A modern trolley system does all of the above. We need an option that supports entrepreneurial and innovative urban centers. We need transit that increases property values, sparks investment and reorders development patterns around fixed routes, while conserving precious land. In order to remain economically competitive through the recession and beyond, we must with gravest urgency pursue infrastructure programs that not only fix roads that have passed the point of diminished returns, but shift our priority to transit.
California, birthplace of car culture, voted in 2008 for high-speed rail. While emergent economies from Spain to Singapore invest in mass transit, the densely populated Northeast gives rails - light or heavy - short shrift. Modern tram systems are on the increase in America and around the world. Streetcars, known here 90 years ago as "an inter-urban electric rail network," can function alongside cars. The modern streetcar is no more passe than the Chevy Volt, with which it shares the modern goal of greener transportation. Trolleys were subsumed by business interests aligned with the auto industry. The streetcar is not an inferior technology for transport it fell out of widespread use because of business maneuvers. The disappearance of trolleys, concurrent with the rise of cars, is well-known, but this was not a global phenomenon. The electric streetcar originated in the 1880s (as did the electric automobile). If we have the chance to bring back streetcars across the state, we should do so. Modern trams would spur jobs in town centers and get cars off the roads. The goals should be job creation and environmentally sound growth.
Projects should be innovative as well as responsible.
FASTTRACK SCHEDULE HARTFORD HOW TO
We must now decide how to spend the money. President-elect Barack Obama promises mammoth infrastructure works - and soon. A Road To Recovery: Let's Fast-Track Trams
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