Streetcars Have Lost . . . Washington, D.C.?

State and Local Government |
By Patrick Tuohey | Read Time 1 minute

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Back in May 2014, at the groundbreaking of the 2.2-mile streetcar line, city leadership held up the streetcar projects in the Washington, D.C., area as examples for Kansas City. However, Arlington County, Virginia, has cancelled their streetcar line, and Washington, D.C., may follow suit.

Roll Call newspaper in Washington, D.C., wrote as much in their piece, “Survival of New D.C. Streetcar Now in Doubt.” Here’s the best part:

“I’m trying to prudently and responsibly prepare the service to be started. But if I can’t get to that point, I’m not going to be enchanted by some philosophy of transit that leads me to do something that doesn’t make sense,” [District of Columbia Department of Transportation Director Leif A.] Dormsjo told the Post.

“This project over 10 years was developed in an unprofessional, haphazard, contradictory and inconsistent manner,” he said.

If the transportation folks in and around Washington, D.C., are complaining about and even cancelling streetcars, why are leaders in Kansas City still onboard?

About the Author

Patrick Tuohey is a senior fellow at the Show-Me Institute and co-founder and policy director of the Better Cities Project. Both organizations aim to deliver the best in public policy research from around the country to local leaders, communities and voters. He works to foster understanding of the consequences — often unintended — of policies regarding economic development, taxation, education, policing, and transportation. In 2021, Patrick served as a fellow of the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas. He is currently a visiting fellow at the Yorktown Foundation for Public Policy in Virginia and also a regular opinion columnist for The Kansas City Star. Previously, Patrick served as the director of municipal policy at the Show-Me Institute. Patrick’s essays have been published widely in print and online including in newspapers around the country, The Hill, and Reason Magazine. His essays on economic development, education, and policing have been published in the three most recent editions of the Greater Kansas City Urban League’s “State of Black Kansas City.” Patrick’s work on the intersection of those topics spurred parents and activists to oppose economic development incentive projects where they are not needed and was a contributing factor in the KCPT documentary, “Our Divided City” about crime, urban blight, and public policy in Kansas City. Patrick received a bachelor’s degree from Boston College in 1993.

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