Advisory Neighborhood Commissions 5B, 6A and 6C — three member organizations of the H Street-Benning Road Streetcar Alliance – have sent a letter to Freddie Fuller, Associate Director of the District Department of Transportation’s (DDOT) Mass Transit Administration, asking DDOT to hold a public meeting to explain to the community how DDOT plans to power the streetcar line planned for H Street and Benning Road NE between the Minnesota Avenue Metrorail Station (Orange Line) and Union Station (Red Line).

The letter asks DDOT to present to the community on each the following questions:

1. What options exist to power the streetcars?
2. What is the feasibility of each of these options?
3. What are the technical or legal challenges posed by each of these options?
4. Which of these power source options does DDOT intend to pursue?
5. What is DDOT’s plan to overcome any obstacles and move forward with the selected alternative?

Many are concerned that the longer these questions remain unanswered, the longer the streetcar line will be delayed. 

Some media accounts have indicated that DDOT would like to use overhead wires to power streetcars in the District but that the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) has cited an act of Congress from the 1890′s as a potential obstacle to using overhead wires.

The National Building Museum’s Green Community exhibit expressly features street cars as a key component of “the world between our buildings.”
 
Green Community is touted as “the first major exhibition in the United States to explore the complex process of creating and sustaining healthy communities. Beyond bamboo floors and fluorescent light bulbs, it looks at how communities large and small are changing their global impact.”
 
The exhibit recently opened October 23 and runs for a year until October 25, 2009. Free tours are available Monday – Saturday at 11 a.m. and Sunday at 11:30 a.m.

The museum, which is located at 401 F Street, NW, served as the backdrop for the recent G-20 meeting of world leaders concerning the financial crisis, and when you see the majestic interior of the building you’ll know why.

Read on for more from the museum web site about green solutions–including street cars, from the communities featured in the exhibit.

–Jonathan

Public transportation, density and the growth boundary all work together in Portland, Oregon. Proximity to the streetcar line makes this a desirable location for development.

Getting Around

Walkable communities have streets and sidewalks designed for people instead of just roads for cars. The greenest communities offer residents–including children, the disabled, and the elderly–multiple ways to get around. Increasing the density of housing and commercial spaces makes it easier to walk or bike from place to place, and also makes it easier to set up mass transit systems. 
 

Land Conservation

Preventing sprawl saves larger stretches of land, which in turn preserves green space in a community. By increasing density, a community reduces the threat of traffic and human encroachment on local ecosystems. Compact development also makes other important options, like mass transit, possible.
 

Close to Home

The example communities in the exhibition are from all over the globe, but the National Building Museum’s own backyard – the DC metro area – has its share of green initiatives. Local governments, school districts, and non-profits have all done their part to make the capital region greener.