Over A Quarter of the Streetcar Systems Taking Shape In the U.S. Are in Midwest Cities

[marmar]

OVER A QUARTER OF THE STREETCAR SYSTEMS TAKING SHAPE IN THE U.S. ARE IN MIDWEST CITIES



[font size="1"]PROPOSED MILWAUKEE STREETCAR IN THE THIRD WARD NEIGHBORHOOD OF MILWAUKEE. (MILWAUKEE STREETCAR)[/font]

According to the American Public Transportation Association, a public transit advocacy group, there are more than 90 cities in the United States that are actively considering implementing streetcar systems. Of those 90, over a quarter are in the Midwest. Though all in different stages of planning, development, and construction, a handful are well underway, with service beginning as early as 2016.


[font size="1"]KANSAS CITY’S RIDEKC STREETCAR WILL BE THE NEXT MIDWEST SYSTEM TO OPEN IN EARLY 2016. (RIDEKC STREETCAR)[/font]

Kansas City and Cincinnati are both in the process of live testing their newly manufactured cars, while Milwaukee debates expanding its current plans.

Though hundreds of cities across the country once had streetcars, by the 1960s most had been dismantled with the rise of the private automobile and public bus systems. The current renaissance of streetcar construction is often attributed to cities interested in bolstering downtown transit options, and encouraging more ecologically sustainable modes of transportation.

Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, may be the first of the new Midwest streetcar lines to open in early 2016. Dubbed the RideKC Streetcar, the light blue electric trolleys will services a 2.2-mile street along Main St. The system will have four cars running between 16 stops for 18 hours a day. Similarly to streetcars of the past, electricity will be drawn from overhead wires. Unlike past services, the new cars will be wi-fi enabled and free to ride. This first leg of construction is being positioned as a first step in a much larger plan to link the entire Kansas City region with multi-model integrated transit system.


[font size="1"]DETROIT’S M-1 RAIL (M-1 RAIL)[/font]

Detroit’s new streetcar system will be unique in that it was masterminded by a private non-profit organization. The M-1 Rail, to open by 2017, draws on the economic power of small and large businesses along its route, philanthropic institutions, and a close tie with city government to realize a complex funding and administrative system for the public-private venture. At one point the project was envisioned to expand to a 9 mile route, with more involvement from regional transit partnerships. After multiple feasibility studies it was found that, for economic reason, the 3.3 mile current route was more viable, with possibilities of expansion in the near future. .................(more)

http://blog.archpaper.com/2015/12/streetcars-begin-roll-midwest-cities/

[KamaAina]

1. Aren't about a quarter of U.S. cities in the Midwest?

[marmar]

2. Probably. Kind of a useless headline. Lol