Columbus — Streetcar Plan to be Revised

Rail Transit Online, July 2008

Mayor Michael B. Coleman is going back to the drawing board with his 2.8-mi. (4.5 km) downtown streetcar plan in an effort to reduce the $103-million cost of the original proposal. The need for the still-unspecified revisions, expected to be competed in six to eight months, was triggered by financial worries: several city council members warned that Columbus is facing a $75-million municipal budget deficit in Fiscal Year 2009.

More than a quarter of the capital funding was to have come from a diversion of parking meter revenue from the city's general fund. The remainder would be generated by four-percent surcharges on parking lot fees and on concert and sporting event tickets costing under $10. Coleman now reportedly wants to seek federal funding for the project.