A streetcar named Loneliness

Several years ago, Atlanta City government came up with the Atlanta Street Car idea.  Its purpose was to get State and Federal dollars within the reach of local construction businesses connected with City Hall.  The stated justification was to improve pedestrian mobility in downtown Atlanta with a streetcar running a routine loop in the city.

The money was spent ($100 million), palms greased, and pockets filled.  Taking unexpectedly long to build and costing more than anticipated, of course.  

Then, to the surprise of City Hall and the urban planners, and to the surprise of no one else (it was the forecasted outcome by those not involved on the project), nobody rode the streetcar.  A streetcar named loneliness.  The politicians reduced the cost from whatever the numbers were, say a dollar to fifty cents.  Still no one rode it.  Finally, the made it free to ride.  And still not many people rode it.

So then City government foisted the white elephant onto MARTA, the local mass transit system with its own problems of low ridership.

From Safety concerns curb Atlanta Streetcar rail service through New Year, MARTA says from Fox 5.

MARTA took over the Atlanta Streetcar service from the city of Atlanta on July 1, 2018, as part of its $2.6 billion expansion. The transit authority is looking to expand the service to the Ponce City Market area in the next few years to help increase ridership. Right now, about 4,000 people use the service each week.

The total cost of the replacement and refurbishment was estimated to cost $7.4 million.

What a fiasco.  The streetcar runs for 17 hours a day (when it is running).  Dividing 4,000 rides per week by 7 days and 17 hours per day, you end up with 33 people riding the streetcar each hour.  For that we spent $100 million?

A pox on the house of urban planners, transportation planners and the politicians who encourage them.