If you’re interested in streetcar technology, then mark your calendar for Thursday, May 6. DC Surface Transit, Inc. (DCST) will hold a free seminar on streetcar propulsion technology from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm at the Renaissance Hotel (999 9th Street). You don’t have to be an uber-geek to attend.
Click for more on the DCST Streetcar Technology Seminar.
Streetcar enthusiasts and residents are following streetcar developments closely. The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) already has begun laying tracks on two streetcar lines in DC, along South Capitol Street and Firth Sterling Avenue in Anacostia, and H Street NE near Capitol Hill. The 1.5-mile Anacostia line is expected to begin service in 2012.
DCST, a nonprofit that includes the Downtown BID and its organizational partners—the Golden Triangle, Georgetown and Capitol Hill BIDs, the National Capital Planning Commission (401 9th Street), the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority (600 6th Street) and the DDOT—has invited transit and urban design experts to the seminar to address the current legal and environmental framework for modern streetcar systems.
Downtown BID Executive Director Richard Bradley, also president of the DCST, will moderate the panel. Martin Schroeder, chief engineer for the American Public Transit Association, and Greg Baldwin, a partner with ZGF Architects LLP, are among the panelists who will review existing and developing streetcar technologies and present strategies for integrating streetcar infrastructure into urban streetscapes.
“Streetcar lines are an important investment in DC’s future, a durable commitment by the city to improve neighborhoods and foster economic development,” says Bradley.
Streetcars, a form of light rail powered by overhead wires, are making a comeback in places such as Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, where reportedly they are boosting economic development along their routes. In addition to connecting people to Downtown areas, the streetcars are a proven, environmentally friendly technology in both cities, where they help relieve traffic congestion, improve air quality and reduce noise pollution. DC officials and stakeholders say the streetcars also will spur economic development here and make it easier for residents to move between neighborhoods.
Eventually, DC, which had a robust streetcar network until 1962, could have 37 miles of tracks, with a total of eight lines. The federal government is taking note of the national developments. This month, the Federal Transit Administration announced it will give the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) a $2.4 million research grant to support its efforts to develop a domestically produced streetcar propulsion system and a streetcar that can operate for short distances without overhead power wires. Currently, no domestic manufacturer of streetcar propulsion systems exists.