This week you can enjoy more streetcar goodness than ever before. A real streetcar is now open to the public at 9th and H, the streetcar technology seminar is tomorrow, and Tommy Wells is leading a streetcar tour Friday.

This morning, Mayor Fenty, DDOT Director Gabe Klein, Councilmembers Jim Graham and Jack Evans, and Congressman Earl Blumenauer introduced the streetcar at a press conference. It’s now open to the public from 11 am to 7 pm today through Friday and 11-5 Saturday at City Center DC, the huge parking lot in the middle of downtown, near 9th and H Streets.

Mayor Fenty presents the streetcars. Photo by the author.

Above, left to right: A representative from the Czech embassy (whose country manufactured the streetcars), WMATA Assistant General Manager for Rail David Kubicek, Councilmember Jim Graham, Councilmember Jack Evans, Mayor Adrian Fenty, Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), and DDOT Director Gabe Klein.

WMATA brought the car down from Greenbelt. You can sit in the seats and try out the pushbutton-operated doors. It’s on real tracks, of course, but with no overhead wires. DDOT is considering building a mockup of the wires as well.

Speaking of wires, tomorrow’s Streetcar Technology Seminar could finally reveal some hard details of the various propulsion options. Panelists will discuss the state of the art in technologies and best practices in integrating streetcars into the streetscape.

The panel is Thursday, May 6th, 5-7 pm at the Renaissance Washington DC, 999 9th Street, NW, right near the streetcar itself.

Finally, if you don’t check out the streetcar today or before the panel, check it out and then ride along its future route with Councilmember Tommy Wells. He’s organizing a streetcar tour at 5:30 pm, followed by a trip on the Old Town Trolley along H Street and ending at SOVA Espresso & Wine, 1359 H Street, NE at 7.

Gabe Klein in front of DDOT’s new streetcar logo. Photo by Eric Fidler.