Recently, discussion of fixed rail public transit has been brought before the City Council, ahead of the update of the City’s blueprint, the General Plan. Though little progress of the city-sponsored feasibility study has been publicized, there has been considerable debate in local news outlets and online forums regarding the merits of a streetcar line in our auto-oriented culture.
When the concept of a streetcar line was originally brought forward, Portland was cited as an example of a successful streetcar system resulting in spectacular economic development. Much of the supporting information for the value of similar fixed rail transit systems was provided by Reconnecting America, a group advocating for integrated land-use and transportation planning. Most critics judge the Portland experiment a success; nonetheless, a few seek to find fault with Portland’s example.
Randall O’Toole, Senior Fellow of the libertarian Cato Institute and constant critic of smart growth and public transportation investment, wrote “Debunking Portland: The City That Doesn’t Work.” Most people in the planning and academic communities have challenged the merits of O’Toole’s work. Given his association with the Reason Foundation, a “think tank” backed by the highway, automobile, and oil lobbies, his opinions might be biased.
This is not to deny that Reconnecting America can paint a rosy picture of streetcar. Not many of the streetcar lines they cite as examples would be considered thriving; many have a daily ridership under five hundred passengers a day per mile. This leaves our policymakers with the question: Why might Long Beach need streetcars? This answer should inform the sort of investment the city is willing to make into such a large public infrastructure project, or whether less expensive means to that answer exist. Cities develop streetcar lines to augment an existing transit system; streetcars have approximately twice the capacity of intercity city buses. Streetcars are often provided signal priority that interrupts the traffic signal cycle when the train approaches a red light, providing a green light in the direction of their travel. However, along more heavily-traveled routes, Long Beach Transit uses articulated buses which have similar passenger capacities to streetcars, and a signal interruption system can be implemented along bus corridors in order to improve bus operating speeds (in fact, Long Beach Transit recently approved such a system for the Anaheim Street transit corridor).
Compared to buses, streetcars have greater acceleration and de-acceleration capabilities. This discrepancy is partially due to the fact that buses must pull into and out of vehicular traffic. It reduces when there is a dedicated bus transit lane; in Long Beach along Anaheim Street, for instance, curb extensions address this by forcing traffic to remain behind buses while passengers load and unload.
As buses become more advanced, experiential differences between them and streetcars becomes less significant. Remaining variations are largely psychological. Fixed rail transit enjoys greater ridership than any comparable bus service; for instance, implementing a streetcar line along an existing bus route often yields a 50 percent or greater ridership. This is typically due to a greater willingness for those who are not transit-dependent to ride a fixed rail system. This willingness partially stems from the persistent romance of riding trains, versus the deeply held (though rarely admitted) assumption that buses are for those who lack other means of transportation.
Successful attempts have been made to address this mental barrier. The MTA Orange Line is an articulated bus traveling along a dedicated bus-way has significantly surpassed projected ridership levels. Locally, the Passport bus, a shuttle bus running along Ocean Boulevard from downtown to the Belmont Shore area, has appealed successfully to commuters, shoppers, diners, and tourists. These are two very different examples of bus service that has expanded beyond typical bus service ridership.
Streetcars can actually promote greater bus ridership: streetcar riders often must transfer to buses in order to reach their ultimate destination. Indirectly, streetcars can act as a “gateway” for new public transit riders. Those who do not consider the added time of transit an issue, but still hold a negative view of buses, often accept riding buses after becoming more familiar with the local public transit system through a streetcar line. Streetcar lines also reflect substantial government investment, and can thus signify a more mainstream acceptance of public transit.
What streetcars offer that buses cannot is a sense of permanence. Laying tracks for a streetcar line signals significant community investment to residents, business-owners, and local stakeholders. This cannot be replicated by even the most elaborate buses and bus shelters. Such investment can spark significant economic development along the streetcar line (upwards of a 20-to-1 return on initial investment in some cases). Nevertheless, public investment in rail does not always lead to significant economic development. After nearly two decades of service, only recently do we see indications of development along the MTA blue line, perhaps one of the most heavily traveled light rail line on the West Coast. This is a striking example concerning how success of ridership may not translate to economic development.
The question remains as to whether the benefits of streetcars are worth the public investment. We face what seems to be an inevitable environmental, social and political crisis as the global reliance of fossil fuels continues to expand. There must be a concerted effort to relieve our reliance on the private automobile, and buses in isolation simply cannot achieve this. What is needed is a comprehensive transportation and land-use strategy, including greater long-term investment in forms of public transportation like fixed-rail transit. Our car-oriented culture must change if we are to continue to enjoy a high standard of collective living. Streetcars are not the sole answer, but they are part of the potential solution.
I wish to thank Long Beach Transit, an exceptional agency, for providing information regarding their bus service. The Victoria Transport Policy Institute is also a valuable source of information regarding mobility planning.