[PRCo] Re: Bob O'Connor's Streetcar

[John Swindler]

The important thing to note is that O'Connor is in a three-way race in 
Democratic primary.

John





>From: "James B. Holland" <PRCoPCC at P-R-Co.com>
>Reply-To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
>To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
>Subject: [PRCo] Re: Bob O'Connor's Streetcar
>Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2005 03:48:48 -0800
>
>Hi Matt!
>
>
>Don't remember seeing it here but saw the article  (New__Colonist??)
>which elaborated on the proposal and this one suggested a line into the
>North side.       Naysayers quip that buses are cheaper to operate so
>there will be hurdles to jump!
>
>
>
>
>I am somewhat ambivalent to negative on this business.       Pgh.
>*had*  a trolleycar system in the areas being proposed below.
>Politics hated the trolleycars then, now politics loves the trolleycar,
>and some time in the future politics will hate the trolleycar again.
>
>All this building, then ripping out, then building, then ripping out
>again  --  where does it end??       *If*  it was viable in the past to
>have trolleycars, then why not improve on what was there, streamline,
>and continue on rather than this on and off approach.       Please note
>that I am Not At All Suggesting that the whole of PRCo should have been
>kept, although I would like that as a railfan.       But certainly if
>the congested corridors of Fifth and Forbes are now being considered,
>then this should have been a consideration when PRCo was still operating.
>
>The article also smacks of  *Me-Too-Ism*  and keeping up with the
>Jones'.       People who talk about great cities having great transit
>systems usually don't ride the same  --  it's all talk for politcal gain!
>
>There Needs to be a Very Large Master Plan where The Future Builds on
>the Present, not destroys the present.       Toronto might be an
>excellent example along these lines  --  certainly Far More Cosmopolitan
>than Pgh. and yet they have retained not a few trolleycar lines and Made
>Them Work and Nicely So  --  they have kept a large part of their
>trolleycar system and maintained it and brought it into the present.
>
>
>Jim
>
>
>
>Matt Barry wrote:
>
> > Did the group already discuss this? Was I asleep on the car stop bench
> > at the time?
> > From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
> >
> >
> > O'Connor gets behind streetcar idea
> >
> > Tuesday, March 01, 2005
> >
> > By Timothy McNulty, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
> >
> > Mayoral hopeful Bob O'Connor is unveiling his first major economic
> > development proposal of the young political season, saying he favors
> > building a new streetcar line connecting Downtown and Oakland.
> >
> > O'Connor said the streetcars would promote development, especially in
> > the Hill District and other neighborhoods along the transit line, spur
> > housing Downtown and make the city more attractive to college students
> > and other young people.
> >
> > The plans are preliminary, but O'Connor said he has met with officials
> > from HDR Inc., a nationwide engineering firm with offices Downtown, to
> > go over general proposals. Neither O'Connor nor an HDR official would
> > put a firm price tag on the plans, but O'Connor estimated the cost at
> > $70 million, which he said could come largely from private investors
> > and federal transportation funds.
> >
> > "Quality of life is the most powerful economic strategy," the
> > Democratic candidate said yesterday, after a briefing on the streetcar
> > plans. "This adds to quality of life and that's why it really caught
> > my eye, especially as we're trying to retain young people and all
> > these people going to our universities."
> >
> > O'Connor -- who is facing county Prothonotary Michael Lamb and city
> > Councilman William Peduto in the May 17 Democratic primary -- has been
> > talking about the streetcar proposal lately in meetings with
> > neighborhood groups and party officials.
> >
> > Until now, promoting public transit has been a major part of only
> > Peduto's campaign: Peduto has long opposed construction of the
> > Mon-Fayette Expressway extension through the city and Allegheny
> > County, saying the money should be spent on other transit needs instead.
> >
> > O'Connor favors the $2 billion expansion of the toll road while Lamb
> > has said he supports the project generally, but not links into city
> > neighborhoods.
> >
> > Peduto said there is not enough federal transportation funding
> > available to Western Pennsylvania to support the Mon-Fayette project
> > and a city streetcar line simultaneously.
> >
> > "This and other transit ideas will never happen as long as we have
> > elected officials who support big-ticket items like the Mon-Fayette
> > Expressway," he said. "To make streetcars or light rail a reality, it
> > must be the next mayor's first priority."
> >
> > Lamb said a Downtown-Oakland link should be a priority for the next
> > mayor, as long as the city worked with affected neighborhoods on the 
>plan.
> >
> > "Great cities have great transit. Pittsburgh is a great city and our
> > goal should be to have a world-class transit system," he said in a
> > statement.
> >
> > The streetcars O'Connor is studying are different from the Light Rail
> > Transit cars already connecting Downtown with the city's southern
> > neighborhoods. They are smaller and their tracks are built into
> > existing streets, sharing the roads with regular auto traffic.
> >
> > The electric-powered trolleys are typically 8 feet wide -- a couple of
> > feet narrower than street lanes -- with tracks dug 12 inches into the
> > street surface, which does not disturb sewer lines or other utilities
> > during construction. Construction can be completed in three to four
> > weeks per city block.
> >
> > The streetcars are meant to supplement the LRT and bus routes that
> > bring visitors to the city from outlying suburbs, acting as people
> > "circulators" among city neighborhoods, said Edward E. Reese, a senior
> > vice president at HDR.
> >
> > They have been most successful in Portland, Ore., where a
> > city-affiliated nonprofit group opened a streetcar line in 2001 after
> > two years of construction.
> >
> > O'Connor was aware that past plans to build a "spine line" between
> > Oakland and Downtown, most recently in the early 1990s, had failed,
> > and said he plans to meet with the Port Authority and with Allegheny
> > County Chief Executive Dan Onorato to discuss the idea.
> >
> > O'Connor said he envisioned one end of the streetcar line at the
> > Carnegie Mellon University campus, with links to and from Downtown via
> > Fifth and Forbes avenues. Links could also be built through the Strip
> > District, he said.
> >
> > It is roughly 3.75 miles from Carnegie Mellon to Downtown and O'Connor
> > and Reed said the lines could be built at $11 million per mile. A
> > study HDR performed last year on a 14-mile streetcar system proposed
> > for Atlanta estimated construction costs of up to $335 million, with
> > $23 million in annual operating costs.
> >
> > There is no way the cash-strapped city could pay for the project, in
> > the short term at least: It has no money to pay for regular capital
> > improvements this year and its poor credit rating is barring it from
> > borrowing money until next year at the earliest.
> >
> > Funding could be provided by developers owning land along the new
> > transit line, perhaps through a self-imposed "improvement district" tax.
> >
> > "You'd have to talk to the community. If this is the thing we want --
> > between the hospitals, the universities and Downtown businesses -- at
> > $11 million a mile you could do the whole thing for $60 or $70
> > million," O'Connor said.
>
>
>