Washington, DC ― DDOT Unveils Revised Plan

Rail Transit Online, November 2010

The District Department of Transportation has unveiled a revised plan for a $1.2-billion, 37-mi. (59.5 km) streetcar network including details on how the first two lines in Anacostia and on H Street/Benning Road will be operated. However, funding for the entire scheme has yet to be found; a $16-million grant request from the TIGER II transportation infrastructure program was rejected last month. Construction on the initial routes is already underway and district officials believe they have a funding mechanism to complete them.

The blueprint calls for revenue service on the first phase of each to begin by April 2012. Including proposed extensions, the total capital cost for both is $194 million plus about S8 million in annual operating expenses. Projected average weekday patronage combined is 6,350 passengers.

The city has already purchased three streetcars from the Czech Republic and is storing them at a Metrorail yard until needed. Additional cars will be required since the two projects now underway will not be physically connected.

The city has decided that traction power will be provided by catenary; a 120-year-old ban on overhead wires in the city's historic center has been repealed.