[M II A II R II K]

Have Streetcars Adequately Demonstrated Their Development-Generation Potential?


Sep 27th, 2010

By Yonah Freemark

Read More: http://americancity.org/columns/entry/2638/

Relationships Between Streetcars and the Built Environment: http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/tcrp/tcrp_syn_86.pdf

The most commonly cited argument for the development of new streetcar lines is that their implementation will result in the construction of new housing and commercial buildings in surrounding areas. Unfortunately, according to a new report by the Transportation Research Board, that link has yet to be substantiated by empirical evidence in most places where these new rail systems have been built. This does not mean that streetcars don’t work as development tools, merely that their value has not been demonstrated conclusively.

- The federal government currently has placed a major emphasis on funding such projects and dozens of U.S. cities have shown significant interest in investing local resources on them. That movement towards this new transportation mode, however, should be slowed until more research is undertaken.

- The report, written by Ron Golem and Janet Smith-Heimer, evaluates the thirteen “new†streetcar systems in the United States (it excludes New Orleans and San Francisco, which never took their historic lines out of operation). Five projects—in Kenosha, WI, Savannah, GA, Portland, OR, Memphis, TN, and Seattle, WA—are specifically described.

- Representatives of the other systems “believed that the streetcar had positively affected the physical built environment†but also “noted the critical lack of data and analysis to demonstrate this perception of positive benefit.†This represents a critical failure in the way cities have gone about developing these lines, since they have failed to show apart from in anecdote specific ways in which their projects have contributed to environmental improvements.

- All that said, in spite of the lack of existing information about the value of streetcars on producing development, there is a high likelihood that they do actually have an effect. Around the new light rail line in Charlotte, North Carolina, there has been $288.2 million in new housing and office space; a further $522 million of development is now under construction, even in face of the recession. This makes sense: Public investment in transportation is often the conduit for private investment in development.




A streetcar in Memphis, Tennessee Credit: Yonah Freemark

 

[Electrify]

The Harbourfront streetcar has done a good job helping to revitalize that neighbourhood. Granted, we could argue that the same revitalization could have occurred if they put in bus lanes - or anything at all instead.

 

[EnviroTO]

I don't think so. New street scapes, parks, and visible transit infrastructure spur development. Buses aren't seen as long term investments.

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

I don't think so. New street scapes, parks, and visible transit infrastructure spur development. Buses aren't seen as long term investments.

Not going to disagree with you per se, but of the newer streetcar lines built in Toronto has there been significant re-investment, revitalization, and rejuvination of the surrounding region? Spadina has remained relatively the same, Harbourfront has improved but as mentioned the streetcar may have been only a contributer and not a major factor in it's success, the St. Clair line is still to young to judge it's impact.

I think the point of the article is that yes streetcars lead to "nice" neighbourhoods, etc but to what extent?

 

[W. K. Lis]

Not going to disagree with you per se, but of the newer streetcar lines built in Toronto has there been significant re-investment, revitalization, and rejuvination of the surrounding region? Spadina has remained relatively the same, Harbourfront has improved but as mentioned the streetcar may have been only a contributer and not a major factor in it's success, the St. Clair line is still to young to judge it's impact.

I think the point of the article is that yes streetcars lead to "nice" neighbourhoods, etc but to what extent?

The ridership on the Spadina streetcar had increased alot over the old Spadina bus. Which in turn lead to the problem of there not being enough streetcars overall. There has not been any new orders for additional streetcars since the two new streetcar routes came into being. The order for new low-floor streetcars are supposed to replace the existing fleet. Hopefully, there will be some remaining of the old fleet to continue once we get the new fleet running.

 

[howl]

In many ways it's a chicken and egg scenario. Does the transit bring new development or does the new development bring the transit?

Any area facing high levels of new development pressure will be limited to a certain level of growth if there is no rapid transit (transit that is separated from automobile traffic). You can only cram so many cars or buses in traffic onto the streets before you get gridlock. That level of development is what separates suburban car-based communites/neighbourhoods from urban transit-based communities/neighbourhoods. The urban growth centre of Mississauga is an example of a place that is currently crossing that theashold. To date development in central Mississauga has been limited by the capacity of the roads in the area. The City is now pushing beyond that limit because it is also bringing in a number of new rapid tranist lines. The development needs the transit to function. The accessibility the new transit lines will bring should also allow even more development to happen once the transit lines are built.

However if there is no pressure to develop building a rapid transit lines probably won't bring any new development. Transit in itself does not create jobs or ecomonic growth. Places like Buffalo built a LRT line when jobs were and people were leaving the city. The LRT wasn't enough to bring them back.

 

[Chuck]

Like any mode of transit, streetcars offer the optimum level of service only for a specific capacity per kilometre. The problem is that streetcars can attract enough continued interest in an area that they eventually become overburdened and can no longer keep up with the demand. At that point, streetcars will actually hinder future development because they no longer offer a convenient, practical transportation option.

Toronto is already there if you ask me - how desirable will areas just beyond walking distance to the CBD be if it takes 45 minutes to commute to work from a distance of 2-3 km?

 

[rbt]

Toronto is already there if you ask me - how desirable will areas just beyond walking distance to the CBD be if it takes 45 minutes to commute to work from a distance of 2-3 km?

I agree with this but it isn't streetcar specific. Bus replacement service on Bathurst takes every bit as long to travel the route as streetcars do before the Fleet street modifications. After the ROW was put into place, buses are slower though that is mostly because of fear of hitting a support pole.

Mixed traffic transit in the downtown core is the failing. Queens Quay isn't all that bad, just needs a larger vehicle with more doors to reduce dwell time.

The DRL would essentially save the Queen car. East and West portions of the route could be split and a transfer added at the outer DRL station. It's too bad the split route test was essentially sabotaged by driver/management mis-communications that made it far more confusing than necessary (inconsistent message to the rider).

 

[W. K. Lis]

Municipalities with their zoning and by-laws helped in the automobile dominance we have today.

There was a time that there were corner stores in neighbourhoods. Variety stores, green grocers, beauty saloons, barber shops, shoe repair shops, dentists, doctors were scattered around so one only needed to walk to get your necessities. That's how Kensington Market and Yorkville developed.

Now zoning and by-laws prevent that from happening. Stores cannot legally be set up in your home. They have to be in specially zoned areas of town, usually at a high rent as well.

You see what happened with the city's a la card program to see what a disaster when the city dictates food carts. The same with zoning for stores. By dictating where stores can be set up, they end up driving people into their cars to reach them.

 

[howl]

Municipalities with their zoning and by-laws helped in the automobile dominance we have today.

There was a time that there were corner stores in neighbourhoods. Variety stores, green grocers, beauty saloons, barber shops, shoe repair shops, dentists, doctors were scattered around so one only needed to walk to get your necessities. That's how Kensington Market and Yorkville developed.

Now zoning and by-laws prevent that from happening. Stores cannot legally be set up in your home. They have to be in specially zoned areas of town, usually at a high rent as well.

You see what happened with the city's a la card program to see what a disaster when the city dictates food carts. The same with zoning for stores. By dictating where stores can be set up, they end up driving people into their cars to reach them.

Up until the 1980's you probably would have been correct in stating zoning was the biggest deterent to mixed use communities, but since then most municipalites have swung back to supporting a broader range of uses in residential neighbourhoods. The problem today isn't zoning, its the market. Retail uses need a certain amount of people passing by their door in order to survive. There are a lot more people passing by the intersection of two arterial roads than there is at a location internal to a neighbourhood. There are examples of recently planned neighbourhoods in places like Markham and Vaughan, where central commercial areas were planned but to-date the retail units remain under-occupied. The return of retail uses to the local neighbourhood will only occur when more people start walking, cycling and taking transit.

 

[W. K. Lis]

A video of a new tramway in Spain:

[video=youtube;1d0hEjCECYA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d0hEjCECYA[/video]

Some points I found interesting:

grass (being new, some parts are still without sod, just earth), instead of the concrete some NIMBY's wanted on the St. Clair ROW.
transit signals that actually look different from the automobile signals
sign pollution lacking, no signs shouting "I AM A TRANSIT SIGNAL" like they have in Toronto
laybys for parking
stops are further apart​

 

[andrewpmk]

Also notice that most of the roads only have 1 car lane in each direction. Like that would fly here...

 

[Glen]

The ridership on the Spadina streetcar had increased alot over the old Spadina bus. Which in turn lead to the problem of there not being enough streetcars overall. There has not been any new orders for additional streetcars since the two new streetcar routes came into being. The order for new low-floor streetcars are supposed to replace the existing fleet. Hopefully, there will be some remaining of the old fleet to continue once we get the new fleet running.

What is your source for those stats ? Do they include the Habour Front ?

 

[W. K. Lis]

What is your source for those stats ? Do they include the Habour Front ?

Several areas. The synopsis is available from this link:

11 October 2004

...

Yet, seven years later, the Spadina streetcar line with its mid-street reservation is recognized as a huge benefit. For example, a survey of about 60 area merchants conducted for the city and TTC showed that 34% believed their business had improved since the line opened, while only 19% said it had declined. About 47% believed the project had had little or no impact on their business. The same study found major positive economic impacts in the Spadina corridor compared with the rest of the city.
[Toronto Star, 18 Sep. 2004]

In addition, the TTC found that the LRT streetcar attracted significantly higher ridership than the previous bus service on Spadina. Ridership on the new Route 510 streetcar soared to about 35,000 a day, compared with about 26,000 on the previous Route 77 bus.
[Toronto Star, 18 Sep. 2004]

...

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

Several areas. The synopsis is available from this link:

About 47% believed the project had had little or no impact on their business. The same study found major positive economic impacts in the Spadina corridor compared with the rest of the city.

Almost half the businessess on Spadina felt the line had no impact?