Washington, D.C. Light Rail - Streetcar Update

[revitalizer]

This is the info that I have as of March 2007:

The National Capital Planning Commission has approved final plans for the initial 1.3 mile streetcar line from the Anacostia Metro Station to Bolling Air Force Base along South Capitol Street. The initial Anacostia line is schedule to be completed by the spring of 2008. Also, this initial 1.3-mile streetcar line is the first phase of a 2.7-mile six-station line.

There are 8 streetcars on order by the District Department of Transportation, and at least a portion of these streetcars have already been built and are now being tested on streets in Europe. The D.C.-bound streetcars are being built by DPO Inekon, a joint venture of the Czech commercial house Inekon and the transit authority of Ostrava in the Czech Republic, which has a large, modern maintenance facility capable of building new streetcars. The project is a cooperative venture between District of Columbia Department of Transportation and WMATA.

The streetcar storage yard and maintenance facility will be located between South Capitol Street and Interstate 295 in southeast Washington.

The D.C. streetcars will take on the color-scheme and exterior design pattern of the current Circulator buses already in operation around town as evidenced by the graphic below.

image hosted on flickr

DC Streetcars designed after the current Circulator buses

Another streetcar line in DC, on H Street between 3rd and 14th Streets, N.E. is also in the works.

Below is a link to a DC Office of Planning document that shows some very interesting plans in the works for a D.C. wide light-rail and streetcar network. If you look at page 15 of this PDF, you will see a photo of an already-built D.C. streetcar now being tested on city streets in Europe!

http://planning.dc.gov/planning/fram...ing/Part_2.pdf

[PeterSmith]

Pretty cool document. I like the routes they chose. Streetcar routes in Europe can be pretty cluttered and complex, and while that could happen in DC in the long run, I like how the routes here are pretty simple and straightforward. I wonder how the fares will be structured.

[Cirrus]

That Europe picture is fantastic.

Personally, streetcars excite me more than any other project on the books right now, transport related or otherwise. It's not even close.

And on the subject, don't forget that these aren't the only routes. At the very least, Arlington will be building one on Columbia Pike.

[revitalizer]

Hey PeterSmith, I haven't heard anything about the fares, but the DC Circulator bus is $1 per trip. It'll probably be somewhere around that.

Cirrus, the streetcars on Columbia Pike should be nice. Thanks for mentioning that also!

The Arlington County and Fairfax County boards of supervisors approved, in 2006, a study of a 4.7-mile streetcar line along Columbia Pike. Plans call for installing tracks on each side of the Pike, linking the Pentagon City Metro station in Arlington with the Skyline area south of Route 7 in Faifax. I believe they are doing an environmental study right now, which could be complete by the end of 2007 or early 2008.

http://www.piketransit.com/

[jeremai]

Originally Posted by PeterSmith

Pretty cool document. I like the routes they chose. Streetcar routes in Europe can be pretty cluttered and complex, and while that could happen in DC in the long run, I like how the routes here are pretty simple and straightforward. I wonder how the fares will be structured.

I guess that's the problem with Europe's old curving and narrow streets. I'm sure the DC street grid would keep things relatively simple in the long run.

This is a really exciting project and I had no idea it was so far along; that picture of the streetcar in Europe alreay has the colour scheme applied and everything!

[DistrictDirt]

Check out the last page of that PDF...the sketch of the suspension bridge replacement for the Douglass bridge looks NICE! Reminds me of the Millenium Bridge in London. Seeing it from the Anacostia side like that, I can really see how the Anacostia waterfront could easily shape up to be a big tourist destination.

[PeterSmith]

Ah, so that is what that is. I saw it and thought maybe they just threw some other pictures of Europe in there for effect. It reminded me of Rotterdam.

It's funny how, even after so many years, DC still sticks to its European influences. This is a really exciting project. Streetcars are coming on line in so many American cities these days, one can only imagine how they'll change the urban lifestyle throughout the country.

[revitalizer]

Originally Posted by DistrictDirt

Check out the last page of that PDF...the sketch of the suspension bridge replacement for the Douglass bridge looks NICE! Reminds me of the Millenium Bridge in London. Seeing it from the Anacostia side like that, I can really see how the Anacostia waterfront could easily shape up to be a big tourist destination.

You guys are on it! If you notice in my "Capitol Riverfront" thread, the District Department of Transportation has 4 choices for a replacement bridge for South Capitol Street. I preferred Alternative 1 - "Cable Stayed Swing Bridge"

image hosted on flickr

Cable Stayed Swing Bridge

Maybe they've already made their choice. This is the second time that I've seen Alternative 1 show up in a D.C. planning document. Is this our hint? hehe

:-)

[modestproposal]

Anyone know what the Metro Map will look like when these are done?

[revitalizer]

This information below pertains to the H Street streetcar plans in DC:

In July (next month), D.C. will begin tearing up part of H Street, NE so that it can start installing streetcar tracks and also creating a newly-designed boulevard with all new sidewalks and other physical improvements. The improvement effort is $27 million, not including the streetcars.

Pepco already is installing utility lines on H Street that eventually will power the track.

Each streetcar costs around $3 million. There is also a planned extension to Union Station for the H Street streetcar line that will by costly, but necessary. This will hopefully give us our direct heavy-rail to light-rail connection, instead of having people walk blocks to get the connection. Is DDOT listening? Is Akridge listening?

Burnham Place at Union Station, a proposed 3-million square foot development, is to be built above the existing rail yard directly north of Union Station on a platform deck built above and across the tracks. Plans also call for a new rail passenger concourse, a new transportation center, and a pedestrian galleria. Is a direct connection possible? A new Union Station-North metro station? hehe :-)

image hosted on flickr

Proposed Burnham Place at Union Station highlighted in red.

The long-term plan is that people will be able to travel from Georgetown to H Street on D.C. streetcars on one continuous line. So, we can at least look forward to easier access into Georgetown (K Street) from the rest of the city with these streetcars.

[Cirrus]

>Anyone know what the Metro Map will look like when these are done?
No, but former WMATA CEO Dick White told me they *do* plan on incorporating the streetcar lines onto the MetroRail map.

[NovaWolverine]

I'm very excited about streetcars coming to DC. I'm surprised that this buzz has taken so long to come, at its full potential, it will have a big impact on transit and the aesthetics around the city.

[Estopa]

This is really cool, first time I've heard about it, I haven't been in the forums for a while, but I was in D.C. today, and this should really liven up the city even more. I'm job hunting now, so maybe I could get a job in the city.

[jam5]

I'm glad to see this. It's way past time. Even better, they should consider extending that streetcar from Anacostia and the Bolling AFB to the new National Harbor development project.

[jam5]

Just thought I'd revive this thread:

Transit Plan on Track:
Streetcars Could Be Running on D.C. Roads by Late Next Year



By Lena H. Sun
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, July 13, 2008; Page C01

The District's on-again, off-again streetcar project has reached a critical stage: Officials are to unseal bids next month and award a contract this fall for construction of tracks and other infrastructure. Three new modern streetcars have been bought and are sitting in storage in the Czech Republic.

If all goes according to plan, the red-and-gray streetcars could be running along a 1.3-mile stretch from Bolling Air Force Base to the Anacostia Metro station by late next year. That segment, which will cost about $45 million, would be part of an extensive network of streetcars and rapid bus service that transportation officials envision will stretch across the city in coming years.

Like transit planners elsewhere, District officials see the modern streetcar as a way to connect inner-city neighborhoods and jump-start economic development without harming the environment. Transportation officials are to give an update on the project at a public hearing tomorrow convened by D.C. Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1).

District transportation planners hope the streetcars can do for Washington what they did for Portland. In Oregon's largest city, the streetcar system that began operating in 2001 is credited with accelerating redevelopment along an eight-mile continuous loop, turning a once-deteriorating area of warehouses into one full of restaurants, upscale hotels and galleries. Planners say that every dollar spent on the system resulted in $18 of development. The Czech-built streetcars, the same type bought by the District, inspired a local brewery to make a beer in their honor, Streetcar Ale.

The renaissance of streetcars, a form of light rail, has been taking place across the country for the past several years. Light rail, which includes modern streetcars, had the highest percentage of ridership increase -- 10.3 percent -- of all transit in the first quarter of this year over the same period last year, according to the American Public Transportation Association.

Streetcars share lanes with automobiles and ride on rails built in existing streets. Power comes from overhead electric wires. The small-size trains are quiet, efficient and environmentally friendly, carrying people through high-density areas on short inner-city trips, reducing automobile traffic and parking.

[rockin'.baltimorean]

good luck to d.c. with the streetcars. sounds like a wonderful investment.....

[NorthaBmore]

It would be great for the city if this went through, but thus is seriously long-term, right.

[Ty Doggie]

TRON send help.