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There’s been talk as of late about the likelihood of a trolley service returning to downtown Los Angeles and I for one would like to say I’m all for it. Now I know there are a lot of issues surrounding it and it’s hard to just say… YES LETS DO IT, but for the record, lets do it. Six weeks ago I wasn’t so sure, but traveling it seems has opened my eyes.
About three weeks ago I had to go to Memphis, TN for work and when I got there I was happy to find they had a trolley service. However, I was happy because of the tourist element of the trolley, not because of its actually functionality. I looked at trolleys the same way I look at old pictures of Wrigley field; with nostalgia and hope, but knowing neither really works. Sure it would be great for trolleys to return to Los Angeles, you know bring back the old historic tracks and cars and cables and smile when the ribbon is cut, but after the first month and all the pages of LA Magazine have been filled with celebs talking about how “fun” it was to ride, where does it go from there.
Well if it’s built anything like the Memphis Trolley it goes everywhere you need to go. I was in Memphis for four full days and was able to get everywhere I needed to go for both work and pleasure without getting in a car or bus. And riding them was extremely smooth and enjoyable, much smoother than riding our busses over the gorges we call potholes in LA. They were efficient and the signage at each stop included a map of your line and times when it ran (something that should of course be implemented all over Metro, but that’s a whole other topic). And most importantly, they were used a great deal. They weren’t just a historic ideal for the city, but a functional and key tool for the people to get around.
Sure Memphis is nowhere as big as Los Angeles, but trolley advocates aren’t backing a trolley network through all of LA like it used to be, just downtown. And though LA’s downtown is big compared to Memphis, its still quite modest if you’re talking actual size. I live downtown and can walk from the Staples Center all the way to the Walt Disney hall in 20-25 minutes, which is pretty much, the expanse of north to south and east west is about the same, from the river to Figueroa I’d guess. Therefore implementing a quality trolley system downtown would in fact be VERY logical.
I’ve read about how bunker hill is too steep, but how does that even make sense when you know that trolleys are running up and down those insane hills of San Francisco. I know there are of course lots of things I’m not addressing, but I think I’m addressing the main point, which is what so many people are denying… will it even be used? And the answer is, yes. If a quality trolley system were to be implemented, whether run privately or by metro, though most likely the former, and done correctly, it would definitely be used. And just like some advocates are stating, it could truly connect the historic core with Grand’s revival with the financial district and all the way down to where LA Live will soon be.
I know the trolley will probably never happen. And among the things that are needed and that SHOULD be funded, it’s low on the list (of course the PURPLE LINE TO THE OCEAN SHOULD BE ON TOP), but I think that’s why a private company should get involved. All in all, it will add to the re-birth that is happening downtown by not just building new and expensive lofts, but building a car free way to get to the restaurants and bars and stores and business that downtown will need to sustain itself.
Discussion
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Memphis sounds great!
Have you ever been to San Francisco? Tons of trolley cars from all over the Globe. Transports tourists and locals alike and there’s talk of expansion.
Historic trolleys returning to Downtown L.A. should be a priority–public or a private venture…it’s a no-brainer, in my opinion.
Tucson reinstated trolley service when I was living there in the ’90s. (My handle should hyperlink to the site.) I never rode it, though, as the route was extremely short — just a few blocks through the older part of town, near the university. Easy walking distance; seemed like more of a tourist thing than a practical one. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I wasn’t a tourist.)
Portland has a trolley car that occasionally runs along a center-city section of the MAX (light rail) route, making it a practical thing as well as a tourist one. (I’ll put the link below; not sure how to hyperlink.)
I should probably be using my real name instead of a handle, but I don’t want people I work with to Google me and see that I’m considering relocation! Anyhow, I sent a message to this blog’s e-mail address the other day.
http://trimet.org/streetcar/trolley.htm
Just to clear something up: the cars in San Francisco that go up the big hills are Cable Cars, not trolley cars. Those are better suited to steep hills. In fact, we had a few cable car lines here in LA around the 1880’s. One went up Broadway to Lincoln Heights, one went to Boyle Heights, and one went up Temple Street to the Echo Park area.
There are also trolley cars (vintage) running in S.F. These run mainly along Market Street and the Embarcadero (both relatively flat). There are also light rail routes (with new cars) that do go up some hills, but not nearly as steep as the cable car routes. These also run in the subway and through tunnels.
Anyway, having cleared that up, I hope, let’s talk about a trolley system here in L.A. The type of system that most people are discussing would be a downtown circulator that would potentially replace the DASH bus system downtown.
These would be true streetcars, with low floors, street boarding, no platforms, and cars the size of a current city bus or even smaller (much smaller than the Blue Line or Gold Line trains). We could even bury the power lines in the street and have the cars access them through conduits if we wanted.
We should probably purchase newly built cars, though they can be made to look old. San Francisco has pretty much cornered the market on whatever actual vintage cars are still hanging around and usable. These cars can have air conditioning, modern suspensions, and all the modern conveniences.
Having ridden the vintage trolley setups in Little Rock and Dallas, I have to say that they lend a certain pinache to their downtowns.
We can easily put them back in L.A., and for a cost much lower than even light rail: about $12 million dollars per mile. This is about 1% of subway costs and 10% of light rail costs. This might even include rolling stock depending on how many cars we buy.
Streetcars require minimal track construction, no digging, no underground stations give the permanence of light rail lines without the cost. True streetcars are better in dense urban areas like downtowns or college campuses.
In fact, that’s the set up we used to have with the Red Cars providing intercity service, and the Yellow Cars (streetcars) providing service in the central city. It’s time for at least one streetcar line to make a comeback.
Does anyone know if there has been any real progress/discussions about bringing back streetcars to downtown other than the innitial talk over a month ago? Or was that just something someone decided to report even though there wasn’t much REAL talk about its resurgance?
There was an actual study done by a consulting firm, I beleive IBI in Irvine (IDI? IFI? Something like that). This was paid for with federal money and initiated by Congresswoman Roybal-Allard. The study indicated that streetcars in downtown were quite feasible (DUH! We had them there already for 50 years!) I couldn have told you that…
These Downtown streetcars would inevitably have to be painted either Red or Yellow, depending on how wide the rails are. Most people have forgotten that when Walter O’Malley’s baseball team arrived in 1958, there were still trolleys to dodge in Los Angeles.
The Downtown streetcar should follow the lead of the San Pedro Waterfront Red Car — have a mixed fleet of new cars and restored classic cars. There are quite a few streetcars in Perris, CA at the Orange Empire Railway Museum and the folks who lovingly maintain them would literally volunteer to carry some of those streetcars to downtown on their own backs if this system would get built.
To hear the sound of a clanging bell and the rumble of a streetcar on the streets of DTLA would be sweet indeed.
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