Atlanta Streetcar wins funding

The effort launched by Lanier Parking Solutions to return the electric streetcar to Atlanta is a go. U.S. Congressman John Lewis announced this week that the U.S. DOT has agreed to grant the City of Atlanta $47 million to help build a streetcar line connecting the convention district, downtown hotels, and major tourist spots. It’s the culmination of seven years of work that began with Lanier’s founding of Atlanta Streetcar, Inc. in 2003.

This is the first step toward Lanier's vision of a complete streetcar system linking downtown, Midtown, and Buckhead. The streetcar will spur economic growth and development just as it has for years in leading cities around the world.

In October 2004, a feasibility study funded by Atlanta Streetcar, Inc. found streetcars would encourage the use of mass transit by "completing the trip," linking areas not served by MARTA rail. Atlanta Streetcar Inc., in coordination with Mayor Shirley Franklin, made the streetcar the centerpiece of the Peachtree Corridor Task Force, which moved the streetcar from concept to design. That evolved into the Peachtree Corridor Partnership, which sought funding for the project.

I want to hail all of those responsible for bringing the streetcar back to Atlanta after a 61 year hiatus. The resurgence has just begun!

We should ask our grandparents how to address our traffic problems

The longer I work in urban design and transportation planning, the more I realize how much the past has to teach us about how to reduce congestion and improve our quality of life today. New Urbanism is not really new at all, since it takes urban design principles from a hundred or so years ago and brings them back to life. These principles have lead us back to more walkable communities and successful businesses.

The modern day Streetcar is certainly not a new idea but one that reaches back some 50 years to move people in a cleaner and more efficient fashion. Streetcars are now being constructed or discussed in more than 50 cities nationwide.

Freeways, which are a relatively modern phenomenon (post WWII), are actually being torn down ("Highway Teardowns Benefit Traffic Flow and City Life"), leading to additional green space.

Finally, roundabouts, which date back to 1903, are replacing antiquated signalized intersections, leading to reduced congestion and accidents ("From One-Way Rotary System to Modern Day Roundabout").

My only question is why does it take so long to figure out what we already know?

Savannah Streetcar makes headlines, so why not Atlanta?

As you may remember in 2004, Lanier Parking Solutions launched an effort to return electric streetcars to Atlanta's Peachtree Street. Lanier led an effort to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to perform a feasibility study, which found a Peachtree streetcar would reduce traffic congestion and spur high quality development in the corridor. In 2006, Lanier handed off the project to the Atlanta mayor's Peachtree Corridor Task Force (later the Peachtree Corridor Partnership), which made the streetcar the centerpiece of an overall transformation of Peachtree. Now we just need the funding.

While we were waiting, Savannah, Georgia found out first hand just what that study predicted.

A story published by the Georgia Online News Service reports Savannah is running a restored 1925 streetcar along its riverfront, linking tourists with hotels, attractions, and connections to downtown. They're already talking about expanding to new routes.

“Areas along streetcar routes thrive,” said Jay Self, director of
Savannah’s tourism and film services department. “I don’t know anyone who thinks
the streetcar is a bad idea now that they’ve seen it run.”

The story quotes me, too. Check it out here.

Charlotte, Tampa, New Orleans, Houston and Dallas all have streetcars, and Miami passed a straw poll to fund one as well. Our hopes were high that Atlanta would be the first city in Georgia to have a streetcar. I hope we're not the last to get on board.