Passenger Bus, Rail and Motorcoach Industry News

Previous proposals were rejected by the Charlotte City Council because they would have been funded through property taxes. The new plan includes $63 million in federal funds coupled with an equal amount of unspent funds from city coffers.

New amount covers improvements to the project’s design and scope and also provides for an additional 7% contingency that could be used to cover unforeseen site conditions along the project route that may arise during construction.

The agency, the city of Dallas and Dallas County broke ground near a new scheduled streetcar stop. The 1.6-mile line is expected to cost $80 million and is supported primarily with federal funds. Phase one is set to open in October of next year.

Project funding gap is in part due to bids to install tracks, build shelters and buy ticket machines being $26 million to $44 million higher than estimated by the city.

RTA’s proposal would almost double the size of the city's existing system. However, the plan depends on new federal grants or tax revenues. The agency projects the cost of all the new lines at more than $800 million.

The project is now allowed to move forward to the next phases of design, right-of-way acquisition and construction. This is the last approval step under the National Environmental Policy Act process.

The approval of project development allows for the completion of the environmental study and initiation the engineering phase.

Would mean three Georgetown campuses would be located along the same streetcar line: the law campus, the new Georgetown downtown campus and ideally the main campus in upper northwest D.C.

While tourists like the idea of being able to use a streetcar to get around, some area businesses have reported declining numbers since street parking has been reduced.

Funding is expected to cover repair and operational costs for the streetcar for three decades. The vote was a victory for the project’s advocates, who emphasized the trolley's potential to create economic growth in the downtown area.