The Case for Caution When It Comes to Building Streetcars

The Atlanta streetcar is expected to open in spring 2014. Needless to say, city officials are pretty excited. The mayor's office sent out a press release in March just to announce that a few sections of the track had been laid. Officials believe the new streetcar line will provide crucial connectivity to the MARTA bus and rail system, encourage enormous local development, and generally improve alternative transport in the city [PDF].

Not everyone shares in the excitement. Writing in the Atlanta Journal Constitution last week, transit planner Jarrett Walker tempered emotions by questioning how useful the streetcar will really be. The piece is behind a paywall, but suffice it to say that Walker answered his rhetorical question with: not very. While everyone hopes the streetcar will "make people value transit as a whole," writes Walker, the fact is the Atlanta streetcar won't run frequently enough to improve mobility: