Appendix I: Getting Started
OK, we've sold you. You want to
see a streetcar operating in your city or town. Perhaps you are a
businessman, or a local official, or a citizen activist. Your first question
is likely to be, “How do I get started?”
This short guide to getting
started may be helpful. We do not say it is the only way to go. But it does
reflect what people in cities with streetcar lines have learned in their own
successful projects.
Step #1: Find other people
with the same interest and desire. You are not likely to make much progress
alone, although one person can certainly get the process started. As that
one person, you may find other people who are familiar with the concept and
are quick to sign up. Or, you may have to start from scratch, educating
other local citizens about streetcars, explaining what they are and how they
can benefit your city or town. Your goal should be to form an organization
of some sort—perhaps a 501(c)(3), so donations are tax-deductible—that can
help design and promote your local streetcar project. This organization
should not plan to go out of business once a local streetcar line is
running. It will continue to have many important roles to play, from
promoting the streetcar line through raising funds for its operation to
providing volunteers to maintain and operate the streetcars.
Step #2: One of the things
successful streetcar projects all have in common is people to fill two key
roles: the “champion” and the “spear-carrier.” The “Champion” is someone who
is a community power “player” usually but not always a political
figure—who will be the pusher and the public voice for the project. The
“spear-carrier” is the man who actually gets the job done by organizing and
directing the project. You need both roles filled from the beginning.
Step #3: Design a streetcar
project that can garner widespread local support. That means thinking not
just in terms of fellow streetcar fans, but about building a coalition.
Coalitions are powerful because they bring together people with a wide
variety of interests—and local political clout. Some people may be
businessmen who know a streetcar line will bring them new customers. Others
may be property owners, builders or developers who see a streetcar line as a
development tool. Environmentalists may want streetcars to reduce automobile
use and resulting air pollution. City activists may see streetcars as a way
to bring new life to downtown. You want to appeal to all these groups, and
as many more as you can identify. The broader your coalition, the greater
your chance of realizing your project.
Step #4: When it is time to
get specific about the route your streetcar will take, remember that to be
successful, it has to serve a real transportation function. It should not
simply be a “ride” on a streetcar for the fun of it. Your rule needs to be,
“The line must take people where they want to go.” Your streetcar should tie
together parking lots, cultural and entertainment venues, restaurant
districts and shopping districts. In short, it should serve the central
business district, and serve it well (remember, Americans don’t like to walk
very far). And, it should be tied in with the rest of your city’s or town’s
public transit system.
While we are strongly in favor of
keeping costs down, there is a danger here you need to be aware of.
Sometimes, a very inexpensive right-of-way can be available that seems to
make the project easy, but that does not take people where they want to go.
Don’t use it! Remember, your real “product” is not streetcars but people
riding streetcars. You are not building a model train layout. You are
building a transportation line. If your streetcars fail to carry many
people, your project will not be seen as successful. All those folks in your
coalition who hoped for one effect or another from the streetcar line will
be disappointed. And that means they won’t support getting more
streetcars—or even keeping the initial line in operation.
Of course, whatever route you
select for your first streetcar line, you are almost certain to run into
some NIMBYs. When you do, remember that most of these people don’t know what
a streetcar is or what it does. They will think it is noisy, or as big as a
freight train, or that the overhead wires are dangerous, or that the
streetcar will bring undesirable people into their neighborhood. None of
these things is true, but they won’t know that. It is up to you to show them
what streetcars are really like and what they do. You may even want to take
their leaders to a city that has streetcars and let them see for themselves.
If you try to ignore them or run roughshod over them in the political
process, you will probably fail.
Step #5: Keep it simple!
With streetcars as with most things, simplicity is a virtue. Simplicity
keeps down costs. Simplicity makes the project easy for ordinary people to
understand and support. Simplicity ensures that once it is built, the line
looks good instead of being visually intrusive. In fact, one of the best
things about streetcars is that, by nature, they are simple—unless you muck
it up. Most often, if it is mucked up so that your streetcar line becomes
expensive and complicated, it means you have a bad advisor (there are lots
of bad advisors out there). There is no shortage of the species, and you can
find another one easily. If you are smart, before you hire an advisor, you
will make sure that in other projects, he did keep it simple.
Step #6: Before you acquire
your first Vintage streetcar or lay your first rail, you should have a plan
not just for building your streetcar line, but for operating it well into
the future. Here, the hard part is developing a credible funding plan.
Getting money to build a streetcar line is one thing; lining up operating
funds is very different. Most of the government money you may find for
building the line is not available for operating costs. Operating funds will
almost certainly have to be local money, and you will need credible, long
term commitments. Remember, it will probably take time for ridership to
build and businesses to benefit from the new line. Enthusiasm alone is not
enough; you need legally binding commitments, on paper.
Step #7: You also need a
solid plan for recruiting, employing and retaining volunteers. As our study
has made clear, volunteer labor can be a great asset to a streetcar line.
But employing volunteers is not as easy as it sounds. People who say, “Yea,
sure, I’ll volunteer,” don’t necessarily show up, or keep showing up, when
and where they are needed. Often, the most important work is hard, dirty or
boring. As with operating funds, you need a credible plan, based on
experience elsewhere, that will carry you beyond construction and into years
of operations. Places like McKinney Avenue and good streetcar and train
museums can help. Talk to them.
In fact, in everything, from the
first day you decide to try to get streetcars running in your city or town,
talk to people who have already done it successfully. Their successes (and
their mistakes along the way) are almost certainly your best guide. Don’t
reinvent the (trolley) wheel. As Bismarck said, “Only a fool learns from his
own mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others.” And not just
from others’ mistakes, but also from what they did right. Enough streetcar
lines are operating now to build a base of experience. Learn from it.
Appendix III suggests a few places to start looking for it. |
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