency utility repairs need to be made on the road, or if a sinkhole opens up under it, as has happened several times recently in D. Yet the rigidity of a streetcar route is exactly what makes it so valuable from a development perspective. But buses are demonstrably different than streetcars. They have different characteristics, accomplish different goals, and are more appropriate in different places.

The Louisville Railway Company was once located on the corner of 18th and Broadway. Yes, THAT corner. Irony City. I rode buses while in Louisville. The bike racks were great! TARC was and is fine. One scuttles in now like a rat. Build something of lasting civic use and pride. Build something that appeals and serves rich and poor alike…that brings someone who could otherwise afford a Lexus down to regular everyday level without offense to sensibilities while simultanously dignifying those who have little other transport choice much more than a bus.

Which are nice, sure, but they really just double down on the status quo. The motives here are pure and sincere: increase transit rideshare.

But conflating pure economic rationality efficiently doing more with scarce tax dollars using buses with feelings, attitudes, perceptions improving image problems, shame factor, branding is misguided.

Transit—especially when it is not a runaway no-brainer choice over cars as in Louisville—faces an uphill battle. When the balance is so easily tipped between a convenient car culture or a town that could really improve transit, is the best way doubling down on the status quo and working on branding? Rail is more expensive, sure, but also bolder. Marketing and ads for buses amount to lipstick on a pig.