Alternatively known as the
Central City Streetcar, a
streetcar line currently running in downtown
Portland,
Oregon. Construction began in
March, 1999, and operations began 20 July, 2001. The 3.8km (2.4mi) line will run from
Northwest Portland through the
Pearl and
River Districts, through downtown to
Portland State University. The idea of a circulator to move people about the
Central City area first originated in the
1972 Downtown Plan. The streetcars will complement and connect into the existing
bus and
light rail (
MAX) lines that currently run through downtown.
The line runs from the Trendy-third shopping district and Good Samaritan Hospital in NW Portland east along NW Lovejoy Street, under the I-405 freeway where the main maintenance facility is located, into the Pearl and River districts. It then turns south onto 11th Av, past the Brewery Blocks development and Powell's Books, across Burnside into downtown, by the Multnomah County Central Library, and on to SW Market Street. It then turns east again to go a few blocks to 5th avenue, where it turns south and goes two blocks. The line then turns northwest to go through the middle of the block on which Portland State University Urban Center is located, then turns west onto SW Mill St. and proceeds through the PSU campus. It then turns north on 10th Av., travels along that to NW Northrup St. where it turns west to travel to NW 23rd Av, turns south and travels two blocks to NW Lovejoy to complete the loop.
The route has 32 handicapped-accessible stops, with 2 potential future stops identified. Stops are every 2 to 3 blocks along the route. Streetcars run from 6 am to Midnight daily, arriving approximately every 10 minutes. fares are the same as TriMet's, and TriMet tickets and transfers will be accepted. Additionally, Streetcar-only annual passes are available for $50. Much of the line (the entire section south of NW Irving street) is within Fareless Square, and thus requires no fares to be paid.
The streetcar vehicles were manufactured by Skoda Plzen of the Czech Republic. They each have 30 seats and a capacity of 150 passengers in sardine mode, are air-conditioned, and feature low floors for quick and easy boarding for those in wheelchairs. Currently five cars are in service, and two more are anticipated in early 2002. The cars feature a bright color scheme, with each car featuring two of the following colors: red, blue, orange, green, teal.
The total cost of the streetcar line was $42 million, approximately 20% of which ($8.4 million) went directly to constructing the complex intersection with the MAX Light Rail line at SW 10th and 11th avenues and Morrison and Yamhill streets. The streetcar is funded by increased parking fines, a local improvement district, and from the City of Portland's General Fund.
The streetcar provides the inner neighborhoods of NW Portland and the Pearl and River Districts with a fast, convenient transportation alternative, where only mediocre bus services were previously found. Additionally, it connects the underdeveloped West End of downtown to transit, and provide easier access to such landmarks as PSU and Powell's Books. It is hoped that the streetcar line will encourage Transit-oriented development (TOD) in the budding Pearl and River districts. And the line will generally improve mobility in the city and provide a test case to be studied before further streetcar lines are installed. The line will soon be extended south to the South Waterfront (formerly known as North Macadam neighborhood, a brownfield (polluted formerly industrial wasteland) where a major clean-up and high-density housing and retail development are planned. A 0.6 mile extension east to the Riverplace area just north of the South Waterfront area is scheduled to open on March 11, 2005, and construction of another extension 0.6 mile south to SW Gibbs Street in the South Waterfront neighborhood has begun, with opening scheduled for July 2006. The line will connect to the Portland Aerial Tram, which is planned to connect South Waterfront with OHSU in the West Hills along SW Gibbs Street.
It is my opinion that, due to the high ridership and traffic congestion along the route, that a streetcar line should be built extending from Downtown across Hawthorne Bridge along SE Hawthorne Blvd to Mount Tabor, along the current 14 bus line. The outer segment of the 14 along SE 50th Av. and SE Foster Road to SE 94th Av. could be served by express busses, or perhaps later have streetcar tracks extended all the way out in a second phase of the project. The busses along this route are often quite crowded and could benefit from the increased capacity of streetcar vehicles, and the narrow width and fixed route could eschew the current problem of busses on Hawthorne taking up both lanes and thus causing congestion. Based on the costs of the current streetcar project, I estimate that each phase would cost a mere $35 million.
More information on the streetcar, including maps and photos, can be found at http://www.portlandstreetcar.org/