[This is an EXCERPT: read the whole article here. -Ed.]

By Bob Driehaus

"Cincinnati officials are assembling financing for a $132 million [streetcar] system that would connect the city’s riverfront stadiums, downtown business district and Uptown neighborhoods, which include six hospitals and the University of Cincinnati, in a six- to eight-mile loop. Depending on the final financing package, fares may be free, 50 cents or $1."

"The city plans to pay for the system with existing tax revenue and $30 million in private investment. The plan requires the approval of Mayor Mark Mallory, a proponent, and the City Council."

"At least 40 other cities are exploring streetcar plans to spur economic development, ease traffic congestion and draw young professionals and empty-nest baby boomers back from the suburbs, according to the Community Streetcar Coalition, which includes city officials, transit authorities and engineers who advocate streetcar construction."

"Modern streetcars, like those Cincinnati plans to use, cost about $3 million each, run on an overhead electrical wire and carry up to 130 passengers per car on rails that are flush with the pavement. And since streetcars can pick up passengers on either side, they can make shorter stops than buses."

"'We have to plan for the future,' [Mayor Michael Coleman of Columbus, Ohio, which is also planing a streetcar] said. 'I believe in 10 years, we would ask, "Why didn’t we do this?" It will be 10 times more expensive, and the cost of gas will be unaffordable.'"

Photo credit: Jake Khuon