Photo of the Day: November 27, 2009
Car Pushed Into Anacostia River By Train
Morning Roundup: Black Friday Edition
Devendra Banhart @ 9:30 Club
Saturday Thanks Don't End At Thanksgiving Photo: November 28, 2009
Transit nerds rejoice! The District's long-long-long-awaited return to streetcars -- the vehicles for which have lied in a state of chrysalis in the Czech Republic for several years -- has begun to take form, as tracks are beginning to be laid in Southeast D.C. Although the streetcar plans have been kicked around in some shape or form for quite some time, the visible laying of tracks, beams, and the such is certainly the project's most exciting development, as the Post notes. Neighborhood blog Barry Farm (Re)Mixed brings us the visual evidence that, yes, we're well on our way to combining the least annoying parts about Metrorail, taking the bus and walking into one easy to use moving solution.
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We went to the Macy's at 12th & G this morning for the Black Friday morning specials. There was a sh
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Every third car will contain a flatcar with an AA battery.
chrysalis?
wow, aaron, that's some serious writing for a sunday afternoon. bravo!
Agreed +1. Plus, pupa would have sounded pretty strange.
Not to go all grammar nazi, but it should be "which have lain," not "which have lied." Unless those are some prevaricating Czech train cars, which, considering how long we've been waiting for them, they may well be.
Do you by chance know anything about who will be providing the actual streetcars? I'm just asking because I live in Prague and I know that Czech streetcars are in use in other cities in the US....would be fun to see Czech trams in my hometown!
According to the group Streetcars 4 DC, they are in fact manufactured by a Czech company, Inekon Trams, who also built the Portland streetcars.
REJOICE!
ALthough of course building a nice fancy light rail to a place nobody wants to go seems strange... I'm always happy to see more transit! Even if it is a train to bloody streets of the Southeast (my former abode, mind you.)
I knowt there are a lot of street car fans here, but does anyone else think this is a white elephant?
What are you talking about? As you can clearly see from the photo, these cars will run through densely populated, well-lit, and safe areas.
it needs to be a complete network for it to be usable and viable, so if there is only one line, then yeah, it's a white elephant.
but that sounds like the people who whine and bitch that the area around the new ballpark doesn't resemble the corner of 7th and H NW. it takes time and patience, which most people seem to have little to none of these days.
A bit of trivia. The first subway stop in the US was the Park Street Station in Boston. Surprisingly, it wasn't that popular until they opened a second subway stop.
http://www.instantrimshot.com/
I'd like the tracks to light up, like the floor did in Saturday Night Fever. Plus also if they could sparkle.
"combining the least annoying parts about Metrorail, taking the bus and walking"
I'm a little fuzzy on this... I thought the least annoying part of Metrorail was that it doesn't have to share the road with cars, and the least annoying part of the bus is that there's one near you no matter where you are.
To me, the streetcar combines the most annoying part of both: it has to stop everywhere cars do, just like buses, and it's probably not going to stop near where you live, just like the metro.
Yup. The only way the streetcar beats busses and Metro is if the streetcar gets right-of-way. If they're outfitted with those traffic-light-changers that allow them to run nonstop through intersections, (the kind ambulances have), that changes the equation.
Too bad GM's bankrupt. Otherwise, they could just buy up the streetcars and replace them with smooth-running busses. No. Wait.
Who cares about Southeast? How about some coverage on the Atlas District streetcar project!