DC Streetcar
Encyclopedia
The DC Streetcar is a surface light rail
and streetcar
network under construction in Washington, D.C.
The streetcars will be the first to run in the District of Columbia since the dismantling of the previous streetcar system in 1962. The District of Columbia began laying track in 2009 for two lines whose locations in Anacostia and Benning
were chosen to revitalize blighted commercial corridors. Initially, the system will be funded and owned by the District of Columbia Department of Transportation
(DDOT), and a third party will be chosen to operate it.
The D.C. government owns three Czech
-built Inekon
streetcars (destined for the Anacostia Line) that will serve the system; as of December 2009, they are in storage at Metro's
Greenbelt Rail Yard. Each car is eight feet (2.4 metres) wide and 66 feet (20.1 m) long, and each train consists of three connected sections.
In the late 1990s, Metro began considering a series of rapid bus
, light rail, and streetcar projects throughout the Washington, D.C., metropolitan region as a means of providing intra-city and intra-regional mass transit and to meet the transit needs of the quickly growing population of the area. The first project was proposed for Alexandria, Virginia
, in 1999. In January 2002, District of Columbia officials began studying the economic feasibility and costs of constructing a 33-mile (53.1 kilometre) long system of streetcars throughout the city. The project received Metro's backing. DDOT studied the feasibility of both a city-wide system and one or more "starter" lines. D.C. City Council
Member David Catania
specifically requested that DDOT study adding streetcars in the Anacostia neighborhood.
DDOT issued a favorable report, and the D.C. City Council approved an expenditure of $310 million for the streetcar project in September 2002. The first line to be built would be a 7.2-mile (11.6 km) "starter" streetcar line in Anacostia. The goal of the project was to bring light rail to Anacostia first (rather than last, as had happened with Metrorail), and to provide a speedier, more cost-effective way to link the neighborhood with the rest of the city.
Initially, the line was planned to run along the abandoned CSX railway
tracks (known as the Shepherd Industrial Spur) from the Minnesota Avenue Metro station to the Anacostia Metro station
, then cross the 11th Street Bridges
before connecting with the Navy Yard – Ballpark and Waterfront Metro stations. DDOT originally planned to purchase diesel multiple unit
cars (self-propelled rail cars powered by diesel engine
s) from Colorado Railcar
. The cars would be the first of their kind to be built in the United States and approved by the Federal Railroad Administration
.
Financing for the plan proved problematic. The same month that the D.C. government agreed to co-fund the streetcar project, Metro formally changed its strategic plan and proposed spending $12 billion over 10 years on rapid bus, light rail, and streetcar projects throughout the D.C. area. Metro proposed allocating half the total amount to build the D.C. streetcar line, complete the Silver Line
, build a streetcar line on Columbia Pike
in Arlington County
in Virginia, and build a Purple Line light rail
link between Bethesda
and New Carrollton
in Maryland. However, state and local governments said they were unable to fund Metro's proposal, and the planned projects died.
The District of Columbia subsequently decided to build the initial components of the DC Streetcar system on its own. The Anacostia line was scaled back to a demonstration project just 2.7 miles (4.3 km) in length with only four stations: Bolling Air Force Base
, the Anacostia Metro station, the intersection of Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue SE and Good Hope Road SE, and the Minnesota Avenue Metro station. DDOT began an environmental assessment of the CSX tracks in July 2003. In September 2004, Metro agreed to move ahead with the project (whose $45 million cost was now being funded completely by the District of Columbia), with construction to start in November 2004 and end in 2006.
In December 2009, D.C. City Council member Jim Graham
proposed establishing a D.C. Transit Board to oversee the DC Circulator
bus system as well as the DC Streetcar system. The board would oversee the establishment of routes and transit fares. In order to determine whether the local business community would support the streetcar project, several local real estate and commercial developers visited the Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) light rail system which operates in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area
. The goal of the trip was to investigate whether MAX had the intended positive economic consequences and whether the return on investment seemed worthwhile. Local media reports indicated that the D.C. developers were impressed by the effect MAX had on Portland's economic development.
Local preservationist groups such as the Committee of 100 on the Federal City
as well as regional planning bodies like the National Capital Planning Commission
(NCPC) have opposed the current design of the streetcar system, which relies on overhead electrical wires
and a pantograph
to conduct power to the streetcar motor. Opponents of the design cite a 1889 federal law banning such systems in Georgetown and the historic center city (defined by the Florida Avenue NE and NW south to the Potomac and Anacostia rivers. The NCPC has also opposed use of the wires along H Street NE, the 11th Street bridges, and in Anacostia. These groups have proposed a design change that would rely on wireless technologies, such as battery-powered vehicles which rely on conduit current collection
(in which a metal arm or "plow" is inserted into a channel in the street and draws power from cables under the roadway). But District of Columbia officials say the current overhead lines are not visually obtrusive, and that conduit collection systems are costly and break down easily in cities with wet climates. City transportation planning officials have also proposed building a system that would run on wires outside the historic core but switch to a hybrid battery/conduit system inside the area. On May 31, 2010, 12 of the council's 13 members co-sponsored a bill to exempt the H Street Line from the 1888 and 1889 laws that banned overhead electrication in the city's historic core. The legislation required that the mayor's office develop a citywide plan by 2014 to determine where additional overhead electrification could be permitted. The Committee of 100 supported the planning requirement, and the legislation passed the council on June 29, 2010. But in late June 2010, the chair of the National Capital Planning Commission, L. Preston Bryant Jr., sent a letter to the Federal Transit Administration
demanding that $25 million in federal money intended for the streetcar project be withheld until the NCPC and city reached agreement regarding the overhead electrication issue. The NCPC said they had legal advice which indicated that only Congress had the power to rescind the 1888 and 1889 laws. City council members, who had been negotiating with the NCPC, said the NCPC's action was a sign of bad faith in the talks. DDOT Director Gabe Klein said the NCPC was "blackmailing" city leaders, and that the NCPC was overstepping its boundary as a purely advisory body. Klein asked Bryant to rescind his letter, arguing that Bryant had purposefully misstated the city's plans for overhead electrification (claiming it would install overhead wires on the National Mall and near Congress) and asserting that the H Street Line was not covered by the 1888 and 1889 laws. Klein also cited two previous legal opinions which concluded the city had the power to rescind the 1800s legislation. On July 13, 2010, the D.C. Council passed legislation to allow the overhead wires along Benning Road and H Street NE. The legislation specifically banned the wires around the National Mall and along Pennsylvania Avenue between Capitol Hill and the White House, and established a process for seeking public and other input on whether wires should be used elsewhere in the city.
Funding for the DC Streetcar system became an issue in 2010. D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty
proposed spending $60 million to $70 million in his fiscal 2011 budget to complete the H Street Line and purchase six trams, with a goal of activating the line in the spring of 2012. Funding for other lines would be withheld until the city was assured that the H Street Line was a success. Fenty also released the results of a study commissioned by the Downtown DC Business Improvement District (BID) and researched by the Brookings Institution
, Robert Charles Lesser & Co. research firm, and Reconnecting America (a non-profit public transit advocacy group) which found that the DC Streetcar system could increase the value of businesses along the H Street Line by $1.1 billion over 20 years. Fenty proposed levying a $375 million tax on businesses on the H Street Line to help pay for the streetcar system. But on May 25, 2010, the D.C. City Council voted to delete $49 million in proposed streetcar funding in order to help close a $550 million budget deficit. DC Streetcar advocates accused Sarah Campbell, capital budget director for the City Council, for deleting the funds, pointing out that Campbell is also a member of the Committee of 100 on the Federal City (which opposed the streetcar system as currently planned). DDOT Director Gabe Klein accused the Council of killing the program. Campbell denied both allegations. The Washington Post reported that the budget battle may have been sparked by Council Chair Vincent C. Gray
, who was likely to challenge Fenty for the Democratic
nomination for mayor in September 2010. The following day, after hundreds of angry phone calls from residents, the Council restored the funds by agreeing to borrow the money.
On October 23, 2010, D.C. transportation officials published a revised plan for the DC Streetcar system. The new plan envisioned opening the H Street/Benning Road and Anacostia lines in March or April 2012. It also significantly scaled back the Anacostia Line, truncating the northern end of the line at the Anacostia Metro station. The plan estimated the cost of constructing the two lines at $194 million, with operating costs at about $8 million per year. DDOT officials said they believed 6,350 riders per day would pay the $1 fare in the system's first year, with ridership tripling to 23,450 riders a day in 2015. The cars would be equipped to accept SmarTrip
cards but not cash, and officials said anyone transferring from Metro to the DC Streetcar system using a SmarTrip card would ride for free. The streetcars were expected to operate every 10 to 15 minutes, seven days a week, during the same hours Metro's rail system was in operation. Funding for completion of the two lines was still unclear, however. DDOT had applied for a $110 million federal grant, but had already lost a competition for an $18 million grant. City planners said they continued to look at tapping into a $180 million fund designed to service Metro's debt, enacting BID
or zoning taxes in areas affected by the streetcar system, or creating public-private partnerships that would tap into private money for construction in exchange for tax breaks or concessions by the city. The overhead electrical wire issue also remained unresolved in the plan (although battery-operated cars were mentioned). Finally, the plan laid out a process for selecting a third party to operate the system (which may or may not be Metro). Funding issues continued to raise concern in other ways, too. The rising cost of the project became an issue in the reelection bid of D.C. City Council member Tommy Wells
, whose ward encompasses H Street. The City Council held a hearing on the newly-unveiled plan on November 16. Five days later, angry business owners along H Street demanded a tax refund
and a moratorium on tax sale
s during a second council hearing. Business owners said construction of the streetcar line had caused sales to drop by as much as 70 percent, and City Council member Jim Graham introduced legislation establishing a $7 million fund to help businesses impacted by the construction.
On August 22, 2011, DDOT announced the first streetcars would roll on the H Street line in the summer of 2013.
cars drawing power from overhead lines. The Anacostia Line was permitted to use overhead lines, which are cheaper to install and maintain but which are prohibited within the historic city limits, because it is outside the old City of Washington. Three such cars were ordered in 2005 from DPO-Inekon (now known as Inekon Trams
).
But 10 months into the project, DDOT and Metro temporarily mothballed the streetcar line. Two days after the groundbreaking, CSX announced it would abandon the railway track but refuse to allow the city to use it for the streetcar project. DDOT officials say they believed that only the city and CSX owned the land under the tracks, but a legal review found that CSX was not the only private owner. The city was unwilling to build the project on the CSX tracks, only to have the other owners demand payment in the future. CSX disputed these claims, saying that it had the legal right to lease the tracks and land in perpetuity to the city for $16 million. Subsequently, DDOT announced that the streetcars would run on city streets instead of heavy railroad track, angering local residents who said the streetcars would worsen traffic congestion, elminate parking, and reduce bus service.
DDOT and Metro announced in April 2006 that work on the revised streetcar line in Anacostia would start again in a few months. The new deadline for completion of the now-$10 million, 1.1-mile (1.7 km) line was set for the spring of 2008. Construction on the $3 million rail cars was complete in spring 2007, and the cars were tested on the streets of Ostrava
in the Czech Republic
at that time and then placed into indefinite storage there. In November 2007, work on the high-voltage electrical infrastructure needed for the light rail system was under way, the line was now planned to be 1.3 miles (2.1 km) long, and the projected cost was $30 million. Track construction was due to begin in the spring of 2008, with completion of the line anticipated for 2009. By 2008, completion of the line had slipped to late 2009.
DDOT opened bids for the now-$45 million contract to construct the Anacostia Line's tracks and infrastructure in August 2008. The city had intended to transfer $10 million from demolition of the 11th Street Bridges to fund the line, but put that plan on hold due to delays in the streetcar project. DDOT also canceled plans to run the streetcars up Good Hope Road SE to the Minnesota Avenue Metro station, creating the line's terminus at the Anacostia Gateway building (at the intersection of Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue SE and Good Hope Road SE). In March 2009, these changes reduced the cost to just $25 million, but design changes in the new 11th Street Bridges (to be completed in 2011) meant that the streetcar could be extended over the bridges to link up with proposed streetcar lines on 8th Street SE and Pennsylvania Avenue SE. However, DDOT had yet to award any track construction contract by this time. The contract was finally awarded to Fort Myer Construction Corp. in December 2008.
In April 2009, DDOT announced that the Anacostia streetcar line would not be complete until at least 2012. The delays had caused the warranty on the mothballed Czech-produced streetcars to expire, and storage costs were running $860,000 a year. Construction of the first segment of the line (from Bolling Air Force Base to the Anacostia Station) was to have begun in February 2009, but DDOT and the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority
could not agree on the necessary permits or construction timing. Track to the Anacostia Station finally began to be laid in September 2009, with a completion date in the fall of 2012. DDOT ordered the transfer of the streetcars from the Czech Republic in late 2009, and the three rail cars arrived on December 12, 2009.
In July 2008, DDOT said a streetcar on the Anacostia Line train would take 10 minutes to travel from one station to the next on its route, and the line was predicted to serve 1,400 riders daily.
But on August 26, 2010, DDOT officials ordered construction of the Anacostia Line shut down after city officials refused to extend the construction contract or give a new contract to another firm. Although $25 million had been spent over the past two years, rails at the intersection of Firth Stirling Avenue SE and Suitland Parkway were buried under asphalt and weeds grew among the rails at South Capitol Street and Bolling Air Force Base. DDOT officials pledged to finish the Anacostia Line project by December 2012, but said they would either fold the project into the Phase II construction plan (which is intended to expand the streetcar system along Rhode Island Avenue NE, Florida Avenue NW, along U Street and Calvert Streets NW, and into Georgetown) or issue a new contract that extends the build-out and thus makes the yearly costs of the contract less expensive. DDOT officials denied the project was mothballed, but admitted that they had not cost out a new contract and had not requested bids on a new contract.
Despite DDOT's assertions in August, on October 24, 2010, D.C. officials unveiled a revised master plan for the DC Streetcar system which showed the Anacostia Line's northern end truncating at the Anacostia Metro Station (rather than connecting with the 11th Street Bridges). DDOT officials said they expected ridership on the Anacostia Line to be very low, because the new line was so short (now just 0.75 miles (1.2 km)) and connected only the Navy Annex
with the Metro station.
. The city began holding public hearings on construction of the line ahead of schedule, due to the imminent 2011 closing of Walter Reed Army Medical Center
. The streetcar line was part of a proposed $500 million, 62 acres (25.1 ha) mixed-use housing, office, and retail development that would begin construction in 2013. D.C. officials moved up hearings on (and potential construction of) the Georgia Avenue Line because the redevelopment of the Walter Reed site would be heavily dependent on the streetcar reaching the area by the time the new homes and businesses opened.
unveiled a draft Strategic Development Plan which proposed redeveloping and revitalizing six blighted areas of the city, including H Street NE
and Benning Road. Among the proposals to revitalize H Street was the construction of a streetcar line to downtown D.C. in five to 10 years. The plan was formalized during the next year. Residents and business owners in the area were cautious about the plan, fearing traffic congestion and threats to pedestrian safety in an area which needed greater auto and foot traffic.
On January 20, 2006, the District of Columbia Department of Transportation announced that it would build a $13 million streetcar line on H Street NE, from Union Station
to Benning Road and the Minnesota Avenue Metro station as part of its Great Streets initiative, on much of the same route established by the Columbia Railway Company in 1870. Construction was originally planned to begin in the spring of 2007 (to coincide with extensive improvements to parking and lighting and the beautification of H Street NE) and end in 2009.
By 2008, the extension to the Minnesota Avenue Metro station had been dropped, and the H Street streetcar line was being designed to link up with a planned downtown streetcar line running along the same route as the downtown routes of the DC Circulator
bus.
As of July 2009, streetcar tracks were being installed on H Street as part of the scheduled street re-construction, with streetcar service scheduled to begin in 2011. City engineers, however, had yet to determine how to get power to the cars, identify locations for the cars to turn around, or find land for a car storage facility for use at night when the line was not running.
In April 2010, DDOT officials announced that they intended to build a $74 million, two-mile extension of the H Street line that would link with the Benning Road Metro station. The district had applied for a $25 million federal grant to help pay for the extension. DDOT also announced a plan to link the line to Union Station
to link the H Street line's eastern terminus with the Union Station Metro
and Amtrak
. The city said it owned a right-of-way underneath the existing Amtrak railroad tracks
on which it would build the extension.
The city also began encouraging riders to travel along the H Street corridor to Benning Road in 2009. The "H Street Shuttle" was founded in early 2009 by the H Street Business Cooperative (a nonprofit group of retailers whose businesses line H Street) to promote travel into the business district. The shuttle ran from the Gallery Place station to the Minnesota Avenue station, making just four stops along the way. The city provided $130,000 in operating funds in 2009 (although the shuttle did not run for a short period in November 2009 due to funding cut-offs). The shuttle also encountered public safety problems, as fistfights sometimes broke out between rowdy youths riding the shuttle. The shuttle has also had eggs thrown at it, been shot at with BB gun
s, and youth have attempted to slash its tires while it made stops. Although it was intended to be a temporary measure to bring customers into the retail corridor while streetcar construction occurred, D.C. officials said they would fund the shuttle only through the end of 2010.
In late August 2011, DDOT announced the H Street Line would begin operation in the summer of 2013. City officials said all platform stops had been constructed along the route, but overhead electricity lines, turnarounds at each end of the line, a streetcar overnight holding facility ("car barn"), maintenance facility, and three power substations remained to be built. The holding and maintenance facility would likely be constructed at the eastern end of the line, officials said, and might also contain training facilities in streetcar operation for local high school students. DDOT said that one of the major remaining issues confronting the line was the completion of the western terminus at Union Station. Originally, DDOT had wanted to cut through the footing of the bridge carrying H Street over the Amtrak rail lines, allowing streetcars to pass under the railroad tracks and access a streetcar platform on Union Station's west side. But Amtrak declined to allow DDOT permission to use this space, as the railroad intended to access it for high-speed rail in the future. DDOT said it was considering three new options: 1) Running streetcars over the bridge; 2) Adding about five blocks of additional streetcar track to allow streetcar riders to get off at the NoMa – Gallaudet University station; and 3) Asking Amtrak for turnaround space under the existing Amtrak railroad track. DDOT said four companies have bid to design and construction these remaining pieces of the H Line, and another was being sought to operate the line.
DDOT officials also said they were considering extending the H Street LIne to the Benning Road Metro station as well as down K Street NW to Washington Circle.
to K Street NE
, then run west to 26th Street NW. It would link with the H Street/Benning Road Line at Union Station, creating a cross-city streetcar line. DDOT officials confirmed in August 2011 that linking to the H Street Line was still the option.
. In October 2010, the D.C. government unveiled its long-awaited, $1.5 billion development proposal for the city's southwest waterfront district. This proposal included a DC Streetcar line down the middle of the entire length of Maine Avenue.
Light rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
and streetcar
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
network under construction in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
The streetcars will be the first to run in the District of Columbia since the dismantling of the previous streetcar system in 1962. The District of Columbia began laying track in 2009 for two lines whose locations in Anacostia and Benning
Benning, Washington, D.C.
Benning is a residential neighborhood located in Northeast Washington, D.C. It is bounded by East Capitol Street to the south, Minnesota Avenue to the west, and Benning Road on the north and east...
were chosen to revitalize blighted commercial corridors. Initially, the system will be funded and owned by the District of Columbia Department of Transportation
District of Columbia Department of Transportation
The District of Columbia Department of Transportation is an agency of the government of the District of Columbia which manages and maintains publicly-owned transportation infrastructure in the District of Columbia...
(DDOT), and a third party will be chosen to operate it.
The D.C. government owns three Czech
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
-built Inekon
Inekon Trams
Inekon Trams, a.s. is a manufacturer of trams, or streetcars, located in the Czech Republic, and has supplied new trams to several cities in the Czech Republic and the United States. The company also carries out modernisation and repair of trams, as well as track reconstruction...
streetcars (destined for the Anacostia Line) that will serve the system; as of December 2009, they are in storage at Metro's
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is a tri-jurisdictional government agency that operates transit service in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, including the Metrorail, Metrobus and MetroAccess...
Greenbelt Rail Yard. Each car is eight feet (2.4 metres) wide and 66 feet (20.1 m) long, and each train consists of three connected sections.
Development
Between 1862 and 1962, streetcars in Washington, D.C., were a common mode of transportation, but the system was dismantled in the early 1960s as part of a switch to bus service.In the late 1990s, Metro began considering a series of rapid bus
Bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit is a term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster, more efficient service than an ordinary bus line. Often this is achieved by making improvements to existing infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling...
, light rail, and streetcar projects throughout the Washington, D.C., metropolitan region as a means of providing intra-city and intra-regional mass transit and to meet the transit needs of the quickly growing population of the area. The first project was proposed for Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
, in 1999. In January 2002, District of Columbia officials began studying the economic feasibility and costs of constructing a 33-mile (53.1 kilometre) long system of streetcars throughout the city. The project received Metro's backing. DDOT studied the feasibility of both a city-wide system and one or more "starter" lines. D.C. City Council
Council of the District of Columbia
The Council of the District of Columbia is the legislative branch of the local government of the District of Columbia. As permitted in the United States Constitution, the District is not part of any U.S. state and is instead overseen directly by the federal government...
Member David Catania
David Catania
David A. Catania is an American politician and lawyer from Washington, D.C. He is currently a member of the Council of the District of Columbia, where he serves as an independent, elected at-large .-Biography:Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Catania is a graduate of Georgetown University's School...
specifically requested that DDOT study adding streetcars in the Anacostia neighborhood.
DDOT issued a favorable report, and the D.C. City Council approved an expenditure of $310 million for the streetcar project in September 2002. The first line to be built would be a 7.2-mile (11.6 km) "starter" streetcar line in Anacostia. The goal of the project was to bring light rail to Anacostia first (rather than last, as had happened with Metrorail), and to provide a speedier, more cost-effective way to link the neighborhood with the rest of the city.
Initially, the line was planned to run along the abandoned CSX railway
CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...
tracks (known as the Shepherd Industrial Spur) from the Minnesota Avenue Metro station to the Anacostia Metro station
Anacostia (Washington Metro)
Anacostia is a Washington Metro station in Washington, D.C. on the Green Line. The station is located in the Anacostia neighborhood of Southeast Washington, with entrances at Shannon Place and Howard Road near Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue SE . The station serves as a hub for Metrobus routes in...
, then cross the 11th Street Bridges
11th Street Bridges
The 11th Street Bridges are a pair of one-way bridges across the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. The southbound structure is officially named the Officer Kevin J. Welsh Memorial Bridge, while the northbound structure is officially named the 11th Street Bridge. The bridges convey...
before connecting with the Navy Yard – Ballpark and Waterfront Metro stations. DDOT originally planned to purchase diesel multiple unit
Diesel multiple unit
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages powered by one or more on-board diesel engines. They may also be referred to as a railcar or railmotor, depending on country.-Design:...
cars (self-propelled rail cars powered by diesel engine
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
s) from Colorado Railcar
Colorado Railcar
Colorado Railcar was a manufacturer of railroad rolling stock, railcars and diesel multiple unit commuter vehicles. Both products come in single- and double-level versions. It shut down in 2008, with its assets being purchased by US Railcar.-History:...
. The cars would be the first of their kind to be built in the United States and approved by the Federal Railroad Administration
Federal Railroad Administration
The Federal Railroad Administration is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation. The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966...
.
Financing for the plan proved problematic. The same month that the D.C. government agreed to co-fund the streetcar project, Metro formally changed its strategic plan and proposed spending $12 billion over 10 years on rapid bus, light rail, and streetcar projects throughout the D.C. area. Metro proposed allocating half the total amount to build the D.C. streetcar line, complete the Silver Line
Silver Line (Washington Metro)
The Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project, formally dubbed the Silver Line, is an extension of the Washington Metro rapid transit system, currently under construction with the goal of providing rapid transit service to Dulles International Airport and Tysons Corner...
, build a streetcar line on Columbia Pike
Virginia State Route 244
State Route 244, also known as Columbia Pike, is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is a four-lane road that runs from State Route 236 in Annandale, Fairfax County east to State Route 27 at the Pentagon in Arlington County.-History:Columbia Pike dates to 1810 when the U.S...
in Arlington County
Arlington County, Virginia
Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The land that became Arlington was originally donated by Virginia to the United States government to form part of the new federal capital district. On February 27, 1801, the United States Congress organized the area as a subdivision of...
in Virginia, and build a Purple Line light rail
Light rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
link between Bethesda
Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda is a census designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House , which in turn took its name from Jerusalem's Pool of Bethesda...
and New Carrollton
New Carrollton, Maryland
New Carrollton is a city located in central Prince George's County, Maryland, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, population was 12,589.New Carrollton is 12.11 miles from central Washington, DC....
in Maryland. However, state and local governments said they were unable to fund Metro's proposal, and the planned projects died.
The District of Columbia subsequently decided to build the initial components of the DC Streetcar system on its own. The Anacostia line was scaled back to a demonstration project just 2.7 miles (4.3 km) in length with only four stations: Bolling Air Force Base
Bolling Air Force Base
Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling is a military installation, located in Southeast Washington, D.C., established on 1 October 2010 in accordance with congressional legislation implementing the recommendations of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission...
, the Anacostia Metro station, the intersection of Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue SE and Good Hope Road SE, and the Minnesota Avenue Metro station. DDOT began an environmental assessment of the CSX tracks in July 2003. In September 2004, Metro agreed to move ahead with the project (whose $45 million cost was now being funded completely by the District of Columbia), with construction to start in November 2004 and end in 2006.
In December 2009, D.C. City Council member Jim Graham
Jim Graham
Jim Graham is a U.S. politician and a member of the Council of the District of Columbia. He is a Democrat representing Ward 1 - the most populated and diverse area in Washington, D.C....
proposed establishing a D.C. Transit Board to oversee the DC Circulator
DC Circulator
The DC Circulator is a bus system in Washington, D.C. The system is a public-private partnership between the District of Columbia Department of Transportation, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, and DC Surface Transit, Inc., operated by First Transit.The concept of a separate...
bus system as well as the DC Streetcar system. The board would oversee the establishment of routes and transit fares. In order to determine whether the local business community would support the streetcar project, several local real estate and commercial developers visited the Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) light rail system which operates in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area
Portland metropolitan area
The Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metropolitan Statistical Area , also known as the Portland metropolitan area or Greater Portland, is an urban area in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington centered around the city of Portland, Oregon. The U.S...
. The goal of the trip was to investigate whether MAX had the intended positive economic consequences and whether the return on investment seemed worthwhile. Local media reports indicated that the D.C. developers were impressed by the effect MAX had on Portland's economic development.
Local preservationist groups such as the Committee of 100 on the Federal City
Committee of 100 on the Federal City
The Committee of 100 on the Federal City, locally referred to as the Committee of 100, is a private, nonprofit membership organization which promotes "responsible" land use and planning in Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest citizen-based urban planning groups in the United States, and a...
as well as regional planning bodies like the National Capital Planning Commission
National Capital Planning Commission
The National Capital Planning Commission is a U.S. government agency that provides planning guidance for Washington, D.C. and the surrounding National Capital Region...
(NCPC) have opposed the current design of the streetcar system, which relies on overhead electrical wires
Overhead lines
Overhead lines or overhead wires are used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains at a distance from the energy supply point...
and a pantograph
Pantograph (rail)
A pantograph for rail lines is a hinged electric-rod device that collects electric current from overhead lines for electric trains or trams. The pantograph typically connects to a one-wire line, with the track acting as the ground wire...
to conduct power to the streetcar motor. Opponents of the design cite a 1889 federal law banning such systems in Georgetown and the historic center city (defined by the Florida Avenue NE and NW south to the Potomac and Anacostia rivers. The NCPC has also opposed use of the wires along H Street NE, the 11th Street bridges, and in Anacostia. These groups have proposed a design change that would rely on wireless technologies, such as battery-powered vehicles which rely on conduit current collection
Conduit current collection
Conduit current collection is a system of electric current collection used by electric trams, where the power supply is carried in a channel under the roadway, rather than located overhead.-Description:...
(in which a metal arm or "plow" is inserted into a channel in the street and draws power from cables under the roadway). But District of Columbia officials say the current overhead lines are not visually obtrusive, and that conduit collection systems are costly and break down easily in cities with wet climates. City transportation planning officials have also proposed building a system that would run on wires outside the historic core but switch to a hybrid battery/conduit system inside the area. On May 31, 2010, 12 of the council's 13 members co-sponsored a bill to exempt the H Street Line from the 1888 and 1889 laws that banned overhead electrication in the city's historic core. The legislation required that the mayor's office develop a citywide plan by 2014 to determine where additional overhead electrification could be permitted. The Committee of 100 supported the planning requirement, and the legislation passed the council on June 29, 2010. But in late June 2010, the chair of the National Capital Planning Commission, L. Preston Bryant Jr., sent a letter to the Federal Transit Administration
Federal Transit Administration
The Federal Transit Administration is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transit systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administrations within the DOT...
demanding that $25 million in federal money intended for the streetcar project be withheld until the NCPC and city reached agreement regarding the overhead electrication issue. The NCPC said they had legal advice which indicated that only Congress had the power to rescind the 1888 and 1889 laws. City council members, who had been negotiating with the NCPC, said the NCPC's action was a sign of bad faith in the talks. DDOT Director Gabe Klein said the NCPC was "blackmailing" city leaders, and that the NCPC was overstepping its boundary as a purely advisory body. Klein asked Bryant to rescind his letter, arguing that Bryant had purposefully misstated the city's plans for overhead electrification (claiming it would install overhead wires on the National Mall and near Congress) and asserting that the H Street Line was not covered by the 1888 and 1889 laws. Klein also cited two previous legal opinions which concluded the city had the power to rescind the 1800s legislation. On July 13, 2010, the D.C. Council passed legislation to allow the overhead wires along Benning Road and H Street NE. The legislation specifically banned the wires around the National Mall and along Pennsylvania Avenue between Capitol Hill and the White House, and established a process for seeking public and other input on whether wires should be used elsewhere in the city.
Funding for the DC Streetcar system became an issue in 2010. D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty
Adrian Fenty
Adrian Malik Fenty was the sixth, and at age 36, the youngest, mayor of the District of Columbia. He served one term—from 2007 to 2011—losing his bid for reelection at the primary level to Democrat Vincent C. Gray...
proposed spending $60 million to $70 million in his fiscal 2011 budget to complete the H Street Line and purchase six trams, with a goal of activating the line in the spring of 2012. Funding for other lines would be withheld until the city was assured that the H Street Line was a success. Fenty also released the results of a study commissioned by the Downtown DC Business Improvement District (BID) and researched by the Brookings Institution
Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., in the United States. One of Washington's oldest think tanks, Brookings conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and...
, Robert Charles Lesser & Co. research firm, and Reconnecting America (a non-profit public transit advocacy group) which found that the DC Streetcar system could increase the value of businesses along the H Street Line by $1.1 billion over 20 years. Fenty proposed levying a $375 million tax on businesses on the H Street Line to help pay for the streetcar system. But on May 25, 2010, the D.C. City Council voted to delete $49 million in proposed streetcar funding in order to help close a $550 million budget deficit. DC Streetcar advocates accused Sarah Campbell, capital budget director for the City Council, for deleting the funds, pointing out that Campbell is also a member of the Committee of 100 on the Federal City (which opposed the streetcar system as currently planned). DDOT Director Gabe Klein accused the Council of killing the program. Campbell denied both allegations. The Washington Post reported that the budget battle may have been sparked by Council Chair Vincent C. Gray
Vincent C. Gray
Vincent C. Gray is an American politician who is currently serving as the seventh Mayor of the District of Columbia. Prior to his inauguration as mayor in January 2011, Gray served as Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia, and as Councilmember for Ward 7...
, who was likely to challenge Fenty for the Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
nomination for mayor in September 2010. The following day, after hundreds of angry phone calls from residents, the Council restored the funds by agreeing to borrow the money.
On October 23, 2010, D.C. transportation officials published a revised plan for the DC Streetcar system. The new plan envisioned opening the H Street/Benning Road and Anacostia lines in March or April 2012. It also significantly scaled back the Anacostia Line, truncating the northern end of the line at the Anacostia Metro station. The plan estimated the cost of constructing the two lines at $194 million, with operating costs at about $8 million per year. DDOT officials said they believed 6,350 riders per day would pay the $1 fare in the system's first year, with ridership tripling to 23,450 riders a day in 2015. The cars would be equipped to accept SmarTrip
SmarTrip
SmarTrip is a plastic contact-less stored-value smart card used for payment within the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority system in Washington, D.C...
cards but not cash, and officials said anyone transferring from Metro to the DC Streetcar system using a SmarTrip card would ride for free. The streetcars were expected to operate every 10 to 15 minutes, seven days a week, during the same hours Metro's rail system was in operation. Funding for completion of the two lines was still unclear, however. DDOT had applied for a $110 million federal grant, but had already lost a competition for an $18 million grant. City planners said they continued to look at tapping into a $180 million fund designed to service Metro's debt, enacting BID
Business improvement district
A business improvement district is a defined area within which businesses pay an additional tax or fee in order to fund improvements within the district's boundaries. Grant funds acquired by the city for special programs and/or incentives such as tax abatements can be made available to assist...
or zoning taxes in areas affected by the streetcar system, or creating public-private partnerships that would tap into private money for construction in exchange for tax breaks or concessions by the city. The overhead electrical wire issue also remained unresolved in the plan (although battery-operated cars were mentioned). Finally, the plan laid out a process for selecting a third party to operate the system (which may or may not be Metro). Funding issues continued to raise concern in other ways, too. The rising cost of the project became an issue in the reelection bid of D.C. City Council member Tommy Wells
Tommy Wells
Tommy Wells is a politician from Washington, D.C. He is currently a member of the Council of the District of Columbia where he serves as a Democrat representing Ward 6.-Biography:...
, whose ward encompasses H Street. The City Council held a hearing on the newly-unveiled plan on November 16. Five days later, angry business owners along H Street demanded a tax refund
Tax refund
A tax refund or tax rebate is a refund on taxes when the tax liability is less than the taxes paid. Taxpayers can often get a tax refund on their income tax if the tax they owe is less than the sum of the total amount of the withholding taxes and estimated taxes that they paid, plus the...
and a moratorium on tax sale
Tax sale
A tax sale refers to property being sold by a taxing authority or the court to recover delinquent taxes. In the tax sale arena, the taxing jurisdiction is usually the county .Two main methods are used by...
s during a second council hearing. Business owners said construction of the streetcar line had caused sales to drop by as much as 70 percent, and City Council member Jim Graham introduced legislation establishing a $7 million fund to help businesses impacted by the construction.
On August 22, 2011, DDOT announced the first streetcars would roll on the H Street line in the summer of 2013.
Anacostia Line
Ground was broken for the Anacostia Line on November 13, 2004, and two more stations were added to the line (for a total of six). District officials also decided that rather than diesel-propelled cars, the demonstration cars would be electric multiple unitElectric multiple unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages, using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number of the carriages...
cars drawing power from overhead lines. The Anacostia Line was permitted to use overhead lines, which are cheaper to install and maintain but which are prohibited within the historic city limits, because it is outside the old City of Washington. Three such cars were ordered in 2005 from DPO-Inekon (now known as Inekon Trams
Inekon Trams
Inekon Trams, a.s. is a manufacturer of trams, or streetcars, located in the Czech Republic, and has supplied new trams to several cities in the Czech Republic and the United States. The company also carries out modernisation and repair of trams, as well as track reconstruction...
).
But 10 months into the project, DDOT and Metro temporarily mothballed the streetcar line. Two days after the groundbreaking, CSX announced it would abandon the railway track but refuse to allow the city to use it for the streetcar project. DDOT officials say they believed that only the city and CSX owned the land under the tracks, but a legal review found that CSX was not the only private owner. The city was unwilling to build the project on the CSX tracks, only to have the other owners demand payment in the future. CSX disputed these claims, saying that it had the legal right to lease the tracks and land in perpetuity to the city for $16 million. Subsequently, DDOT announced that the streetcars would run on city streets instead of heavy railroad track, angering local residents who said the streetcars would worsen traffic congestion, elminate parking, and reduce bus service.
DDOT and Metro announced in April 2006 that work on the revised streetcar line in Anacostia would start again in a few months. The new deadline for completion of the now-$10 million, 1.1-mile (1.7 km) line was set for the spring of 2008. Construction on the $3 million rail cars was complete in spring 2007, and the cars were tested on the streets of Ostrava
Ostrava
Ostrava is the third largest city in the Czech Republic and the second largest urban agglomeration after Prague. Located close to the Polish border, it is also the administrative center of the Moravian-Silesian Region and of the Municipality with Extended Competence. Ostrava was candidate for the...
in the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
at that time and then placed into indefinite storage there. In November 2007, work on the high-voltage electrical infrastructure needed for the light rail system was under way, the line was now planned to be 1.3 miles (2.1 km) long, and the projected cost was $30 million. Track construction was due to begin in the spring of 2008, with completion of the line anticipated for 2009. By 2008, completion of the line had slipped to late 2009.
DDOT opened bids for the now-$45 million contract to construct the Anacostia Line's tracks and infrastructure in August 2008. The city had intended to transfer $10 million from demolition of the 11th Street Bridges to fund the line, but put that plan on hold due to delays in the streetcar project. DDOT also canceled plans to run the streetcars up Good Hope Road SE to the Minnesota Avenue Metro station, creating the line's terminus at the Anacostia Gateway building (at the intersection of Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue SE and Good Hope Road SE). In March 2009, these changes reduced the cost to just $25 million, but design changes in the new 11th Street Bridges (to be completed in 2011) meant that the streetcar could be extended over the bridges to link up with proposed streetcar lines on 8th Street SE and Pennsylvania Avenue SE. However, DDOT had yet to award any track construction contract by this time. The contract was finally awarded to Fort Myer Construction Corp. in December 2008.
In April 2009, DDOT announced that the Anacostia streetcar line would not be complete until at least 2012. The delays had caused the warranty on the mothballed Czech-produced streetcars to expire, and storage costs were running $860,000 a year. Construction of the first segment of the line (from Bolling Air Force Base to the Anacostia Station) was to have begun in February 2009, but DDOT and the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority
District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority
The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority provides drinking water, sewage collection and wastewater treatment in Washington, D.C., USA. DC Water also provides wholesale wastewater treatment services to several adjoining municipalities in Maryland and Virginia...
could not agree on the necessary permits or construction timing. Track to the Anacostia Station finally began to be laid in September 2009, with a completion date in the fall of 2012. DDOT ordered the transfer of the streetcars from the Czech Republic in late 2009, and the three rail cars arrived on December 12, 2009.
In July 2008, DDOT said a streetcar on the Anacostia Line train would take 10 minutes to travel from one station to the next on its route, and the line was predicted to serve 1,400 riders daily.
But on August 26, 2010, DDOT officials ordered construction of the Anacostia Line shut down after city officials refused to extend the construction contract or give a new contract to another firm. Although $25 million had been spent over the past two years, rails at the intersection of Firth Stirling Avenue SE and Suitland Parkway were buried under asphalt and weeds grew among the rails at South Capitol Street and Bolling Air Force Base. DDOT officials pledged to finish the Anacostia Line project by December 2012, but said they would either fold the project into the Phase II construction plan (which is intended to expand the streetcar system along Rhode Island Avenue NE, Florida Avenue NW, along U Street and Calvert Streets NW, and into Georgetown) or issue a new contract that extends the build-out and thus makes the yearly costs of the contract less expensive. DDOT officials denied the project was mothballed, but admitted that they had not cost out a new contract and had not requested bids on a new contract.
Despite DDOT's assertions in August, on October 24, 2010, D.C. officials unveiled a revised master plan for the DC Streetcar system which showed the Anacostia Line's northern end truncating at the Anacostia Metro Station (rather than connecting with the 11th Street Bridges). DDOT officials said they expected ridership on the Anacostia Line to be very low, because the new line was so short (now just 0.75 miles (1.2 km)) and connected only the Navy Annex
Naval Support Facility Anacostia
Naval Support Facility Anacostia is a United States Naval Base in Anacostia, Washington, D.C. and is conjoined with Bolling Air Force Base. NSF Anacostia falls under the command of Naval Support Activity Washington.-History:...
with the Metro station.
Georgia Avenue Line
In October 2010, D.C. officials unveiled tentative plans to build a streetcar line up Georgia AvenueGeorgia Avenue
Georgia Avenue is a major north-south artery in Northwest Washington, D.C. and Montgomery County, Maryland. Within the District of Columbia and a short distance in Silver Spring, Maryland, Georgia Avenue is also U.S. Route 29...
. The city began holding public hearings on construction of the line ahead of schedule, due to the imminent 2011 closing of Walter Reed Army Medical Center
Walter Reed Army Medical Center
The Walter Reed Army Medical Center was the United States Army's flagship medical center until 2011. Located on 113 acres in Washington, D.C., it served more than 150,000 active and retired personnel from all branches of the military...
. The streetcar line was part of a proposed $500 million, 62 acres (25.1 ha) mixed-use housing, office, and retail development that would begin construction in 2013. D.C. officials moved up hearings on (and potential construction of) the Georgia Avenue Line because the redevelopment of the Walter Reed site would be heavily dependent on the streetcar reaching the area by the time the new homes and businesses opened.
H Street NE/Benning Road Line
In 2003, then-Mayor Anthony A. WilliamsAnthony A. Williams
Anthony Allen "Tony" Williams is an American politician who served as the fifth mayor of the District of Columbia for two terms, from 1999 to 2007. He had previously served as chief financial officer for the District, managing to balance the budget and achieve a surplus within two years of...
unveiled a draft Strategic Development Plan which proposed redeveloping and revitalizing six blighted areas of the city, including H Street NE
H Street (Washington, D.C.)
H Street is an east-west street in Washington, D.C.. It is also used as an alternate name for the Near Northeast neighborhood, as H Street is the neighborhood's main commercial strip.-History:...
and Benning Road. Among the proposals to revitalize H Street was the construction of a streetcar line to downtown D.C. in five to 10 years. The plan was formalized during the next year. Residents and business owners in the area were cautious about the plan, fearing traffic congestion and threats to pedestrian safety in an area which needed greater auto and foot traffic.
On January 20, 2006, the District of Columbia Department of Transportation announced that it would build a $13 million streetcar line on H Street NE, from Union Station
Union Station (Washington, D.C.)
Washington Union Station is a train station and leisure destination visited by 32 million people each year in the center of Washington, D.C. The train station is served by Amtrak, MARC and Virginia Railway Express commuter rail services as well as by Washington Metro subway trains and local buses...
to Benning Road and the Minnesota Avenue Metro station as part of its Great Streets initiative, on much of the same route established by the Columbia Railway Company in 1870. Construction was originally planned to begin in the spring of 2007 (to coincide with extensive improvements to parking and lighting and the beautification of H Street NE) and end in 2009.
By 2008, the extension to the Minnesota Avenue Metro station had been dropped, and the H Street streetcar line was being designed to link up with a planned downtown streetcar line running along the same route as the downtown routes of the DC Circulator
DC Circulator
The DC Circulator is a bus system in Washington, D.C. The system is a public-private partnership between the District of Columbia Department of Transportation, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, and DC Surface Transit, Inc., operated by First Transit.The concept of a separate...
bus.
As of July 2009, streetcar tracks were being installed on H Street as part of the scheduled street re-construction, with streetcar service scheduled to begin in 2011. City engineers, however, had yet to determine how to get power to the cars, identify locations for the cars to turn around, or find land for a car storage facility for use at night when the line was not running.
In April 2010, DDOT officials announced that they intended to build a $74 million, two-mile extension of the H Street line that would link with the Benning Road Metro station. The district had applied for a $25 million federal grant to help pay for the extension. DDOT also announced a plan to link the line to Union Station
Union Station (Washington, D.C.)
Washington Union Station is a train station and leisure destination visited by 32 million people each year in the center of Washington, D.C. The train station is served by Amtrak, MARC and Virginia Railway Express commuter rail services as well as by Washington Metro subway trains and local buses...
to link the H Street line's eastern terminus with the Union Station Metro
Union Station (Washington Metro)
Union Station is a Washington Metro station in Washington, D.C. on the Red Line.The station is located in Northeast of the city under the western end of Union Station, the main train station for Washington, at which connections can be made to Amtrak intercity trains as well as the Virginia Railway...
and Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
. The city said it owned a right-of-way underneath the existing Amtrak railroad tracks
Rail tracks
The track on a railway or railroad, also known as the permanent way, is the structure consisting of the rails, fasteners, sleepers and ballast , plus the underlying subgrade...
on which it would build the extension.
The city also began encouraging riders to travel along the H Street corridor to Benning Road in 2009. The "H Street Shuttle" was founded in early 2009 by the H Street Business Cooperative (a nonprofit group of retailers whose businesses line H Street) to promote travel into the business district. The shuttle ran from the Gallery Place station to the Minnesota Avenue station, making just four stops along the way. The city provided $130,000 in operating funds in 2009 (although the shuttle did not run for a short period in November 2009 due to funding cut-offs). The shuttle also encountered public safety problems, as fistfights sometimes broke out between rowdy youths riding the shuttle. The shuttle has also had eggs thrown at it, been shot at with BB gun
BB gun
BB guns are a type of air gun designed to shoot projectiles named BBs after the birdshot pellet of approximately the same size. These projectiles are usually spherical but can also be pointed; those are usually used for bird hunting. Modern day BB guns usually have a smoothbore barrel, with a bore...
s, and youth have attempted to slash its tires while it made stops. Although it was intended to be a temporary measure to bring customers into the retail corridor while streetcar construction occurred, D.C. officials said they would fund the shuttle only through the end of 2010.
In late August 2011, DDOT announced the H Street Line would begin operation in the summer of 2013. City officials said all platform stops had been constructed along the route, but overhead electricity lines, turnarounds at each end of the line, a streetcar overnight holding facility ("car barn"), maintenance facility, and three power substations remained to be built. The holding and maintenance facility would likely be constructed at the eastern end of the line, officials said, and might also contain training facilities in streetcar operation for local high school students. DDOT said that one of the major remaining issues confronting the line was the completion of the western terminus at Union Station. Originally, DDOT had wanted to cut through the footing of the bridge carrying H Street over the Amtrak rail lines, allowing streetcars to pass under the railroad tracks and access a streetcar platform on Union Station's west side. But Amtrak declined to allow DDOT permission to use this space, as the railroad intended to access it for high-speed rail in the future. DDOT said it was considering three new options: 1) Running streetcars over the bridge; 2) Adding about five blocks of additional streetcar track to allow streetcar riders to get off at the NoMa – Gallaudet University station; and 3) Asking Amtrak for turnaround space under the existing Amtrak railroad track. DDOT said four companies have bid to design and construction these remaining pieces of the H Line, and another was being sought to operate the line.
DDOT officials also said they were considering extending the H Street LIne to the Benning Road Metro station as well as down K Street NW to Washington Circle.
K Street Line
In January 2010, the Washington Post reported that the K Street Line would probably be the third line to be constructed. The K Street Line would extend from Union StationUnion Station (Washington, D.C.)
Washington Union Station is a train station and leisure destination visited by 32 million people each year in the center of Washington, D.C. The train station is served by Amtrak, MARC and Virginia Railway Express commuter rail services as well as by Washington Metro subway trains and local buses...
to K Street NE
K Street (Washington, D.C.)
K Street is a major thoroughfare in the United States capital of Washington, D.C. known as a center for numerous think tanks, lobbyists, and advocacy groups.-Location:...
, then run west to 26th Street NW. It would link with the H Street/Benning Road Line at Union Station, creating a cross-city streetcar line. DDOT officials confirmed in August 2011 that linking to the H Street Line was still the option.
Maine Avenue Line
Another streetcar line was proposed for Maine Avenue SWMaine Avenue (Washington, D.C.)
Maine Avenue is a diagonal avenue in the Southwest quadrant of Washington, D.C.. Maine Avenue connects Independence Avenue with M Street SW, and has an interchange with Interstate 395.-Route:...
. In October 2010, the D.C. government unveiled its long-awaited, $1.5 billion development proposal for the city's southwest waterfront district. This proposal included a DC Streetcar line down the middle of the entire length of Maine Avenue.