Madison Streetcars

By generating sustainable economic development and improving mobility, modern streetcars are rapidly becoming a key feature of cities building strong, sustainable 21st century economies.  If and how they will work in Madison is being addressed by the City's Streetcar Study Committee, which will issue its report in the middle of 2007. 

Contact your alder or aldermanic candidate to let them know 1) your support for a staying on track with the streetcar study and 2) the need for a thoughtful debate on how buses, streetcars and regional rail can be combined into a regional transportation system!

Recent Press Releases and Other Items of Note

More Press Releases and Other Items of Note

Prominent Anti-Transit Critics Exposed

See the Presentation - Anti-Transit Talking Points Countered

Recently, columns and letters based on unsubstantiated and misleading claims have begun to appear in local papers in opposition to streetcars, many of them traceable to a small set of sources.  The authors, including anti-rail speaker Randal O'Toole, mix incomplete data - usually in the form of high end cost estimates - and anecdotes about rail 'disasters' and use it to prey on the fears of local citizens.  So, when you see letters to the editor spouting anti-transit 'facts' beware of the source. 

Randal O'Toole, of the Thoreau Institute, and Wendell Cox, of the Public Purpose consultancy, are two of the most prominent anti-rail critics for hire.  According to their websites, their work is associated with and published by some of the following organizations: the Cato Institute, the Heritage Foundation, the Independence Institute, the Goldwater Institute, the American Highway Users Alliance, and the Heartland Institute, a virtual who's who's of libertarian and conservative think tanks.

Both O'Toole and Cox have made repeated visits to Madison in recent years and they work to have their agenda echoed by locals in cities across the country.  They collect honoraria through the American Dream Coalition.  O'Toole charges "Travel expenses (from Oregon) plus $500 honorarium if Denver or west, $1,000 honorarium if east of Denver" for his services and Cox charges "$1,500 plus travel expenses (from Illinois)."  

For further insight into O'Toole's perspective on land use and transportation issues, visit his blog - "The antiplanner." 

Anti-Transit Talking Points Countered

General responses to O'Toole nationally :

Responses to recent claims made in Madison:

February 2, 2007 - Madison Streetcar Coalition Responds to Anti-Streetcar Claims - this piece reviews some of the prinicipal anti-streetcar claims made lately, and the faulty logic, fallacious reasoning, or flimsy evidence behind them.

January 17, 2007 - O'Toole's recent column in the Capital TImes and the local echo of it by a local resident's letter, make claims about negative impacts on bus service that are not only unsubstantiated, but are strongly countered by Federal Transit Administration data. 

How has bus service and ridership changed in Portland since streetcars began operation in 2001?

Data from the Federal Transit Administration's National Transit Database for Trimet, the Portland area transit provider, shows that while the number of buses available for service has declined, actual miles and service increased modestly between 2001 and 2005.

 

January 17, 2007 - O'Toole's recent column in the Capital TImes also claims about negative impacts on overall transit service that are also unsubstantiated and strongly countered by Federal Transit Administration data. 

How has overall transit service changed in Portland since streetcars began operation in 2001?

Again, the National Transit Database shows increases across the board for bus and light rail service combined.

Both 1000 Friends' and former Portland resident Kim Warkentin countered O'Toole's claims in the Capital Times.

Madison Streetcar Feasibility Study

In 2002, a regional transit vision, including streetcars, was outlined as phase 1 of the Transport 2020 process. The regional transit vision includes regional bus, park and ride lots, commuter/regional rail and streetcars.

In 2005, Madison mayor Dave Cieslewicz convened a City of Madison Streetcar Feasibility Study Committee to study the potential that streetcars offer to the Madison area.   

During 2006, transportation and economic development consultants hired by the City of Madison to work with the streetcar committee will conduct public outreach and use their technical skills and experience to assess economic development potential, transportation improvements, neighborhood benefits, and other impacts of a streetcar system. They will also identify potential areas that make sense to connect and possible routes for the streetcar lines. (Visit the City of Madison Streetcar Committee and Study website)

Three corridors have been selected by the Streetcar Feasibility Study, each extending roughly three miles from the downtown and anchored by redevelopment sites.  The south corridor centers along Park Street, including Meriter and St. Mary's hospitals and the UW-Madison campus and ends at the Villager Mall.  The east corridor includes the east isthmus and ends at Union Corners.  The west corridor extends to Hilldale Mall, including the UW-Madison campus, UW-Medical Center, and the university avenue corridor.  See the map of the corridors.

Should we decide as a community to invest in streetcars, they will not be new to Madison.  Check out the map of Madison streetcar lines from early in the 20th century.

At the same time that the Streetcar Feasibility Study is proceeding, phase 2 of Transport 2020 is preparing an application for federal funding and a draft environmental impact statement for regional/commuter rail.

Madison Streetcar Campaign

1000 Friends has partnered to build the Madison Streetcar Campaign with Downtown Trolley and the Dane Alliance for Rail Transit, two Madison-based local transportation organizations focused on bringing rail transit to the region. The campaign will work alongside, but separate from, the study process and will focus on conducting public education and outreach efforts to make people aware of streetcars and build excitement around the potential they hold for the region.  You can sign up for the

Campaign’s periodic email updates by emailing ward@1kfriends.org.

Madison Streetcar Campaign Fact Sheets:

 

Kenosha

Here in Wisconsin, the City of Kenosha operates five heritage streetcars on a 1.7-mile system connecting the waterfront of Lake Michigan, the downtown, and the Metra commuter rail station.  The system opened in 2000 as a redevelopment tool, tourist attraction and an additional transit option at a cost of $5.2 million.  The city seeks to expand the system another 3.4 miles at an estimated cost of $16 million.

 

More information on Streetcars
There is a lot of great information on the internet about streetcars, past, present and future. 

Existing Systems:

  • Portland Streetcar - the posterchild of streetcars as a redevelopment and transit tool.
  • Charlotte Trolley - heritage trolley line with planned
  • TECO Line (Tampa) - heritage trolley line that has stimulated redevelopment
  • Tacoma Link - part of the Seattle-Tacoma regional transit system

General Information:

Future Systems and Campaigns:

 

 

1000 Friends of Wisconsin
16 N. Carroll Street, Suite 810   Madison WI 53703    608.259.1000