Passenger Trains > DC Streetcar Expensive relic of the past

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/a-year-after-opening-dc-streetcar-is-just-an-expensive-relic-of-the-past/article/2615506

Wouldn't that money have been better spent on the broken down MetroRail system?  

Amen!

The original plan, including the Anacostia extension, was supposed to add poorly served areas to the transportation network. Cut backs eventually cut Anacostia off the plan.

When DC residents hear about spending more money on suburban riders, and less on them, this is one example.

Posted from Android



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/17 06:00 by Lackawanna484.

This is a good example of a project that started out with at least some reasonable economic/social justification that gets scaled back when costs escalate and in so doing destroys its original justification.  There is no question that there has been a significant amount of redevelopment along the H Street corridor served by the DC trolley, though there is some debate as to how much of that was really in anticipation of the trolley and how much would have happened anyway.  Unfortunately like many DC (city) projects, this one appears to have suffered from political wrangling and serious mismanagement.

Gordon

gbmott Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This is a good example of a project that started
> out with at least some reasonable economic/social
> justification that gets scaled back when costs
> escalate and in so doing destroys its original
> justification.  There is no question that there
> has been a significant amount of redevelopment
> along the H Street corridor served by the DC
> trolley, though there is some debate as to how
> much of that was really in anticipation of the
> trolley and how much would have happened anyway. 
> Unfortunately like many DC (city) projects, this
> one appears to have suffered from political
> wrangling and serious mismanagement.
>
> Gordon

Yes, Cincinnati suffered from this process as well. It left out a major university just a few miles from the downtown loop that is now in place.

Posted from Android

Anything that is done by government never comes in close to the budget or initial contracts.  If the true figures were ever known up front, the project, building, etc would never be built.  Contractors make their money on the "change" orders, and they know that there will be plenty.

Gosh, if the could have only run a streetcar up and down the mall, they would have had an incredible success story!

The problem with streetcars is that they combine a major disadvantage of rail (high initial capital costs) with a major disadvantage of conventional buses (city street operations limit travel speeds).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/17 04:57 by RuleG.