38 replies to this topic

[KevinKorell]

Los Angeles, CA Times, 3/6/13:

Council OKs up to $352 million for downtown streetcar

The Los Angeles City Council approved up to $352 million Wednesday to maintain a streetcar that would run from the Civic Center to the Convention Center.

Here is the story.

[KevinKorell]

The original estimate $125M estimate to build the four-mile line did not include the cost of utility work, as well as other costs, which could create a funding gap of almost $200M. View the full article

[KevinKorell]

Los Angeles, CA Times, 9/9/13:

Broadway streetcar faces $200-million funding gap

Building a proposed streetcar line in downtown Los Angeles may cost more than twice the original estimate, an adjustment that raises serious questions about the project's funding and future.

Go on....

[Sloan]

Downtown L.A. streetcar line cost estimate is shaved by $55 million

Building a streetcar line in downtown Los Angeles may cost about $55 million less than officials had previously said — an estimate that has buoyed the spirits of the project's boosters, including City Councilman Jose Huizar.

http://www.latimes.c...0903-story.html

[KevinKorell]

Los Angeles, CA Times, 9/2/14:

Building a streetcar line in downtown Los Angeles may cost about $55 million less than officials had previously said — an estimate that has buoyed the spirits of the project's boosters, including City Councilman Jose Huizar.

Article

[KevinKorell]

Railway Age, 1/8/15:

Report: Private sector eyes LA streetcar

 

Amidst ongoing construction updates of light rail transit, Metrolink upgrades, and long-range preparation for high speed rail, the plentiful rail news streaming out of the Los Angeles basin often overshadows streetcar development. But one such project for Los Angeles proper continues to advance in slow increments.

Article

[Sloan]

 

 

Funding and travel-time concerns impede proposed L.A. streetcar line

Two and a half years ago, downtown Los Angeles residents overwhelmingly approved a new property tax to build a streetcar line through the heart of their reemerging neighborhood. Officials said the local rail loop would attract business and new development to dormant blocks and help revitalize the city's historic core.

http://www.latimes.c...0623-story.html

 

 

Analysts now think the streetcar will move "significantly slower" than first expected, averaging just 3.5 mph during afternoon rush-hour, and 4.5 mph overall, said James Lefton, the city Transportation Department's executive director of transit services.

 

"Doesn't the average person walk 3 or 4 mph?" City Councilman Mike Bonin asked during a City Hall committee meeting last week.

 

 

Waste of money at that speed!    Sloan

Edited by Sloan, 23 June 2015 - 09:51 AM.

[Sloan]

 

 

Streetcar on Metro Ballot Measure Funding List, But Officials Hope to Speed Up Timeframe

 

DTLA — Proponents of the long-planned Downtown streetcar have spent years looking for funding sources to cover the project that currently is estimated to cost $282 million.

http://www.ladowntow...14b822fb8c.html

[Sloan]

 

 

Downtown's Street Car Will Go 6 MPH

 

Plans for a Downtown streetcar have been in the works since 2008, and the project has seen a number of delays and wildly fluctuating cost estimates since then. Most discouragingly, an analysis of the project conducted by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation last year revealed that the streetcars would be incredibly slow—like "come on, grandma, let’s just walk" slow.

http://la.curbed.com...tcar-speed-slow

 

Slow speed will drive away patrons.     Sloan

[Sloan]

 

 

LA streetcar project moving forward, though questions persist

The plan to bring streetcars back to downtown Los Angeles just took another step forward, but issues surrounding its cost and usefulness continue to afflict the project.

 

http://www.scpr.org/...though-questio/