Photo by Andrew Bossi
What are the odds that D.C.’s long-awaited streetcar line will be running along H Street and Benning Road NE by the end of the year? According to the odds given yesterday by District Department of Transportation Director Terry Bellamy, there’s a two in three chance that they will.
In gambling terms, a $1 bet that the streetcar will be running will pay out $1.50 if the system is operational on or before Dec. 31. But whether that jackpot will be enough to pay for a ride on the 2.5-mile line once it hits the rails is yet another still-unanswered question. Bellamy, D.C. Planning DIrector Harriet Tregoning, and other officials updated the D.C. Council’s Committee on Transportation and the Environment on the latest status of the streetcar.
After sitting in a Greenbelt, Md. rail yard for several years, D.C.’s first three streetcar units were finally moved into the District in May to begin a long testing phase. But before any “revenue service”—i.e., actual ridership—can begin, the system needs to pass through several levels of review, including federal safety oversight. The fleet itself is still growing. Bellamy said during the hearing that the H Street-Benning Road Line will eventually have five cars to ensure regular service; currently, the District has taken possession of three of the trolleys made by the Czech firm Inekon.
Stops for the line are located at Union Station, Third Street, Fifth Street, Eighth Street, 13th Street, 15th Street, 23rd Street, and Oklahoma Avenue. Bellamy told the committee the goal is to have a streetcars arrive at those stations in 15-minute intervals.
Additionally, construction of the line’s western end, leading to the Hopscotch Bridge behind Union Station, is still in progress, along with the station that will serve as the streetcar’s turnaround point. Finding the streetcar system’s employees is proceeding, though. Mayor Vince Gray yesterday announced the hiring of several D.C. residents to work as operators and mechanics on the forthcoming transit line.
As for the fares, Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3), who heads the Transportation and Environment Committee, asked if D.C.’s streetcar system could mimic the one in Portland, Ore., which was free to ride in certain sections until last September. Bellamy said that is unlikely, and that DDOT is working with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to integrate fare collection similar to DDOT’s Circulator buses.
While the hearing left many questions unanswered, Tregoning, the planning director, offered a brightening statistic for when the streetcar actually hits the rails. Currently, she said, only 15 percent of D.C.’s population live within a reasonable walking distance of rail transportation; once the H Street-Benning Road streetcar line goes liveentire 37-mile system is built, that figure will grow to 45 percent.
Correction: Due to a reporting error, this article originally stated that Director of Planning Harriet Tregoning said the H Street-Benning Road streetcar line would put 45 percent of all D.C. residents within a walking distance of rail transport. In fact, that figure will not be realized until the entire 37-mile streetcar system is complete.
