Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Streetcar Workshop Coming to Denver
If you're a believer in streetcars like me and support the return of the streetcar to central Denver, then you should plan on attending the Streetcars and Cities in the 21st Century workshop coming to Denver later this month.
The program will be held on September 27 and is being presented by the Seaside Institute and Reconnecting America. Here's a link to where you can register online and get all the details.
You should also check out the Denver Streetcars website at http://www.denverstreetcars.net/index.htm. Produced by students at the College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Colorado, the website provides a brief history of Denver's once-extensive streetcar system, an overview of new streetcar proposals, and lots of other good information.
After FasTracks is complete, RTD's entire light rail and commuter rail system will extend about 150 miles--about half the length of the streetcar network Denver once had.
The program will be held on September 27 and is being presented by the Seaside Institute and Reconnecting America. Here's a link to where you can register online and get all the details.
You should also check out the Denver Streetcars website at http://www.denverstreetcars.net/index.htm. Produced by students at the College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Colorado, the website provides a brief history of Denver's once-extensive streetcar system, an overview of new streetcar proposals, and lots of other good information.
After FasTracks is complete, RTD's entire light rail and commuter rail system will extend about 150 miles--about half the length of the streetcar network Denver once had.
Comments:
Links to this post:
<< Home
Wow. Talk about a depressing statistic. The fact that we may never regain the same miles of track in our public transit system from the 1st half of the 20th century is quite pathetic.
Permalink Posted by 
: 9/11/2007 12:34:00 PM
: 9/11/2007 12:34:00 PM
That and these street cars are gonna cost a fortune to put in. If they stay free along the mall, who will pay for that? I seriously doubt that most people are willing to pay to put in street cars when the busses work perfectly well. Yes, the street cars would be cooler, but the money to pay for the cars could be better put to making more pedestrian improvements all around downtown.
Permalink Posted by : 9/11/2007 02:26:00 PM
: 9/11/2007 02:26:00 PM
^^^ That's short term thinking, exactly the problem that will have to be overcome.
Streetcars are not just "cooler", they're less damaging to the global environment, the local environment, the street itself (see the article a few posts down), accrue lower maintenance costs, move higher volume of passengers, AND will undoubtedly help on some level to establish Denver as a tourist destination.
All of this could admittedly be a hard sell, however, since most of these are not immediately tangible.
Streetcars are not just "cooler", they're less damaging to the global environment, the local environment, the street itself (see the article a few posts down), accrue lower maintenance costs, move higher volume of passengers, AND will undoubtedly help on some level to establish Denver as a tourist destination.
All of this could admittedly be a hard sell, however, since most of these are not immediately tangible.
Permalink Posted by : 9/11/2007 11:06:00 PM
: 9/11/2007 11:06:00 PM
Street cars are much less expensive than a typical light rail vehicle. Street maintenance isn't free either. The cost of losing streetcars in our cities around the country have been exponentially more expensive both in cost, socially, and environmentally.
Permalink Posted by : 9/12/2007 07:48:00 AM
: 9/12/2007 07:48:00 AM
Yeah, unfortunately the tech of the past is the solution for the future. I'm wondering whether the prohibitive cost can be offset by some innovative solutions, like trying out monorail cars and making them thinner but longer. It might also be worthwhile to investigate the cost of putting in a subway: it costs way more to dig, but there are cost cuts in terms of the impact to traffic and businesses. I dunno.
At a minimum, in the future we need at least four lines: Colfax, Speer (Highland to Cherry Creek, at least), Broadway, and Colorado. Hell, just having some kind of super-easy transit line along speer, like a highly regular shuttle, would do wonders for tourists coming into Denver.
Post a Comment
At a minimum, in the future we need at least four lines: Colfax, Speer (Highland to Cherry Creek, at least), Broadway, and Colorado. Hell, just having some kind of super-easy transit line along speer, like a highly regular shuttle, would do wonders for tourists coming into Denver.
Permalink Posted by : 9/12/2007 08:11:00 AM
: 9/12/2007 08:11:00 AM Links to this post:
<< Home
