On Sunday and Monday, the Atlanta Urinal and Constipation published two really good articles on the $99 million boondoggle known as the Atlanta Streetcar. To liberals, everything old is new again and that’s why we are seeing streetcars being reintroduced into cities. Hmmmm. I wonder why they failed in the first place? Because buses were cheaper than streetcars. And, you didn’t need tracks or overhead wires. But common sense is lost on liberals.
Here in Atlanta, public officials went on taxpayer junkets to big cities all over the country that had streetcars, like Portland, Dallas, and Denver. They thought they were so neat that they would build a streetcar line in Atlanta, which is what they did.
The streetcar line was supposed to cost $70 million, but like most gummint projects, the cost ballooned to $99 million and, of course, it took longer to build than originally planned. One of the problems that led to cost overruns was finding utility lines when they dug up the street. Imagine that? Utility lines under the street. Of course, the lines had to be moved.
The big day arrived and the streetcar was opened to great jubilation. The first three months were supposed to be free to build up ridership. Unfortunately, not enough people rode it so they extended it to the first year.
There were several reasons that no one rode it. First off, it was only a 2.7 mile loop. It goes a mile from Centennial Olympic Park to the King Center and then winds another 1.7 miles back to the park. At first there weren’t enough drivers so sometimes there weren’t enough cars running. Thus it was over twenty minutes between cars. People could walk to the King Center faster than waiting for a car. This happened the first Memorial Day when too many drivers “called in sick”.
The Streetcar was also supposed to promote development along its route with new businesses opening to take advantage of the Streetcar. Nope. Didn’t happen.
After the first year, the fare became $1.00. Ridership plummeted. Also, it appears fares are on the honor system so there are a lot of people who don’t bother to buy a ticket and ride free. I wonder who those people might be? Our wise city fathers say that the only reason ridership is so low is because the Streetcar doesn’t go to enough places and all we need are more streetcar lines. They envision many more and plan to eventually have streetcars go to the Beltline, another projected mass transit boondoggle. I wonder how much all those lines will cost?
I predicted that in five years they would tear up the tracks and sell the cars but there is no accounting for the stupidity of liberals. Streetcars became obsolete back in the 50’s and 60’s. There was a reason for that. Cars and buses. This is not Europe.
It will take ten years.
This govt. stupidity occurs constantly. After all, it isn’t their money.
Similarly, in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s hundreds of cities and mid-sized towns it was thought a good idea to make their downtown shopping districts, which WERE failing due to lack of business and declining car traffic in favor of outlying malls and supermarkets. So what did they do? They eliminated all car traffic and made them walking malls (at Federal expense, of course) so if you wanted to shop there you still had to drive but now had to park in lots and walk even further then you would have to walk at the outlying retailers. BTW, all of those downtowns now have driving traffic and practically nothing but empty store fronts. $ billions were just simply pissed away.
Or, failing that, they left the downtown traffic as-is and installed parking meters.
Bob: “We bought a truckload of melons at $1.00 apiece and sold them for $1.00 apiece, but we didn’t make any money.”
Bill: ” I TOLD you we needed a bigger truck!”
You didn’t make any money on the melons but you made it up in volume with the bigger truck. 🙂
Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers – or govt office.
I said once before; there is nothing in this universe so well run that a liberal cannot screw it up.
These dolts will never apologize either. As former radio talkshow host Chuck Harder used to put it after citing their public-housing catastrophes (aka heartbreak hotels), they’ll proclaim amidst the rubble, “Our idea was good; it’s just that the circumstances have changed.”
In a far saner world, we would be charging liberofascists with capital crimes against humanity for the widespread pain and suffering they cold-bloodedly cause.
On the public housing fiascoes at least it was fun watching them blow up the projects like Pruit-Igo in St. Louis.
Why would a white hillbilly like me want to hang around an armpit of a neighborhood?
“A Desire Named Streetcar: How Federal Subsidies Encourage Wasteful Local Transit Systems”
https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/desire-named-streetcar-how-federal-subsidies-encourage-wasteful-local-transit-systems
Kinda like when they build “affordable housing” aka “the projects” that seldom take more that a few years to turn into ghetto ‘hoods.
What does our resident incognito “Who`s name we dare not mention’ Urban Planner have to say about the street car debacle other then it was a good plan.
Here in Erie we have progressive logical Democrats ….we do not have street cars, they just bought a fleet of buses modified to look like street cars & extended bus service to rural satellite towns, the Casino & the Shopping center complex.
Of course since the Bus service expansion is now into Erie County as well as the city of Erie …..a hissy fit between the Democratic Erie County Officials & Democratic City Officials as to who has membership on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has esculated into a full blown war which has prompted the Democratic Governor of the State to threaten withdrawing State funding which largely supports on going operations of the bus system. Gotta love Democrats ?
Meanwhile the enormous ridership believed to exist has yet to materialize as many of these Street car look alike buses take to their assigned routes with upwards of 2 or 3 passengers except for the Casino bus which ferries large groups of welfare recipient Democrats to & from the Casino.
No words yet from our Urban planners to explain the unintended consequences of what is an ongoing cluster fluck.
Your Atlanta Streetcar, or any other streetcars popping up in this nation, QLine for example, isn’t going away anytime soon as long as our politicians keep importing the swarthy hordes in the guise of cheap labor.
There is a movement underway, silent but easily recognizable to anyone with half a brain, to make driving/parking so inconvenient that it will force people to use alternative forms of transportation. Just what we all need – another hour morning and evening tacked on to a workday. I’ll consider using it when I see the public officials pushing it doing the same.
But they didn’t go on any junkets to places like Little Rock or Memphis, where the cars are running around empty.
Atlanta used to have trackless trolleys as they were called. They were electric busses with power supplied by overhead electric wires. The Georgia Power Company operated them until they became unprofitable, then the city took over for a few years. They were replaced by diesel busses in the early 60s.
It was funny last year when I would come out to Atlanta and see the street car. I was in the Equitable building so I would see it every morning and evening – the only people I would see on it was the homeless because it was free.
beCincinnati opened a 3.7 milr streetcar loop last September. 3 of 5 units were down several weeks for repairs, and the concrete has already crumbled under some spots. They are hopimg to get $670 thousand in fares towards total expenses of $3.5 mil.
Doesn’t MARTA stand for moving Africans rapidly through Atllanta?
Yes it does.