Other Modern Streetcars

Other Communities Building Modern Streetcars

There are sixteen Streetcar lines currently operating in the US (three are modern systems - details below)

Thirty-two Communities have committed to building Streetcar lines (including seventeen modern systems)

Thirty-seven modern streetcar systems are committed or in the planning stages.

Streetcar Communities pagewidth

Modern Streetcars in Operation

Portland

The first modern Streetcar system in the United States and therefore the most studied.  Interesting facts and lessons learned:

  • An initial concern was that the streetcars would delay the flow of automobiles and trucks along its path as it halted at car stops. This has not materialized to any extent. [source]
  • Over the first 2 years of service there were 18 minor accidents, all of which involved autos turning in front of the streetcars. There have been three major accidents, one which involved a Jeep Cherokee that ran a red light in the late evening and literally knocked the streetcar about 8 m (25 ft) off the tracks. No major injuries were sustained by passengers in any of these accidents. Also, there have been no accidents involving pedestrians crossing in front of the streetcars. [source]
  • The number of pedestrians in the crosswalk in front of his store numbered three an hour before the line opened in 2001, he says, but when he counted again in 2008 there were 938 pedestrians. Meantime, 400 new businesses opened in the Pearl, 90 percent of which are locally owned – the vast majority by women and minority entrepreneurs. In the meantime, property values have increased more than tenfold. [source]
  • Done mostly in three-to-four block segments, each taking three to 4 weeks to install, the track construction was done with a minimum of disruption to adjacent residences and businesses. [source]
  • Initial ridership estimates were about 3,000 passengers per day.  Actual weekday ridership has never been below 3,700 per day and had climbed to 6,900 per day in the Summer of 2004.  In 2005, the streetcar route was expanded, followed by further expansions in 2006, 2007 and 2011.  Weekday ridership in the first quarter of FY2012 was 12,463 per day. [source]

Seattle

Ridership forecast vs actual:

2007 Forecast 28,500
2007 Actual 78,000

2008 Forecast 346,800
2008 Actual 451,000

2009 Forecast 438,000
2009 Actual 456,250

2010 Forecast 492,750
2010 Actual 565,655

[source]

Tacoma

You may also be interested in the Tacoma Link Wikipedia entry as the official webpage is light on details.

In 2008, residents were so happy with the Tacoma Link service that they approved an expansion of the system by popular vote as part of a ballot initiative.  That expansion is still going through the planning process.