Portland Streetcar A Two-Year Report Card

摘要

The Portland Streetcar in the city of Portland, Oregon, is the first modern streetcar line built in North America in the past fifty years. The 7.7-km (4.8-mi) single track streetcar loop was constructed in a short, 2-year time frame and at a very modest cost. In adhering to the theme of simplicity, the entire project, including five streetcar vehicles manufactured in the Czech Republic, cost approximately $54.6 million, or about $7.1 million per track-kilometer ($11.4 million per track-mile). The concept of the service is single cars operating in mixed traffic on city streets, with slops every two or three blocks Service was inaugurated on July 20, 2001 In the 2 years since, Streetcar has enjoyed a steady growth in ridership and popularity This report provides a summary description of the line. It presents ridership and service reliability statistics for the first 2 years of service, including the experience of operation in city traffic with high pedestrian activity. It also describes some of the design features which needed to be revisited based on observations, operating experience, and passenger feedback. Overall, the streetcar line has been extremely well-received, and the positive experience of the first 2 years of operation is lending credence to the city's efforts to expand the line to other areas close to downtown Portland. It has also become a model that many other municipalities, large and small, have come to see in order to gauge possible application in their own communities.