City Planners Say Streetcars Are D.C.'s Future

From Portland, Oregon to Barcelona, cities are adopting streetcars as a more efficient way to move people. D.C. has a $1.5 billion plan to build a network of modern streetcars.

Monte Edwards, a lifelong resident of the D.C. area, remembers the pre-World War II era when streetcars roamed the city.

"They were lovely, silent things," he says. "Of course, they were relics of the 30s and 40s. But they ran. They worked well."

Edwards is at an open house put on by the District Department of Transportation showcasing the streetcars. They'll connect highly developed areas with neighborhoods along H Street NE, Georgia Avenue and the Anacostia River - parts of the city that never fully recovered from the turmoil of the 1960s.

"The streetcar may be the thing that brings D.C. back to its glory days," DDOT Director Gabe Klein says.

The District plans to conduct an environmental study on the streetcar plan by next year so it can receive federal funding.

David Schultz reports...