Streetcars
How Detroit’s Streetcar Overlooked Real Transit Needs to Satisfy a Well-Connected Few
Local government ceded decisions about the project to private benefactors, subordinating public goals to their interests and preferences.
March 14, 2018
Toronto Shows How Easy It Is to Speed Up Surface Transit
It only cost Toronto $1.5 million to clear cars off King Street and dramatically sped up streetcar trips for tens of thousands of people.
November 17, 2017
The Problem With America’s New Streetcars
The new wave of streetcars should be recognized for what they are: economic development projects, not solutions to the transit and transportation problems cities face today.
October 4, 2017
Toronto Has a Plan to Clear the Way for Streetcars Stuck in Traffic
Toronto's busiest surface transit route could get a big upgrade as part of a year-long pilot project -- if it clears the Toronto City Council this summer, where suburban interests have a history of rejecting transit initiatives.
May 15, 2017
Detroit’s Big Transit Success Story Isn’t Its New Streetcar — It’s the Buses
Today is the grand opening for the QLine, Detroit's 3.3-mile, mixed-traffic streetcar on Woodward Avenue. It's getting tons of local press attention, but TransitCenter reports that the Motor City's true transit renaissance is not due to the streetcar, but the city's successful, under-the-radar turnaround of its bus system.
May 12, 2017
Reminder: Just Laying Track Is No Guarantee Riders Will Come
Laying track isn't enough to build a successful transit system -- as some cities are learning the hard way.
May 12, 2016
Tourists Keep Their Trolleys While Memphis Bus Riders Face Devastating Cuts
Memphis's transit system is in crisis.
March 31, 2016
Atlanta Streetcar’s Early Ridership Numbers Disappoint
The first batch of numbers are in for ridership on Atlanta's brand new $98 million, 2.7-mile downtown streetcar -- and the project is off to a rocky start.
February 20, 2015
Will Arlington Streetcar Foes Support BRT Instead?
News broke yesterday that Arlington, Virginia, is abandoning plans for a 7-mile streetcar along Columbia Pike.
November 19, 2014
Curtains for St. Louis’ Delmar Loop Trolley Plans?
For years, St. Louis and adjacent University City have been planning a 2.2-mile streetcar that would connect the thriving Delmar Loop business district to the museums in nearby Forest Park. In 2010, the plan won a competitive $22 million federal "Urban Circulator" grant. That funding, along with a 1 percent sales tax increase approved by area property owners, made the $43 million plan looked like a sure thing.
November 11, 2014