I realize this is behind a paywall for many of you. Sorry about that. Here’s a quote:
“The single D.C. Streetcar line, which runs from Union Station to the edge of the RFK Stadium site, took far longer to build than planned and cost $200 million. …The streetcar carries a fraction of the number of riders of the express buses that travel the same route. Planned as the beginning of a 40-mile network, it was the only two miles built.”
Here in Southport, U.K. did a similar thing. They spent a fortune on streetcars only to dismantle everything in favour of buses.
The streetcar were two years old. At the time I was a volunteer at the Transport Museum in Sunderland. I approached Southport Council to purchase a streetcar or two. The Council would not entertain anyone purchasing equipment etc. and sold the lot as scrap.
Not the only trackage built for the modern streetcar. A small section of track was built over in the anacostia section that was never used except for some testing.
They didn’t have money to keep the circulator buses running, but can spend money on converting the streetcar line to electric bus.
Although I have my theory that the circulator was done in by the private tour operators, esp once circulator started becoming more well known and advertised on social media.
