Streetcar Plan Has Money and Desire

The plan is contingent upon the authority prevailing in a case brought before Virginia's Supreme Court last week challenging its right to raise taxes.

Streetcars have been popularized in such communities as Portland, Ore., and are planned for the District as well, starting in Anacostia. In the Columbia Pike plan, the line will generally run along the outside lane of traffic, beside the curb. Streetcars share the lanes with other cars and can get caught in traffic snarls just like other vehicles, but there are plans to synchronize traffic lights with their travel.

Skeptics, such as Arlington Republican activist Wayne Kubicki, worry that the streetcar project will cost more than current projections and might not have the advertised development and congestion-alleviation benefits. "It sounds half-cooked," Kubicki said.

Supporters said streetcars take less time at stops, because people can prepay and quickly enter multiple doors, and they can carry more people along a route than is possible with buses. More than 14,000 people ride buses along Columbia Pike daily, and officials said the maximum number of riders that buses could carry is about 20,000. Streetcars could handle 25,000 to 30,000 riders, they said.

Backers also cite the psychological benefits of rail, saying people who would not ride buses are more likely to at least occasionally give up their sedan or sport-utility vehicle for a streetcar, just as they do for Metro. The project could also reassure those considering developing property along the tracks, especially during an economic downturn, according to Peter Owen, a member of Arlington's transportation advisory commission.

"If you see the government is digging a huge hole and sticking in steel rails and putting wires up, you know that streetcar's going to be there, even if there's a rough patch two or three years down the road," Owen said.

For an animated view of the streetcar's path from project backers, go tohttp://www.piketransit.com/downloads/PTI-Columbia-Pike-Streetcar.wmv.

For the list of projects approved last week by the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, go tohttp://www.thenovaauthority.org/meetings.htmland click on Six Year Plan Projects. (Amounts for later years not yet set.)