Atlanta — Streetcar Support

Rail Transit Online, October 2003

Promoters of building a modern eight-mile (12.9 km) streetcar line along Atlanta’s famed Peachtree Street from downtown to Buckhead have decided to move ahead with a full-blown feasibility study after finding no opposition to the project.  When the project was first announced, organizers of Atlanta Streetcar, the private, nonprofit group formed to support the concept, had planned to conduct a preliminary study to prove its viability.  “We were looking for naysayers, but at every door that became a non-issue,” Michael Robison, chairman of Atlanta Streetcar, told The Atlanta Journal and Constitution.  “When we found out we would not have to do selling or overselling through a road show, we decided on doing a more detailed study.  We think it's the same plan with one less step in the process.”  The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) and Georgia Department of Transportation are favorable to the proposal.  “We agree with what they are doing,” ARC director Charles Krautler told the Journal and Constitution.   “We think it makes sense,” he said, adding that, “It's way too early to know if it's a go.”  Atlanta Streetcar organizers, who have already raised $100,000, believe the trolleys will act as a catalyst for development along Peachtree, akin to what has occurred in Portland.  The privately-financed feasibility study, which is expected to be completed about a year after it starts, will look into the three Rs — routes, ridership and revenue — plus environmental issues and financing options.  Early estimates have price-tagged the line at around $200 million.