From The Arizona Republic, By Kerry Fehr-Snyder, July 26, 2007
Streetcar could see rebirth in Tempe, stir downtown business
It's a throwback to yesteryear, but transportation experts and a prominent Tempe businessman think the time may be right to reintroduce electric streetcars to Valley streets.
Tempe is taking a lead in considering a modern streetcar line like that in Portland, Ore., to move commuters more efficiently than city buses do today and revitalize downtown businesses.
Valley Metro Rail has hired transportation consultant HDR Inc. to study mass transit options, including adding streetcar lines that would feed into its 20-mile light-rail system being built through parts of Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa. Metro is scheduled to open in December 2008.
The two-year, $3.4 million study known as an "alternatives analysis" will focus on ways to serve Tempe's north-south transportation corridor.
The study area spans generally from Tempe Town Lake south to Chandler Boulevard and from Kyrene to Price roads.
Marc Soronson,HDR's project manager for the study, said streetcars are being considered along with traditional bus service and extending the primarily east-west light-rail line.
The various modes are being considered to attract federal matching funds for the system.
Electric streetcars were introduced to Phoenix in 1893. Two years later, they replaced all the horse-drawn cars in the area.
But by 1940, Phoenix had decided to replace all its streetcars with buses.
Modern streetcars have become a popular idea in at least 20 cities, Soronson said.
Best known among them is the Portland streetcar system, which began operating in July 2001 and is credited for revitalizing an abandoned warehouse area known as the Pearl District.
Streetcars are different from San Francisco's cable cars, which pull cars up steep hills by grabbing underground cables. Instead, streetcars use overhead electric wires and run on tracks that aren't buried as deeply as those needed for light-rail lines.
Streetcar lines can share the road with automobiles so they require less dedicated roadway than light-rail lines. They also can be laid shallower than light-rail lines. Crews bury streetcar lines only a few feet below a roadway's surface, which means fewer underground utility lines are displaced.
Stan Nicpon, owner of three Pizzeria Uno, with locations in Tempe, Mesa and Phoenix, has been pushing the streetcar idea for about 18 months.
Nicpon was in Portland this week to get a firsthand look at its operation.
"I have been tenacious on this project. I think from a very, very selfish perspective," he said.
Nicpon said he believes a similar system could solve downtown Tempe's parking problems, traffic congestion and give residents in south Tempe a reason to come into the downtown area.
HDR's Soronson said although his study will take into account all modes of mass transit, including bus rapid transit and light-rail extensions, streetcars are becoming a viable option.
"There definitely is a resurgence" in streetcars, he said. "We've seen a tremendous amount of interest in them because the economic development patterns around streetcars are just incredible."
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