Many are still in a state district of disbelief, but Saturday is, in fact, the day. Mayor Muriel Bowser will be taking the inaugural ride on the streetcar with passengers at 10 a.m.

Local journalists got a chance today to check out the ride that The Economist recently deemed “D.C.’s pointless streetcar service”. After getting a safety demonstration (short version: maintain a handle on something), we were able to judge some things for ourselves.

It’s a smooth ride, but rather slow

Service was so gentle that we spotted a cameraman taking a bit of a snooze at one point. That said, cars were also whizzing by as a car filled with reporters and camera operators traveled from the stop at 13th and H Street NE to the end of the line at Union Station, getting up to a stately pace of around 10 miles per hour. It took a little more than 15 minutes amid light traffic, and that was without stops to pick up passengers. Google estimates it would have taken 18 minutes to do the same trip on foot.

General Manager Cleve Cleveland confirmed that the trip on a streetcar will be slower than the bus, but he said it isn’t by all that much. He pointed out that the other side of the street was likely to be faster given the traffic patterns at that time of day (indeed the return trip was about three minutes quicker). Still, the operator repeatedly had to stop or slow down when people opened their car doors into the vehicle’s path or pedestrians edged into the crosswalk. Whereas buses can maneuver around obstacles, the streetcar is obviously limited to stopping and going.

Streetcar Media Ride from DCist on Vimeo.

You can make friends, or awkward eye contact

The streetcar feels decently roomy in most places, but there are a handful of seats that put you in close proximity to a fellow passenger. I had a chat across from Washington City Paper reporter Andrew Giambrone with our knees about three inches apart—and I am on the short side of the height spectrum.

Employees are just as ready as the public for this thing

Streetcar operators have been driving up and down the same route sans passengers for more than a year; they really know what they’re doing. “They’re a great group, they’re ready,” Cleveland told DCist. As for him? “It’s probably the toughest job I’ve ever had. But it is all worth it, this thing is ready to go.”

The streetcar launches Saturday morning, and for the time being all rides are free. In celebration of the occasion, a number of businesses on H Street are offering discounts

Filed Under: streetcar,