On Wednesday, August 18 at 6:00 p.m., the Sierra Club’s Washington, D.C. Chapter will hold a streetcar happy hour at SOVA, which is located at 1359 H Street NE.  We’ll be on the second floor.

Please join fellow streetcar supporters to have a drink and celebrate our recent streetcar successes while informally discussing next steps for our campaign to make streetcars a reality in D.C.

Photo by morejazz3

On Tuesday afternoon, the D.C. Council voted unanimously — for a second time – to approve the Transportation Infrastructure Temporary Amendment Act of 2010, a temporary overhead wires bill under emergency procedures (the Council must vote on legislation twice under its procedures).  The Council amended the bill to address concerns raised by the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) recently, including by specifically listing Pennsylvania Avenue NW between the Capitol and the White House and the National Mall as wire free zones. 

The Council action caps off several tumultuous weeks following the Council’s June 22 hearing on the legislation at which NCPC did not testify.  However, just days after the hearing, NCPC Chairman Preston Bryant fired off a letter to the D.C. Council seeking unprecedented powers of approval for each individual streetcar segment before it could be built, and he threatened that if the Council failed to meet his demands, NCPC may be compelled “to pursue other measures that ensure protection of the federal interest.”  Not only that, but he sent a letter to Peter Rogoff, Administrator of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA), in an effort to torpedo D.C.’s application for $25 million in federal funding to extend the H Street-Benning Road streetcar line across the Anacostia River to the east and connect it to the Benning Road Metrorail station.

Within days, three D.C. officials — Robert Miller (NCPC Vice Chair who also works for D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray), Harriet Tregoning (Director of D.C.’s Office of Planning and an NCPC member), and Gabe Klein (Director of the District Department of Transportation(DDOT)) — sent separate letters to Bryant strongly objecting to his letter to the FTA seeking to kill D.C.’s chance to compete for federal funding for streetcars.  As it turned out, NCPC had not agreed upon the position stated in Bryant’s letters so he found himself out on a long limb.  He had to answer for his actions in a closed session of the Commission.

On July 8, the FTA announced awards for its Urban Circulator grants, and D.C. did not receive funds to extend the H Street-Benning Road streetcar line.  As reported on Greater Greater Washington, Bryant’s letter appears to have had no impact because the FTA grant decision had already been made by the time his letter was received.

In an attempt to resolve the dispute, last week Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton convened a meeting in her House office with representatives from NCPC, the D.C. Council and DDOT.  According to one account, that meeting appears to have been productive and has spurred further conversations between NCPC and the D.C. government, with NCPC apparently acting in good faith.  Further, in an interview with Fox 5 on Monday, Norton expressed confidence that D.C. will be in a good position to win federal funding for streetcars in the next round.

Where do streetcar supporters go from here?  First, we need to convert Congresswoman Norton from a lukewarm supporter of streetcars into our advocate for streetcars in Congress, particularly for federal streetcar funding.  More on this soon.  Second, we must ensure that when the D.C. Council returns from its recess in September that it immediately passes permanent overhead wires legislation (as the current “emergency” legislation is only temporary).  The goods news is that according to Council sources, this is the Council’s plan.

The D.C. Council’s Committee on Public Works and Transportation held a hearing today on the recently introduced Transportation Infrastructure Amendment Act of 2010, which would authorize the use of overhead streetcar wires on the H Street-Benning Road streetcar line and establish a process by which the Mayor (through the District Department of Transportation) would create a city-wide plan for the use of overhead wires for other future streetcar lines across the city.

More than 20 public witness showed up to testify.  Witnesses from DC Surface Transit, ANCs 6A and 6C, H Street Main Street, residents and business owners from the H Street corridor, the Sierra Club, Greater Greater Washington.org and others testified in support of the bill, which is a key step in getting streetcars up and running on H Street and Benning Road by spring 2012, as planned.  It is also considered an important step in increasing the competitiveness of the city’s application for federal funding to extend the streetcar line across the Anacostia River to the Benning Road Metrorail station.

Three witnesses from the Committee of 100 on the Federal City and Capitol Hill Restoration Society testified against the legislation as drafted and called for it to be amended to focus narrowly on H Street and Benning Road.  Although they were few in number, Chairman Jim Graham gave them plenty of time to describe their views on overhead wires and their other concerns about streetcars.  George Clark, Chairman of the Committee of 100, strongly hinted that his organization will sue the District to challenge the overhead streetcar wire law if it becomes law.

District Department of Transportation (DDOT) Director Gabe Klein, who was accompanied by his streetcar point man Scott Kubly, testified after the public witnesses.  Klein testified that Mayor Fenty and DDOT support the bill (with a minor revision to clearly delineate the boundaries of the H Street-Benning Road streetcar line).  In his testimony, Klein described the state of streetcar power technology and how the agency came to the conclusion that a hybrid power system, using overhead wires as the primary power source and onboard batteries as a secondary power source, is the most feasible and cost effective option for D.C.  To emphasize that DDOT is going to great lengths to address critics’ concerns about the aesthetics of overhead wires, Klein held up two pieces of overhead wire: one is the size of the standard wire used by the Portland Streetcar (it appeared to have a diameter comparable to a nickle), and the second – which DDOT plans to use — was about a third of the size of the standard wire, roughly the diameter of a regular sized pen (see inset photo by Brad Green with the regular size wire on the left, the slimmer wire in the middle and a pen on the right for comparison.)

Councilmember Tommy Wells, who drafted the legislation, was an active questioner throughout the hearing and appeared eager to advance the legislation as soon as possible so that the H Street-Benning Road streetcar line, which would serve his Ward 6 (along with Wards 5 and 7), is not delayed further.  Councilmembers Muriel Bowser and Phil Mendelson also attended most of the hearing and directed a number of questions to the public witnesses and Klein.

A reporter from WJLA/News Channel 8 covered the hearing in a segment that aired tonight.

It’s hard not to notice the construction of the new streetcar line on H Street. I remember first seeing the construction signs last fall, and hearing rumors of streetcars. Soon, more and more of my fellow Gallaudet students started taking notice of the change on H Street. I have to admit the idea of streetcars in DC was unexpected and somewhat perplexing. So when I found out there was a community meeting about the streetcar at Wheatley Elementary School in April, I jumped at the chance to attend.

Several other Gallaudet students came with me to the meeting. We learned that there was much more to the streetcar project than we thought, but we also learned that the proposed streetcar system plan included a line on Florida Avenue. That fact alone stirred up our emotions. A public transportation line, and possibly a station, laid down right in Gallaudet University’s front yard? It’s a dream that seemed inconceivable.

Historically, the public transportation options for Gallaudet University have been limited. The nearest Metro stop– the New York Ave Station– is half a mile away, and only a recent addition. The University operates a shuttle bus to and from the Metro. However, this shuttle runs on a limited schedule, and does not give the Gallaudet community easy access to the public transportation system. A streetcar line on Florida Avenue would provide that access.

Gallaudet has been working for some time to reestablish its relationship with its neighbors and surrounding communities. We aim to tear down the fences around our campus, figuratively if not literally. These fences, and the limited transportation options, have kept the 1,500 or so Gallaudet students cooped up on campus away from greater interaction with the hearing community. Gallaudet boasts students from all over the United States, and all over the world. From American Sign Language (ASL) majors to aspiring businesspeople, We are eager to contribute to our surrounding communities. With better access to DC, internships and real-life work opportunities and business, cultural and academic collaborations, will suddenly become more feasible to Gallaudet students. The streetcar would be a huge boost in building a bridge between the Gallaudet University Campus and the rest of DC.

At the community meeting, we realized that there are some issues that have to be sorted out before the project can really take off– overhead wires, the design of stations, and traffic congestion to name a few. While we understand those issues, we are eager to help solve them, and speed up the process of connecting Gallaudet University with DC.

The Committee on Public Works and Transportation (Councilmember Jim Graham, Chairman) has announced that it will hold a hearing on Tuesday, June 22 at 2:00 p.m. on the recently introduced bill to permit overhead wires for streetcars on H Street and Benning Road — the Transportation Infrastructure Amendment Act of 2010. The hearing will be in Room 412 of the John A. Wilson Building, which is located at 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.

According to the hearing announcement, members of the public are invited to testify or submit written comments, which will be made part of the official hearing record. Anyone who wishes to testify should contact Ms. April Hawkins-Mason by email or telephone at (202) 724-8195 and request to be added to the witness list. Individuals will be given three minutes to present oral testimony and should also bring 16 copies of their written testimony to the hearing.

Anyone who is unable to testify at the hearing is encouraged to send a written statement by email or U.S. Mail to Ms. Hawkins-Mason, Committee on Public Works and Transportation, Room 116, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, 20004, no later than Tuesday, June 22 at 5:00 pm.

It is very important that streetcar supporters sign up to testify at this hearing. You can bet that members of the Committee of 100 and Capitol Hill Restoration Society who oppose overhead streetcar wires will be there to testify against the legislation, and numbers count at a hearing like this.

Earlier today, Councilmember Tommy Wells and all but one of his fellow Council members introduced the Transportation Infrastructure Amendment Act of 2010, a bill that would authorize the use of overhead wires to power streetcars on the H Street-Benning Road streetcar line and establish a process through which the mayor — with Council approval — may allow the use of overhead wires for future streetcar lines. The bill has been referred to the Committee on Public Works and Transportation chaired by Councilmember Jim Graham. The lone holdout was Councilmember Phil Mendelson, who raised concerns about several issues related to streetcars during the Council’s recent consideration of the budget.

The bill would begin by repealing the 1888 and 1889 federal laws that prohibit overhead wires in much of the District of Columbia and re-establishing them as local laws pursuant to D.C.’s Home Rule authority. An article on Greater Greater Washington on Saturday described the legal basis for this action, citing legal memos by the the Office of D.C.’s Attorney General and historic preservation attorney Andrea Ferster for DC Surface Transit.

The bill would permit the use of overhead wires for the H Street-Benning Road streetcar line, which is under construction, but before the District Department of Transportation could use ovehead wires for future streetcar lines, the mayor would first need to submit to the Council a “city-wide plan” for the use of overhead wires “with special attention paid to the view corridors of the federal monumental core.” The Council would need to approve or disapprove the plan within 45 days of submission or the plan would be deemed approved.

The bill also requires the mayor to submit a report to the Council by January 1, 2014 “with public comment included, on the feasibility of converting to non-aerial power where aerial wiring has been installed.”

In a statement on his website, Councilmember Wells commented that “[t]his bill represents our next step in connecting neighborhoods with the next generation of public transportation[.]”

After the D.C. Council decided earlier today to reduce funding for streetcars on H Street and Benning Road NE from $52 million approved by the transportation committee to about $3 million, Chairman Gray and other councilmembers heard from many angry constituents and changed course. Just moments ago, the Council voted 12-1 (with Councilmember Barry voting “no”) to restore streetcar funding to $47 million. This level of funding, although reduced, will permit the District Department of Transportation to continue its aggressive approach for completing the initial segment of the H Street-Benning Road streetcar line by 2012. Thanks to all the streetcar supporters who spoke up and helped convince the Council to support streetcars!

Greater Greater Washington reports that overnight Chairman Vincent Gray released a budget document that stripped out almost all of the $52 million for streetcars that the Committee on Public Works and Transportation approved recently. This funding would allow the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) to complete the initial segment of the H Street-Benning Road streetcar line, connecting it to Union Station and building a turnaround on Benning Road NE so that streetcar service could begin by spring 2012. Cutting this funding not only means that streetcars will not be running on H Street and Benning Road until well beyond 2012, but it also puts at risk federal funding DDOT has applied for to complete the line by crossing the Anacostia River and connecting the line to its planned terminus at the Benning Road Metrorail station. Ironically, this streetcar line would provide an important transit linkage across the Anacostia River and as such would seem like a perfect example of a project that would illustrate Gray’s “One City” vision for the District.

Please call (202-724-8032) or email Chairman Gray immediately and ask him to restore this vital streetcar funding.

The D.C. Council is expected to vote by the middle of this week on the final budget for the coming fiscal year, and streetcar supporters need to take action now to let their councilmembers know that they should support crucial funding for streetcars so that the H Street-Benning Road streetcar line can begin serving riders by spring 2012. Mayor Fenty’s budget included $63 million to allow the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) to get the H Street-Benning Road streetcar line up and running by spring 2012, as planned.

However, as the budget moved through Chairman Jim Graham’s Public Works and Transportation Committee recently, this amount was reduced to $52 million. This means that DDOT will be forced to be a lot more creative in order to stretch these resources and ensure that this first streetcar line is able to begin operating by spring 2012. Despite chopping about $11 million from the requested streetcar budget, Chairman Graham has provided leadership in seeking to ensure that the full Council approves this funding.

Of greater concern, at both the committee hearing on May 13 and again before the full Council on May 19, Councilmember Phil Mendelson raised concerns about this vital streetcar funding. At the Public Works and Transportation Committee hearing, Mendelson voiced his concern that the H Street-Benning Road streetcar line has “no beginning” and “no end” aftering driving the route and seeing the tracks end at 3rd and H Street on the west and at 23rd and Benning Road on the east. He seemed unaware that DDOT recently presented its plans for connecting the streetcar line to Union Station and constructing a temporary turnaround at Benning Road and Oklahoma Avenue until funding becomes available to extend the line to the Benning Road Metrorail station. Mendelson also seemed unaware that the funds DDOT is requesting in the budget would enable the agency to do the very work that he observed needs to be completed in order to make the streetcar line functional. He also expressed concern about providing the requested streetcar funding before the legal issues associated with using overhead wires to power streetcars have been resolved (although Councilmember Tommy Wells is expected to introduce legislation soon to address this issue.) Mendelson repeated these concerns during the full Council’s discussions of the budget on May 19, and he called for further reducing the streetcar funding in the coming fiscal year.

It sounds like Councilmember Mendelson needs to hear from more of his constituents who support streetcars that he should support this important funding to avoid further delays. He may be reached by telephone at (202) 724-8064 or email.

The image that I–and I believe many Americans–have of rail transportation in France is that, compared to the United States, it is rather advanced. After all, in Paris one is never more than 500 meters from a Métro stop, and France has been a pioneer of high-speed rail service with its TGV. So I was rather surprised to learn that, much like the United States, dozens of cities in France got rid of their streetcar systems through the 1950s and 1960s, such that there were only 3 small services running by the time the oil crisis of the 1970s hit: A 3km line in Marseille, a 5.5km line in Saint-Étienne, and an 18km interurban line connecting Lille, Roubaix, and Tourcoing. But after the oil crisis, France decided that electric rail transit needed to become an integral part of the transportation network again, and embarked on a program to plan and build tramways in numerous cities. The first de novo modern tramway opened in Nantes in 1985, and to date thirteen additional cities have followed suit, in addition to which the three historic systems have been modernized and expanded.

One occasionally runs across claims that streetcars powered by overhead wires are an “old technology” and one that cities are turning away from. This is certainly not the French view, despite the fact that the only two cities worldwide that are running electric trams in revenue service with some portion of the route not powered by overhead wires are in France: APS for 13.6km out of 44.3km in Bordeaux, and Batteries for 0.92km out of 8.7km in Nice. In fact, all sixteen French systems employ overhead wires for most of their trackage.

To visualize the dramatic growth in French tramway systems and to compare the relative investment in systems powered by overhead wires to other technologies, here is a graph that plots the trackage, in kilometers, of each French tram system that is presently in revenue service, for the years between 1980 and the present. The lighter-shade colors indicate track-kilometers powered by overhead wires and the darker-shade colors indicate track-kilometers with an alternative power source. (Click on graph for full-sized view.)

(Because Marseille’s historic 3km line was shut down between 2004 and 2007 for reconstruction, it is graphed with an opening in 2007; service in Saint-Étienne and Lille was continuous and they are shown with their historic openings.)

Here is a PDF version of the graph.

The graph illustrates the degree to which the French have chosen, and continue to choose, trams powered by overhead wires as a modern transportation solution. Beyond the systems shown in the graph, there are several more cities that are building tram systems, and several of the existing systems are being expanded. And with these expanding systems we see again that overhead wires are by far the predominant choice for power: most systems under construction will use overhead wires for 100% of their trackage, and those that are using the APS system are only using it for relatively small sections of their overall systems. While much is said of the systems in Angers and Reims, which will use APS for short sections of their systems, there are six other systems in the works that use overhead wires exclusively. Collectively, there are eight French cities building 111km of new tramways, of which 3.5km will be powered by APS and 107.5km will be powered by overhead wires. These systems are shown in the table below:

For cities that have tramways that are in the process of being expanded, the story is much the same. Much is said about Orléans, where the second tram line will use APS for 1km out of an 11.8km route; the first 17.9km line is powered entirely by overhead wires. But additional lines are also being planned or built, using 100% overhead wires, in Grenoble, Marseille, Montpellier, Mulhouse, Paris, Strasbourg, and Valenciennes. Most notably, Bordeaux is not intending to use APS for any of its future extensions nor for its fourth line.

So the message from France is clear: tramways powered by overhead wires has persisted as a technology because it works well, providing efficient transportation for modern cities.

Tramway data from Trams in France and Carto Metro.