With the District getting closer and closer to again featuring streetcars as an operational part of the city’s transportation network, other areas slated to take part in the streetcar renaissance are getting anxious about what they’re supposed to do in the meantime to keep the momentum going. Take, for example, Rhode Island Insider, who writes that:

The Rhode Island Ave NE corridor is on the verge of great things but it is missing one key component to spur it forward: transportation. The Rhode Island Ave segment was added to the 2010 Updated Street Car plan. The problem is that of the three phases that they place the segments into (under construction, in design, and planning phase), the RIA phase is not listed. This could mean that it is not going to be considered for some time to come (I would highly encourage everyone to contact the Council members below and tell them to push RIA for the Street Car plan).

The blog also created a form to allow readers to email ANC leaders, Councilmembers and the Office of the Mayor.

Already with a new mixed-use development and the existing big-box presence on its west end, the Rhode Island Avenue corridor definitely has a growing commercial cache. It’s also part of the city’s Great Streets initiative, which aims to “transform the Rhode Island Avenue, NE corridor into a thriving and inviting neighborhood center.” (The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development has developed a strategic development plan for how to accomplish that.) On the surface, a shuttle appears to be a common sense idea that would serve as a decent way to help drive economic development eastbound along the Avenue.

Of course, two major questions present themselves. Would anyone actually ride the shuttle? And how will it be paid for?