Portland Streetcar

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The Portland Streetcar is a streetcar system in Portland, Oregon that serves areas surrounding downtown. It is one of the first new streetcar lines in the United States since World War II and the first to use modern vehicles. Like some of Portland's original streetcar lines,^[1] redevelopment has been a major (and successful) goal of the project.^[2]

Like trains on the heavier-duty MAX Light Rail network which serves the broader Portland metropolitan area, streetcars are operated and maintained by TriMet personnel. However, the system is owned and managed by Portland Streetcar Incorporated, a non-profit public benefit corporation whose board of directors report to the city's Office of Transportation.

Contents 1 Funding 2 Route 2.1 Initial segment 2.2 RiverPlace, South Waterfront and SW Lowell extensions 2.3 Eastside 3 Vehicles 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Funding

Funding for the streetcar operations comes primarily from TriMet, fares, city parking revenue, and a special property tax assessed on properties near the line. Fares have been difficult to enforce because much of the line is in Fareless Square.^[3] Another source of funding for the streetcar is sponsorships of vehicles and stops, in contrast to the shorter-term advertising found on TriMet buses and MAX. Sponsoring organizations can have their name placed on the side of the vehicle, stop shelter or in the stop announcement, as well as a small advertisement placed inside the vehicle or shelter. Brochures and ticket sales can also be sponsored.

[edit] Route

Portland Streetcar[4]

Legend Stop name S Legacy Good Samaritan S NW 22nd at Lovejoy N NW 22nd at Northrup S NW 21st at Lovejoy N NW 21st at Northrup S NW 18th at Lovejoy N NW 18th at Northrup N NW 14th at Northrup S NW 13th at Lovejoy N NW 12th at Northrup N NW 10th at Marshall S NW 11th at Johnson N NW 10th at Johnson S NW 11th at Glisan N NW 10th at Glisan S NW 11th at Everett N NW 10th at Everett S NW 11th at Couch N NW 10th at Couch N SW 10th at Stark S SW 11th at Alder N SW 10th at Alder W MAX Galleria/SW 10th E MAX N Central Library S SW 11th at Taylor N Art Museum S SW 11th at Jefferson S SW 11th at Clay N SW 10th at Clay N SW Park at Mill S SW Park at Market N PSU Urban Center S SW 5th at Market S SW 5th at Montgomery SW 3rd at Harrison SW 1st at Harrison SW Harrison Street SW River Pkwy at Moody SW Moody at Gibbs (for PAT) N SW Bond at OHSU Plaza S SW Moody at Gaines N SW Bond at Lane Current Terminal N Lowell at SW Bond Reopening Fall 2009 Notes: N Northbound stop S Southbound stop

As of 2006, streetcars run on one, 3.6-mile (one-way) route, including counter-clockwise around an initial 4.8-mile loop and a 1.2-mile extension. They arrive at fourteen-minute intervals (less frequently on nights and weekends). Much of the route is in mixed traffic on neighborhood streets. This minimized construction costs and disruption to traffic flow and parking, but can also mean longer travel times, since streetcars are bound by the regular traffic signal system.

[edit] Initial segment

Portland Streetcar, started with a 4.8-mile (7.7 km) loop of single track that opened on July 20, 2001, running from the campus of Portland State University (PSU), north through the Pearl District west to NW 23rd Avenue and then back to PSU on adjacent streets. Most of the US$57 million used to build it came from local sources, and only $5 million came from the U.S. federal government.

[edit] RiverPlace, South Waterfront and SW Lowell extensions

On Friday, March 11, 2005, the southern end of the line was extended to RiverPlace, a distance of 0.6 miles (1 km). This extension is one phase of an ongoing plan to serve Portland's South Waterfront redevelopment area, including a new outpost of Oregon Health & Science University. An additional 0.6-mile (1-km) extension south to the lower terminus of the Portland Aerial Tram at SW Gibbs Street began construction in August 2005 and opened on October 20, 2006. This extension differs from the rest of the streetcar system in that much of it runs on its own right-of-way (formerly used by the Willamette Shore Trolley), allowing the streetcar to run at higher speeds. The extension cost $15.8 million, including the purchase of three additional streetcars, with the intent to allow streetcars to run every 10 minutes.^{[citation needed]} On August 17th 2007, the Streetcar was extended to SW Lowell and Bond using a new 10 block loop from SW Moody and Gibbs, South on Moody to SW Lowell and Bond, and north on SW Bond to OHSU Commons at Gibbs. Southbound Stations are SW Moody at Gibbs, SW Moody at Gaines and SW Lowell at Bond. Northbound Stations are SW Lowell at Bond, SW Bond at Lane, OHSU Commons and SW Moody and Gibbs.

One can transfer to the Willamette Shore Trolley by walking one block south from the SW Lowell at Bond Station. There are plans to convert the rest of its Riverplace-Lake Oswego line for Portland Streetcar use.

Beginning February 18, 2008, the SW Lowell at Bond Station in South Waterfront will be closed until Fall of 2009 for development. Streetcars will use the track at the station but will not stop and will terminate at SW Bond at Lane.

[edit] Eastside

In June of 2003, the Office of Transportation adopted the Eastside Streetcar Alignment Study, a study into an extension of the streetcar to the Lloyd and Central Eastside Industrial Districts.^[5] In part, the desire for an eastside streetcar arose from the July 2001 report, Lloyd District Development Strategy. Proponents of it see it as a component of a potential transportation hub in the Lloyd district, bringing together the streetcar, MAX, and bus service. Additionally, they hope that the streetcar could provide a connection between the Lloyd and Central Eastside districts, which are divided by I-84, and spur development in those areas.

The route proposed by the study leaves the present line at 10th and Lovejoy. It would cross the Willamette River on the Broadway Bridge and then, after possibly deviating further east into the Lloyd District, use the Grand Avenue and Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard couplet to head south. The route would pass the Lloyd Center and the Oregon Convention Center, possibly having a southern end near OMSI and a future MAX line.

Due in large part to efforts of Oregon Representatives Earl Blumenauer and Peter DeFazio, Federal funds for half of the estimated $152 million needed for an east side streetcar line are likely to come available, and construction could begin as early as 2009. In order for that to happen, the remainder of the funds would have to be identified by August, 2007.^[6][7]

[edit] Vehicles

The streetcars are a Czech design, built by a now-defunct joint venture between Škoda and Inekon in Plzen. They have a low-floor center section between the wheels and use MAX-like bridge plates to allow easy boarding of wheelchairs. Compared to MAX cars they are shorter and narrower, a result of having to run in mixed traffic on neighborhood streets, alongside parked automobiles. The cars are lighter than those used by MAX, allowing cheaper, less-intense track construction. Furthermore, couplers on the streetcars are hidden behind bumper skirts and only used to move disabled ones back to the yard. This safety feature protects any hapless motorists who may collide with the end of a streetcar.

Many organizations from other places have come to tour the system, hoping to replicate it in their hometowns. For example, in 2005, officials of the Toronto Transit Commission visited Portland and evaluated the Skoda cars for possible future use on Toronto's streetcar system, as the smaller size is suitable for the city's extensive street-running mixed traffic operations.

As of November 2006 the fleet contains Škoda streetcars. Cars 001 through 005 have been in operation since 2001, while cars 006 and 007 were added in 2002. In addition, their fleet also contains some of the Portland Vintage Trolleys; prior to the extension to Riverplace, they were used to supplement the Portland Streetcar fleet on weekends. Use of the old-style cars has been discouraged because they do not show up on the real-time arrival system, have trouble climbing the incline from Riverplace and are not accessible.

Three additional vehicles were ordered for use in operation to Gibbs. Since the partnership between Inekon and Škoda had dissolved in an "ugly divorce", they were constructed in Ostrava, Czech Republic, by a partnership of Inekon and the city transit agency, Dopravní Podnik Ostrava.^[8] The vehicle is known as the Trio car and has a high degree of spare parts compatibility with the existing fleet. Cars 008-009-010 arrived in Portland at the start of 2007, and after a period of street testing, entered service at the end of May, 2007.

Under the most recent Federal Transportation bill, $4.5 million has been allocated for construction of a U.S.-manufactured streetcar vehicle. Congressman Peter DeFazio has indicated that this contract will go to Oregon Iron Works in Clackamas, Oregon. Portland Streetcar would operate the prototype vehicle. This is significant because if future streetcar expansions use Federal matching funds, vehicles would need to comply with the 60% U.S. content provisions of the "Buy America" act.

In February 2007, Škoda Transportation announced that it had established a "strategic partership" with Oregon Iron Works to build streetcars meeting "Buy America" rules. The two companies have won a tender from the Portland Streetcar to build a prototype for delivery in September 2008.^[9]

Streetcar tracks in Portland are the same gauge as MAX tracks, but of a lighter and shallower construction (the rail bed is only one foot, or 30 cm, deep). Because of this, a streetcar could run on MAX tracks (for example, if it had to go to another location for maintenance), but a MAX train would be too heavy to operate on the streetcar's tracks and too wide for portions of its right of way.

[edit] See also

• Transportation in Portland, Oregon
• Portland Transit Mall

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Portland Streetcar
• Real-time arrivals and live maps
• Metro: Eastside Streetcar
• Portland Streetcar at nycsubway.org
• Streetcar at PortlandTransport.com
• Portland Office of Transportation

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