An essential part in implementing any major project is to visit similar projects to see how others were done and learn from them, both the good and the bad. An advantage with public transit projects is that they are extremely easy to visit and test the user experience. I am always curious to see how other streetcar systems work and what that means for what we are building in Omaha. There are currently at least 14 operating modern streetcar systems in the United States (there are more streetcar systems if you count heritage trolleys and light rail systems that operate more like streetcars). I have visited several of these and would like to share some anecdotes, starting with the DC Streetcar.
The DC Streetcar’s Union Station stop provides a nice view east down H Street.
I visited Washington DC in mid-August 2024 as part of a transit conference and set out to experience it firsthand. This is particularly important as there are some similarities with the Omaha system:
- Operates in mixed traffic.
- Is run by a private operator (RATPDev).
- Does not charge a fare.
- Uses somewhat similar low-floor/level boarding vehicles (66 feet long for DC, 77 feet long for Omaha).
- End-to-end travel times (20 minutes for DC, about 15 minutes for Omaha).
- System length (2.2 miles in DC, 2.6 miles in Omaha).
- Requires a fleet of 6 total vehicles.
- Has plans for expansion.
Also similar to Omaha, the DC Streetcar has a long and storied history of planning and offers lessons learned in implementation. Early proposals for a streetcar started in the late 1990s and a 33-mile streetcar system plan was developed in the early 2000s.
This is a streetcar system planned developed by the DC Department of Transportation (DDOT) in 2010.
The first line chosen for construction was for the Anacostia neighborhood in southeast DC, connecting two Metro stations and reusing a former freight railroad mainline. Construction began in 2004, three streetcar vehicles were ordered in 2005, and later that year, work stopped largely because of an issue with property ownership of the freight railroad.
The first three vehicles were completed in 2007, stored in the Czech Republic until 2009 (they matched the first Portland Streetcar vehicles) and then were stored at a Metro yard.
Progress on another planned streetcar line along H Street and Benning Road resumed, the line was built from 2012 to 2014, and the finally opened in February 2016 after issues with testing. Three additional cars were purchased from United Streetcar in 2012, an American manufacturer of modern streetcars near Portland, which built replicas of the Czech cars.
The Union Station stop is not the most convenient, located in the median of H Street, and there is no wayfinding signage from the streetcar station to the actual Union Station facility.
The H Street/Benning Road line has eight stations and runs east from Union Station (it is about a half-mile walk north of Union Station to access the streetcar platform) to Oklahoma Avenue. The trains run every 12 minutes throughout the day from 6 AM to 12 AM (they run later on Friday and Saturday nights and start later and end earlier on Sundays). I had read about issues with cars parked illegally along the line gumming up the system, although I did not experience this on my visit. However, this is something to prepare for with our system in Omaha.
A typical DC Streetcar station on H Street at 5th Street.
Streetcar ridership is back to pre-pandemic levels, which is about 2,000 passengers per day on average. This is pretty good considering that the streetcar really does not seem to serve any notable destination centers, it is far from connecting to Metro stations, and has competition from parallel local bus service such as the Route X2, which is slightly faster than the streetcar. I noticed that the section along H Street was much busier than Benning Road, which directly corresponds to the level of pedestrian activity along the street.
I raced the streetcar back west on the bus route X2 after my initial trip to the eastern terminal at Oklahoma Avenue.
While ridership looked good and I felt mostly safe riding the streetcar, I noticed the system appeared a little aged and not very clean, especially compared to other systems that I have rode. The “exposed aggregate” used on the sidewalks and at stop platforms don’t help the situation and appear difficult to keep clean. I also never saw any security or ambassador presence, which I later learned the budget had been recently trimmed for.
The eastern terminal at Benning Road and Oklahoma Avenue.
To get a more behind the scenes look at the streetcar, I set up a tour of the maintenance facility, which they call the Car Barn. This is a really nice shop built for expansion (it can store a few more streetcar vehicles) and it has plans to grow even more if the system is extended. The initial maintenance facility was a temporary shop that included trailers and a large tent to service the streetcars – the permanent facility is much more adequate. I was impressed with the overall camaraderie of the staff and streetcar operators, as well as the attention to detail for service and operations metrics to keep the system safe and reliable. The streetcars are not without their problems and the three oldest cars that were built in the Czech Republic are the least reliable, most likely since they were mothballed for several years.
After visiting the system and seeing how successful it is in terms of ridership and encouraging development, I still felt that there could be more done. The streetcar line does not seem to be marketed to its fullest extent, which might be impacting the ability to build the extensions. A successful line needs to be broadcast to let people know why the system should continue to grow. While the current plan of extending the line to the east seems obvious, I learned that funding for this continues to be slashed, and another obvious extension to the west (to Georgetown) appears to be light years away.
While the streetcar has helped generate new residential and retail projects (over 2,500 new rental and condo units plus over 200,000 square feet of retail within the first few years), I could not find specific statistics that show the economic development impact of the streetcar on the corridor. This is part of the need for doing more with marketing the streetcar and telling its success stories.
A map of the DC Streetcar H Street/Benning line with the proposed extension to the Benning Road Metro Station.
So what are the major lessons learned after visiting this system? First, a constant theme that I see with each streetcar system is that the streetcars are a product of their environment and the way that they are built determines their success – there is only so much you can do to make the line better since you can’t move the tracks. The DC streetcar suffers a bit from not having a direct connection to a Metro station or a major destination to serve, although it thrives on serving a dense neighborhood and has positively influenced urban development, as is the case with most streetcars and light rail systems.
Other lessons include:
- Make cleanliness of the system (vehicles and stop platforms) and high priority.
- Have a plan on how to immediately deal with illegally parked cars that are in the way of the streetcars.
- Having a security presence (such as working with the municipal police force) and/or an ambassador program can increase safety.
- Develop a streetcar expansion plan and keep working toward that goal.
- Market the system more – do more with showing how much of a big deal it is and why it means so much to the community, city, and region.
Perhaps most importantly, don’t get bogged down in the issues that prevent a streetcar line from opening, which I realize is location-specific. It is important to figure out a way to keep moving forward to open the line, provide service, and move on to the next extension.