Streetcars in the Springs?

Mountain Metropolitan Transit, Colorado Springs’ public transportation provider, is conducting a study on the possibility of implementing a streetcar system in Colorado Springs.

The Colorado Springs Streetcar Feasibility Study is a “citizen-driven initiative to determine if there is support for bringing back an electric streetcar system in the core downtown area as a catalyst for simulating economic development,” according to the information given at the  meeting at UCCS on April 27.

The study is funded primarily by federal government planning grants and private organizations including the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority, Downtown Development and Urban Renewal Authorities, Colorado College and UCCS.

Terry Schwartz, associate director of the school of public affairs at UCCS, commented on why the university is helping to fund the study. She said there are “theoretical reasons and practical reasons” for having streetcars in the city, which would eventually extend to locations such as UCCS. The practical reasons are that building parking garages are expensive and that traffic congestion is already an issue on campus. The theoretical reasons are that the school has a “mission of sustainability that we teach and model. We want to create citizens who will carry these ideas,” Schwartz said.

Metropolitan Mountain Transit hired Tim Baldwin of URS Corporation to head the study after having worked on several other streetcar projects around the country, including ones in Seattle, Wash., Portland, Ore. and Little Rock, Ark. Baldwin has been working on the study since Aug. 2009, and claims they are about 90 percent complete and will finish around May 2010.

If approved, the project will, Baldwin hopes, start with a central core area station that runs between Colorado College and Vermijo, a northern core between Colorado College and Penrose, and a southern core between Vermijo and the Park-and-Ride at I-25.

Baldwin explained to citizens at the UCCS meeting that streetcars are useful because they reduce carbon emissions and make cities more walkable. Additionally, streetcars reduce private-vehicle miles traveled while increasing trip capacity and provide transit improvement more efficient than a bus system.

Baldwin also said that streetcars are not as expensive as a lightrail’s cost and capacity, but  can be a “major tool for redevelopment in many cities” as well.

Baldwin argued that the return on investment can be quite substantial concerning commercial and residential properties that are built along streetcar lines, such as Tampa’s which saw a 1970.39 percent return on investment after construction of its system in 2003.

With the cost of construction for one streetcar mile averaging $17.5 million, pitching the idea to citizens of a city already experiencing economic struggles might be a challenge. Baldwin iterated the fact that his job is not to “sell” the system to Colorado Springs, but simply to study the possibility. He agreed with several audience members who seemed wary of the streetcar system and its costs.

“There is federal funding set aside for projects like these, but there will also need to be an increase in sales tax,” he said. “This isn’t going to happen unless the community embraces it.” For more information on this issue, go to csStreetcar.com.