Atlanta — $500K for Streetcar Corridors

September 2016

Atlanta has been awarded a $500,000 Federal Transit Administration grant to plan future land uses along 16 miles of an expanded Atlanta Streetcar system.

The City Council recently passed an ordinance authorizing the mayor’s office to accept the funds. At present, the Streetcar runs on a 2.7-mile loop between Centennial Olympic Park and the King Historic District. The FTA monies would go toward an “Atlanta Beltline Transit Supportive Land Use Implementation Plan,” involving 16 miles of proposed “East, West, and Cross-Town streetcar corridors,” the ordinance says.

Atlanta Beltline Inc. and the city Office of Planning “seek to develop a strategic outline of short- and long-term transit supportive land use, housing, and economic development activities along these transit corridors” to better their chances of qualifying for future federal transit funds, according to a request for proposals issued by the Beltline for consultants to work on the plan.

Atlanta Beltline has pledged a $150,000 match for the federal grant. While land-use planning will be limited to the initial 16 miles of corridors, it could be the template for future efforts citywide, the RFP says.