A new awareness campaign for L.A. Streetcar has hit the streets.  Keep an eye out Downtown for more than a dozen bus stops/shelter ads and a billboard, too.  Advertising space was donated to L.A. Streetcar Inc by CBS Decaux.  The campaign is based on connections the streetcar will bring:

SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN DOWNTOWN CONNECTS:

Jury duty at the Civic Center...Classic Movie on Broadway

High Tops at Staples...High Heels in the Historic Core

Fresh Tomatoes on 9th...Dinner Party in Your Loft

Dinner at L.A. Live...Concert at Walt Disney Concert Hall

 

 

A fundraiser has been announced for Sept. 30, 2010 to benefit the Downtown L.A. Streetcar effort.  Councilmember Huizar will be joined by a powerhouse roster of co-hosts: Eli Broad, founder of The Broad Foundations, Rick Caruso of Caruso Affiliated, and Tim Leiweke of AEG/L.A. Live.  The co-hosts joined forces to highlight their belief in the economic, cultural, transportation and livability benefits a modern streetcar system would bring to Downtown.  Full press release here.

 

 

MILESTONES

In February, 2010, the City of Los Angeles submitted an application to the Federal Transit Authority Urban Circulator grant program, requesting $25-million for the Downtown L.A. Streetcar. Click to review/download a summary of the Downtown L.A. Streetcar Urban Circulator grant application.  Or download the entire 126-page document here (note: large file). 

Be sure to visit www.LAStreetcar.org for updated information about the Downtown L.A. Streetcar, and how we plan to ride a streetcar in Downtown again within 5 years!

Fact sheets from L.A. Streetcar Inc. regarding the streetcar project can be found by clicking the links below:

Leadership & Funding

Transit & Mobility

Economic Development

Business Development

Streetcar Case Studies from Other Cities

 

HISTORY OF THE STREETCAR

The historic streetcar long-served as a popular mode of transportation along Broadway during the early and mid-1900's.  In fact the Los Angeles Streetcar system, operated by Pacific Electric, had developed into the largest system in the world by the 1920's and was utilized by residents and visitors alike, opening travel to new areas and allowing access to neighborhoods miles from the city center for the first time. 

However, by 1961, the public will indicated that the freeways were the priority for Los Angeles, and so we saw the last of the Los Angeles streetcar system. 

 

RECENT STREETCAR EFFORTS

Reviving the streetcar is an idea that has widespread City and community support.  Bringing Back Broadway has provided a central focus for the streetcar effort while we know that the streetcar effort is not just about Broadway, but will benefit and connect all of Downtown. The Bringing Back Broadway initiative includes an active Streetcar, Parking & Transportation Committee which folds in CRA and Metro efforts related to the streetcar, along with the Red Car Advisory Group which was formed through the Central City Association. 

Together, we are working with the non-profit LA Streetcar Inc to design, plan and build a downtown streetcar system that will allow us to ride a streetcar by 2014.  The goal is for the downtown streetcar system to run up or down Broadway and link to other destinations in Downtown, such as LA Live and the Convention Center on one end and the Bunker Hill / Music Center area on the other.  The streetcar will provide a transportation circulation system which will allow people to get Downtown however they choose, whether by riding the bus, taking the subway or driving a car, and then use the streetcar to circulate from one destination to another without getting back into a car.

Modern streetcars are environmentally friendly and transit ridership has doubled and tripled in cities with streetcars.  Modern streetcars are clean, quiet, accessible, and they run in the line of traffic just like any other vehicle.  There are no cumbersome steps to climb up - just step off the curb, and right on the streetcar.

Streetcars also have incredible impacts on economic development when they are implemented in the right place in the right way.  As has been the case in other west coast cities, such as Seattle, San Diego, Portland and Tacoma, the streetcar will be an economic driver for the revitalization of Downtown, linking our past to our revitalized future.

Reviving the streetcar represents an approximate 100-million dollar local, state and potentially federal project.   We know we want a streetcar to run down Broadway and connect to points of interest downtown, but the exact route it uses to do that is to be determined. 

There is incredible consensus and support for a downtown streetcar system, as evidenced by the public events which were held in 2008.  The National Streetcar Conference, held at the Orpheum Theatre was attended by more than 125 people, and included presentations by streetcar experts from across the country who came to share their insights, expertise and advice to help Los Angeles. 

Bringing Back Broadway and CRA hosted a streetcar planning workshop in August which was attended by approximately 200 people, with the focus of that workshop on how a streetcar can be integrated with the Broadway streetscape, what options exist for a mixed-use maintenance facility, how to enhance transit connectivity between the streetcar and other forms of transit, and how to create and activate pedestrian paseos between Broadway and adjacent streets to increase access to streetcar stops and enhance the pedestrian experience. 

NEXT STEPS

Route options have been discussed and the environmental work will soon be underway. 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE STREETCAR

HOW MUCH WILL IT COST AND HOW WILL WE PAY FOR IT?

  • The project is estimated at $100-110M, typical of modern streetcar per mile project costs in other cities.
  • The models used to fund modern streetcars systems in other cities are public-private partnerships
  • In Portland, the private sector funded about 30 or 40% of the initial line
  • In Seattle about 50% was privately funded
  • A non-profit, LA Streetcar Inc has been formed to move the project forward among the property owners who have stepped up to say they want a streetcar and are willing to fund it. 
  • There are a number of public sources which can be used to fill gaps in financing and funding
  • CRA/LA has committed $10M in funding to support the project.
  • $198,000 was identified by Congressmember Roybal-Allard for studies during the initial phases of the project, and on Dec. 10, 2009, Congress approved the Omnibus Appropriations Measure (HR 3288) which allocates another $250,000 towards the streetcar effort.
  • On December 1, 2009, Federal Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced plans to award $280 million in grants to support the Obama Administration’s Livability Initiative. Through that effort, $25 million grants will be made available in 2010 for urban circulator projects, such as streetcars, buses and bus facilities projects.  With Bringing Back Broadway’s focus on pedestrian sustainability, the Downtown Los Angeles Streetcar would surely meet the FTA’s grant goal to support livability principles. If plans to bring a streetcar to downtown Los Angeles are successful, Los Angeles would be the first big city in the U.S. advancing a modern streetcar system. Click to review/download a summary of the Downtown L.A. Streetcar Urban Circulator grant application.  Or download the entire 126-page document here (note: large file). 

WHERE WILL THE STREETCAR RUN?

  • We know based on public input in previous years, that the community desire is for a streetcar to run up or down Broadway, as the spine of the 3 to 3.5 mile route.  The route will connect destinations downtown, such as LA Live and the Convention Center on one end, and Bunker Hill, the Music Center and Grand Avenue on the other. 
  • Maps of route options under consideration can be found here. 
  • The precise way in which the connections between destinations are made, and the streets which are used, is to be determined, and will be discussed during the upcoming public processes to conduct alternatives analysis and environmental review

WHAT IS LA STREETCAR INC? 

  • LASI is a non-profit which has been formed by property owners who want to design, plan and operate a streetcar system in downtown
  • Because of the large costs involved, and the private sector funding required to make a streetcar system a reality, the need was clear for the private sector to take a strong and active leadership role in the process, which is how LASI was born
  • The LASI board is independent of Bringing Back Broadway, though we are assisting in any way possible.

WHERE CAN I FIND OUT MORE AND GET INVOLVED?