Death of a Streetcar
I am saddened to hear about the possible death of the H Street Streetcar in Washington DC. The initial plan was for a network of eight lines built over three phases but only a single segment was ever finished. Now it may be replaced with a trolleybus.
Some folks are saying I told you so, but at the time I believed we were trying to solve for what I call the lowest common denominator syndrome. As projects got more expensive, we moved to the next technology. Subways to light rail to BRT and Streetcars. Elected officials wanted solutions but they didn’t want to give up their views for wires or their parking or driving lanes for transit.
Photo: The Overhead Wire
