In the city once famous for implementing the nation’s first electric streetcar, streetcars may soon return to Broad St.
According to Richmond’s “top planner,” Rachel O. Flynn, the city and GRTC are working together to return trolleys to Broad St. But before they do that, they’ll begin piecemeal implementation of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT).
They’ll start by creating a route of dedicated bus lanes with frequent charter-style buses running from downtown to Boulevard (hopefully in time for the new movie theater opening). Eventually, we should have BRT running into Henrico- both the east and west ends. BRT provides much faster transit than traditional buses by keeping them out of traffic, using signal-changing technology, and spreading out the stops a bit.
Preparing for BRT must be why bus lanes have been added to Broad St. downtown.
And the best news about implementing this transit improvement is that federal funding has been secured, which means there should be fewer reasons this project could get derailed.
And then- trolleys!
Of course, the TD is maddeningly sketchy on the details.
Why is implementing a trolley dependent on first developing BRT? For infrastructure reasons? Because of the federal grant?
What kind of trolley? Electric? Trackless?
Nevertheless, good news for Richmond transit! Finally some innovation, improvements, and change from GRTC.
For a does of realism to temper my enthusiasm here, read about “How biased numbers could kill mass transit in Richmond.”
January 10, 2008 at 2:14 pm
I talked to John Lewis at GRTC about this on Monday. It is great stuff. I’ll have s post up on it tomorrow.
January 10, 2008 at 2:54 pm
What’s the time table on this looking like…that is, how long before the trollies are officially back? 10 years?…too late.
January 10, 2008 at 3:40 pm
all we need is nifty trolley buses
January 10, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Looking forward for Baliles’ post tomorrow. In a nutshell, GRTC was able to get funding for the BRT, which not only positions them for future trolley-related funding but also is designed to create a transit “habit” along the Broad Street corridor — no more timetables and schedules and transfers, the BRT sails by every 10-15 minutes and you hop on and go. It’s very different from the route-driven system GRTC has used for decades. Flynn said today that the city hopes to fund a trolley study in 2008/2009. If I were an optimist, I’d suggest that work might begin by 2012 or 2013 which seems like forever but would be pretty fast for this type of change.
January 12, 2008 at 9:36 pm
[…] Urban Richmond: Trolleys coming back to Richmond […]
January 13, 2008 at 11:42 am
Tolleys … why???? Are they more efficient than buses? Let’s think for a moment – Trolleys (if they require tracks) would be MUCH more expensive to institute than a bus.
If the trolley is trackless, then what? Compare the cost of a trackless (and wireless) trolley to that of a bus – typically a trolley will cost more and hold less people. If the trolley is electric are we talking overhead wires? If so, the infrastructure costs to implement rise again as well as problems when the wires freeze or get blown down in storms. If electric and trackless and wireless, again compare the costs of that type of vehicle versus a bus, the trolley is much more expensive. If you try to compare ‘pollution’, an electric trolley has to get it’s juice from somewhere so the point of pollution is all that’s changed. When the pollution from creating electricity is compared to a bus that has been converted to run natural gas are compared the bus wins. So admit it, the ONLY thing that a trolley has over a bus is the ‘eye candy’ appeal – THAT is all. That said, I am happy to see a BRT installed rather than an expensive, inefficient light rail system. I live in a city with light rail, it is used by less than 3% of the population, yet sucks more and more tax dollars from every taxpayer every year.
December 20, 2009 at 8:46 pm
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June 20, 2010 at 6:59 pm
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