Transit

Streetcars aren't toys, buses aren't about respect

by Ken Archer   •   November 20, 2010 2:07 pm

On Wednesday, 22 residents and business owners testified before the DC Council about DDOT's citywide streetcar plan and the H Street-Benning Road streetcar line. This is my testimony.

It's not a toy. Photo from DDOT.

Good afternoon, my name is Ken Archer. I live in Georgetown with my wife and 2-year-old son. I am here to express my strong support for the comprehensive plan prepared for the Streetcar Project.

I strongly doubt you could find a Transportation Department in the country that prepares more thorough plans for public transportation projects than the one before you today. However, I would like to discuss today the deeper plan that is animating the Streetcar Project and all of DDOT's transit projects, as this deeper plan is the reason why I have taken the time out of my workday to tell you why I want streetcars.

Sometimes residents can be confused by DDOT's investments in both a bus and streetcar system simultaneously. A common knee-jerk criticism of the streetcar project is that buses, particularly the Circulator buses, are a less expensive approach to getting people around the city. There is demand across the city for Circulator routes, and a feeling of being left out if one doesn't have a Circulator route.

DDOT has been clear, however, regarding the respective missions of the Circulator buses and streetcars.

Streetcars are an investment in economic development. Circulator buses connect activity centers that have already benefited from economic development, in order to manage the increased transportation demands that development brings.

Streetcars and Circulator buses are neither toys nor are they signs of respect—they are simply tools for achieving public policy. Specifically, economic development in the case of Streetcars, and retaining historically dense land use patterns post-development in the case of Circulator.

This is not to say that Streetcars and Circulator buses should be distinct systems. Ultimately streetcars would better connect activity centers than would Circulator buses. But the upfront capital expense of streetcars means that they should initially be placed in areas where they can do what buses cannot do—drive economic development—and Circulator buses should connect existing activity centers.

Again, these are simply tools for advancing public policy. They will achieve greater economic equity if deployed in accordance with the goals they naturally advance, not if they are deployed based on some nonsensical numerical equity of buses and streetcars per Ward.

Metrobus routes, as DC residents know all too well, are not designed with land use strategies in mind. Metrobuses are focused on getting people around the Metro area, particularly commuters, regardless of the stage of development a particular area happens to be in.

As an agency of a city government, however, DDOT is contributing to a broader mission. Transportation planning, land use planning and economic development and job creation simply cannot be divorced, because they are inseparable.

We are fortunate to have a Transportation Department in DDOT that sees its mission in this holistic manner, and doesn't see economic development, job creation and land use as someone else's job. We should applaud this vision and enthusiastically support this plan.

Ken Archer is CTO of a software firm in Tysons Corner. He commutes to Tysons by bus from his home in Georgetown, where he lives with his wife and son. Ken completed a Masters degree in Philosophy from The Catholic University of America.