October 19-25, 2018 COMMUNITY STREETCAR COALITION NEWS CLIPS

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Milwaukee WITI October 25, 2018 LINK: https://bit.ly/2ShzRx3

The City of Milwaukee is closing in fast on the first day of service for The Hop, the city’s new streetcar system. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett talked about the activities surrounding the Grand Hop-ening. “A week from tomorrow, next Friday at 12p.m., we’ll have the Grand Hop-ening and ribbon cutting.” The Grand Hop-ening celebration will be centered around Cathedral Square Park and adjacent to The Hop’s eastbound and westbound platforms on Kilbourn Ave. The historic event will begin at 12 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 2 with remarks from officials and the ceremonial launch of passenger service. The celebration will feature music and entertainment from local performers and activities to engage the crowd while waiting to board. “What I’ve always said is that this is about connecting people to other people and places to other places. We’ve already seen what we think are significant increases in economic activity and property values along the route. But we want people to ride it — that’s what it’s all about.” Beginning with the Nov. 2 launch, The Hop will operate seven days a week on the following schedule: Monday-Friday: 5 a.m. – 12 a.m., Saturday: 7 a.m. – 12 a.m., Sunday: 7 a.m. – 10 p.m. Rides on The Hop will be free for the first year because of Potawatomi Hotel & Casino’s 12-year, $10 million sponsorship deal.

El Paso KFOXTV October 24, 2018 LINK: https://bit.ly/2ELCdkX

Sun Metro invites you to offer your thoughts on getting rid of some bus routes to make room for streetcars. The bus route that runs on 7th Street in downtown near the bridge that leads to Mexico could no longer exist. Those who ride it may need to walk a couple extra blocks, because the streetcar route will not go that far south. Tonight Sun Metro is inviting you to a public meeting to discuss getting rid of that bus and charging money for a route that is currently free. That bus route that Sun Metro is considering deactivating is known as Sun Metro route 9 and services the downtown shopping district. It’s currently free. Tonight’s meeting will discuss getting rid of this route completely. You can see it goes up to International Bridge, but the streetcar will not go as far up. Now Sun Metro will also discuss charging a full fare for the Sun Plaza Route, which circulates between Union Depot and Cotton Street. That route is currently free as well. Now, Sun Metro says the streetcar would extend service hours on the weekend to compensate, and all current discounts will apply to children, students, seniors, and military. The two meetings are meant to inform the public on the two proposed changes and if approved, the changes would not take place until the streetcar service begins. On El Paso said he thinks these changes are unnecessary. “It just two routes, so why would you take the other one if this one is working already.” Now, tonight’s public meeting will take place at the El Paso Public Library on Oregon Street at 5:30 p.m. There will be another public meeting on the same topic tomorrow at the La Fe Child and Adolescent Wellness Center on Ochoa Street at 6:00 p.m. Thursday.

2 PRINT COVERAGE Potawatomi CEO talks hopes for The Hop

Milwaukee Business Journal By Patrick Leary October 25, 2018

In October 2017, Potawatomi Hotel & Casino altered the future of downtown Milwaukee's new streetcar The Hop.

By agreeing to a 12-year, $10 million sponsorship deal, Potawatomi ensured that the first year of service on The Hop would be free for riders and simultaneously alleviated concerns that tax levy funds would go toward the streetcar early on. Additionally, the hotel and casino secured a moving billboard of sorts that will visibly display its name and brand around the city for years to come.

Potawatomi CEO Rodney Ferguson recently sat down with The Milwaukee Business Journal to share his present and future expectations for the partnership.

Why did this deal make sense for Potawatomi? "The initial routes are downtown. Many of the business and many of their folks coming from out of town go downtown. We have our billboards, we have our means of marketing our property, but having our name on a vehicle that moves throughout the city, and with the projected plans to expand by the Bucks' site and further future plans throughout the city, it made sense for us to partner with the city to make sure that folks know that we are here."

Why was it important to Potawatomi to make The Hop free for the first year? "We wanted to make sure that the streetcar was going to be successful. Just like anything, when you start something new, you want to get some traction. It's like a carrot. You put it out there, folks are going to take the carrot. With the streetcar being free for the first year, it allows the streetcar to get some traction. It allows the city to get an established base of riders. Once they start riding it, they're going to get comfortable with it, and once the first year is up, it's not going to matter whether they have to pay for it or not, they're going to be so used to riding it.

"Folks love free. Once you get into the habit of doing something, you will continue to do it regardless of whether there's a nominal amount you have to pay for or something more expensive. Once you're in the habit, you're going to do it."

What are your thoughts on funding free rides beyond the first year?"We really haven't talked about going beyond the first year. I think the whole purpose is to get some traction. I think the city will realize that they have a real asset once that streetcar is up and running starting Nov. 2. Our deal is for 12 years and we can re-negotiate after the 12 years, but I think it's important that the members of the community try it out. Once folks start using it, even if the city has to charge a dollar or two, that's a nominal amount for the service it's going to provide."

How do you view The Hop's eventual expansion plans? "There's funding that's involved. The city, the state, the federal government, all of those hurdles have to be dealt with before the expansion throughout the city. Right now there's proposed phase one, which we're going through 3 now, there's phase two by the Fiserv Forum area and there's phase three and beyond. What has to happen? There has to be some positive signs and some good ridership before that can happen.

"Right now we know the property values have gone up along the routes. I don't have a crystal ball, but if the ridership takes off in the first year, certainly there's more ammunition to get funding from the state and the federal government."

Would you ever want to see the line extended to Potawatomi? "It would be great, but that's not the reason why we agreed with the city to sponsor it. With over six million visitors coming here (annually), a couple miles to the west you have Miller Park which draws over 2 million people (annually), to our east you have the Harley-Davidson Museum, certainly you have a large number of folks in this Menomonee Valley that could benefit from a streetcar going up and down. Long term, it would be great, yes. But in the very near future, I don't envision that yet."

What would Potawatomi consider success for The Hop? "If the city is successful in attracting large groups of businesses and residents to the city, and we can see some statistics that show growth and further development of the city, I think we've been successful, because we're a part of the community. We may be in the Menomonee Valley, which is only a couple of miles away from downtown, but if we can see the city growing and further developing as a result of the streetcar, then our mission is basically accomplished."

LINK: https://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2018/10/25/potawatomi-ceo-talks-hopes-for- the-hop.html

4 How Milwaukee’s streetcar will handle the homeless

Milwaukee Business Journal By Sean Ryan October 25, 2018

The question has come up in downtown circles in recent months over Milwaukee’s no fare streetcar system: Does that mean homeless people will board and ride it all day long?

Other cities that have streetcars in operation have policies for the situation, and Milwaukee has turned to them for best practices, said Jeff Polenske, Milwaukee city engineer.

“The streetcar is available for all to utilize and to benefit from, but we do have a code of conduct,” he said. “We’re not looking for individuals to see this as an opportunity to ride a vehicle all day long.”

Milwaukee’s streetcar rules will limit the length of individual rides, regulate what can be brought on board and ban sleeping in the vehicles, Polenske said. More importantly, the city partnered with local organizations that help homeless individuals. There are processes to help individuals who look to use the streetcar as a shelter, he said.

Kansas City, which also has a no-fare system in place, has ambassadors riding its streetcars and works with uniformed police officers to show security is present, said Tom Gerend, executive director of the Kansas City Streetcar Authority. It also has no loitering policies.

Kansas City’s streetcars have layovers at the southern end of its line, and riders are forced to get off at that time, he said. They are allowed to reboard afterward.

Gerend estimates the no-fare policy increases ridership on the Kansas City streetcar by 25 to 30 percent. Kansas City's streetcar started service in May 2016, and had more than 2 million riders for the 12 months ending in September.

Maintaining a sense of safety on the streetcars helped the vehicles become a new social hub for chance encounters among members of the business community, or interactions between city residents and visitors, Gerend said. Local musicians are booked to play eight or nine live performances there during the holidays. Residents use it for scavenger hunts.

“We didn’t really anticipate this streetcar becoming this social space that is so valued by the people who use it,” Gerend said. “We hear all of the time from riders, residents and employees how the streetcar is a great place to interact with people from all walks of life, from all over the world.”

LINK: https://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2018/10/25/how-milwaukees-streetcar-will- handle-the-homeless.html

5 Other cities warn: Streetcar will have hiccups, but will be worth it

Milwaukee Business Journal By Sean Ryan October 25, 2018

Carlos Mortera runs The Bite sandwich shop along Kansas City’s streetcar line, and can remember a few difficulties he experienced when it was under construction outside his back door.

During construction, deliveries were rerouted to come in through the front of his downtown Kansas City shop in the City Market, which is similar to the Milwaukee Public Market. Business was as slow as he’s ever seen, partially because street closings made it more difficult to access or park around the City Market. He heard of one accident about the streetcar hitting a car parked too far into its path on the street.

Having been through all of that, Mortera had a reassuring message to Milwaukee businesses awaiting a Nov. 2 start of passenger service on the downtown streetcar: “It’s worth it.” The first year the Kansas City, Mo., streetcar was in service, The Bite’s business doubled, he said.

“Every year has been better since it opened,” said Mortera, who rides the streetcar daily. “To be a city of the 21st century, we need to have better access to transportation. I can eliminate all of the craziness of parking, all of the craziness of commuting.”

Thriving local businesses like The Bite are ultimately the reason any city goes through the hard process of building and running a streetcar. But judging by the experience of communities like Kansas City, Cincinnati and Detroit, there inevitably are bumps in the road toward achieving a successful, smooth running streetcar system.

Issues have come up in those cities, and likely will emerge to one degree or another in Milwaukee. Those include poorly parked cars blocking and delaying the streetcars, distracted drivers colliding with it and, on the positive side, a need to expand service at certain times to meet higher-than- anticipated demand.

How Milwaukee adapts to the challenges that come up is ultimately more important than the fact that they occurred in the first place.

“It’s an exciting time, and you will learn a lot in early operations,” said Tom Gerend, executive director of the Kansas City Streetcar Authority. “A lot of the success of these early systems has to do with how you respond to early challenges and early learnings. It will require a little bit of patience.”

Collisions

Milwaukee’s streetcar hit its first cars in early October, during the first weeks of trial runs along the system’s regular scheduled route. Two drivers parked on North Jackson Street, on separate occasions, opened their car doors right into a streetcar that was passing from behind.

The Cincinnati streetcar, which runs almost entirely in mixed traffic, had that same issue early on, said Paul Grether, director of rail services at the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority, which 6 operates the system. After the first six or 12 months, issues with doors or fender benders reduced substantially, he said.

“It didn’t take long, but over time certainly the residents and folks who come to neighborhoods downtown regularly started to adapt,” he said. “It reduced greatly. Just by virtue of the fact that we are in mixed traffic, we still have minor collisions, but thankfully the major issues have been few and far between.”

Milwaukee safety videos dating back to early June warned parked drivers to check their blind spots before opening their doors. New messaging will be developed to reinforce that point in response to the two incidents.

Street blockages

While streetcar executives in other cities chalk up occasional collisions as inevitable on busy downtown streets, they approach blockages and delays from poorly parked cars or delivery trucks as a more preventable problem.

Delays from blocked track can be a real issue that hurts ridership. In all four cities, meetings were held with businesses before the start of service to keep delivery trucks off the tracks, and with delivery companies.

The cities, including Milwaukee, put warning fliers on the windshield of cars or trucks parked over the tracks. A few weeks before passenger service started, enforcement and ticketing began to drive the point home.

Cincinnati has a parking enforcement officer assigned to patrol the streetcar track during peak traffic times. The city put a priority on dispatching tow trucks to remove cars blocking the tracks, versus others, Grether said.

In Detroit, the biggest challenge in the first year was blockages, and the speed at which cars could be towed out of the way, said Dan Lijana, spokesman for the nonprofit M1-Rail organization that runs the system. Part of the challenge is that M1-Rail is a separate organization from the city, which handles parking enforcement and towing.

“It’s a multiple step process that takes too long to get a car towed,” he said. “That is something we’ve been talking to the city about.”

That’s not an issue in Milwaukee, where the city Department of Public Works oversees parking enforcement and the streetcar, said city engineer Jeff Polenske. As of Oct. 17, nobody had been towed during the test runs, he said.

“The blockages have been relatively minimal and when they have encountered them there’s been fairly quick response.” Polenske said. “We as a team are becoming familiar with how we can minimize the response to those things.”

Winter ice and snow

Winter has caused different challenges to the streetcar systems in Cincinnati and Detroit.

7 In Cincinnati, snow wasn’t the problem. As Grether put it, “It’s a 40-ton train so, physics-wise, snow is not an issue.” Ice storms, on the other hand, caused delays.

Freezing rain iced the overhead power lines of the streetcar and disrupted service, Grether said. In response, the city purchased a cutter attached onto a DPW truck that can slice the ice off the wires should another storm hit this coming winter, he said.

One back-up plan for ice storms, should they approach Milwaukee, is to run streetcars overnight to keep the overhead lines clear until passenger service resumes in the morning, Polenske said.

Detroit had a different issue with snow. Property owners along the route would push snow from their sidewalks into the street, forcing cars to park farther from the curb and block the track, Lijana said. M1-Rail had to remove some of that snow itself as a short-term solution on days after storms.

“That was something that was bumpy for us, getting through the winter season did prove challenging because we had people dumping snow onto the curb,” Lijana said. “We had to take a lot of measures to educate the businesses, and the city and the state on how to take a look at snow removal differently.”

Just as Milwaukee’s streetcar team is talking to parking enforcement, they’re also coordinating with city snow removal teams, Polenske said. The city bought a piece of equipment that, like a broom, will brush snow off the track itself. Specific plow drivers are being designated to handle snow removal around the tracks to ensure it’s done right, he said.

To help with the issue of snow in the curb, the city painted eight-foot-wide parking lanes, instead of the usual seven, along most of the streetcar route, Polenske said.

“There very well may be some locations where we have to pay particular attention to property owners,” he said. “Our streetcar guys are going to be involved in those discussions leading up to a snow operation.”

Responding to ridership

Hours or levels of service may change in Milwaukee, as they have in other cites, depending on demand from riders.

Both Detroit and Cincinnati saw heavier-than-expected demand from leisure riders using the system on evenings and weekends. Schedules in Cincinnati were initially based on demand for the bus system, Grether said, so emphasis was initially during commuter hours.

“We’ve seen far less of a commuting public,” he said. “Our peak occurs on Saturdays, that’s when we see our highest ridership.”

A few months after launch, more service was added on the weekends in Cincinnati, Grether said.

Detroit at the end of 2017 extended its weekend service hours, which initially ended at midnight, to 2 a.m., Lijana said. That required hiring more streetcar operators.

8 “When the weather is nice, or when there are events, our Saturday ridership is very strong both day and night,” Lijana said. “We have seen a pretty significant happy hour and dinner crowd weekdays outside of the traditional commuter times as well.”

Whether the issue is parking, driver safety, or the winter weather, the streetcars in each community needed time to evolve to perform at their peak. Milwaukee will be no different. Lijana echoed Gerend’s warning that it will require some patience.

“People are always quick to judge their success, and I think that’s a losing proposition,” Lijana said. “What you see on day 1 is not what you see on day 100 or day 365. Understanding that this is a little bit of a process is important.”

LINK: https://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2018/10/25/other-cities-warn-streetcar-will- have-hiccups-but.html

9 Bumps in the road common for new streetcar systems

Milwaukee Business Journal By Sean Ryan October 25, 2018

Even after starting service in eight days, Milwaukee’s streetcar system, like those launched in any other city across the United States, will remain a work in progress.

It’s inevitable that drivers will run into it, cars or delivery trucks will park in its path and delay service, and the city will make operational changes to respond to how and when riders are using the system. Executives the Milwaukee Business Journal interviewed who manage streetcar systems that launched in recent years in Cincinnati, Detroit and Kansas City, Mo., say that’s all part of the process. Be patient, and don’t be alarmed, they say.

A lot of those other communities are still running and updating public education programs that teach car owners how to park and drive around their streetcars. Kansas City is studying its downtown traffic lights to see if there are ways to change the system to help with route times, for example. The nonprofit operator of Detroit’s system is working with the city to find faster ways to tow cars that block the tracks.

Here’s some links to stories from our sister papers in those other communities, looking at challenges with their systems, and how they responded. See our extensive coverage in our Oct. 26 print edition for a full rundown of what those other cities encountered, and how Milwaukee streetcar officials are preparing to handle similar challenges.

LINK: https://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2018/10/25/bumps-in-the-road-common-for- new-streetcar-systems.html

10 Seemingly endless loop of Milwaukee streetcar debate will culminate Nov. 2 with its long-awaited launch

Milwaukee Business Journal By Sean Ryan October 24, 2018

The (umpteenth) major turning point for the streetcar was 2015.

It was the year the streetcar funding plan survived two unsuccessful voter referendum petitions, litigation over its utility relocation costs and a funding debate among Milwaukee officials that at least one insider said created the most tense atmosphere ever experienced in City Hall.

The streetcar system, after more than a year of construction, will start passenger service on Nov. 2nd. The Milwaukee Business Journal will run a series of stories over the next few days about what to expect from the new system, potential economic development that could occur as a result of its launch, how similar systems have worked in other cities and how downtown Milwaukee businesses are reacting. See our Oct. 26 issue for a special section on the new streetcar system.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett this month recalled advice he heard from officials in Portland years ago when the city was launching its streetcar effort. It’s a line he’s repeated often in recent years.

“I will always remember they told us this will be controversial until it starts, and then the debate will change to how we will get it extended,” Barrett said. “That was pretty much on the mark.”

Like the streetcar itself, the decades of debate over the system looped through the same territory over, and over, and over. It was already exhausting by 2015.

There had been six years of reminiscing already over the epic Michael Cudahy-led transit tour for Barrett, Scott Walker and others to Portland, Ore., and Denver. There had been four years of hand-wringing over the specter of multi-million-dollar utility relocation costs emptying city coffers. Ald. Bob Donovan, staunch and seemingly inexhaustible in his conviction the streetcar must not happen, was again attempting to have voters decide via a referendum that supporters feared could end the project.

A $54.9 million federal earmark for Milwaukee-area transit had been first approved 20 years ago, set aside for the streetcar in 2009, and was still collecting dust with supporters invoking the threat of the feds taking back the money at any time. Meanwhile, opponents launched another argument that money should be redirectedto other city services, and Barrett again responded it wasn’t possible.

By 2015, at least, opponents were started to get more creative with their criticism. Ald. Joe Dudzik in late 2014 riffed on the streetcar’s extension to the lakefront.

“The mere fact that it’s really close to the lake makes the streetcar more like a boat to me, where you throw money into the lake and watch it disappear.”

11 That symbolism came as the council was to take up Barrett’s plan to increase city funding for the streetcar, partially to cover the utility relocation costs. It marked the last big chance aldermen would get to vote on the project.

Dudzik, in December 2014, made a parliamentary move to delay a final vote by the Common Council on Barrett’s latest funding plan. It was the first of many by opponents that pushed the final vote off to February, despite the majority support for the project on the council.

Barrett took a pro-streetcar speech on the road in the days leading up to a January vote, arguing “if we say no to this (federal) money, it’s going to go to a streetcar in Cincinnati or Salt Lake City.”

The Common Council’s deciding vote of 9-6 finally approved the funding in February. Barrett waited only a few hours before holding a signing/victory partyacross the street from City Hall at the Pabst Theater. The Beatles “Ticket to Ride” played on the speakers.

Through all that action in City Hall, Citizens for Responsible Government and opponents of the system were on the sidewalks collecting signatures to force a referendum on the project funding. In March, it fell about 6,000 signatures short of the needed count, with organizers partially blaming the cold weather.

Barrett, in his State of the City address just a few days later, got a chuckle by introducing the streetcar as a “significant, some even say slightly controversial, public works project.”

LINK: https://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2018/10/24/seemingly-endless-loop-of- milwaukeestreetcar.html

12 Streetcar small step forward to attract, keep millennials

Milwaukee Business Journals By Nick Williams October 24, 2018

Milwaukee desperately needs to attract, and retain, younger professionals to increase the metropolitan area’s labor force.

The region is projected to see the gap between available jobs and available workforce increase to 100,000 by 2023. Meanwhile, a 2017 Brookings Institute report shows Milwaukee County experienced a seven-year downward slope for outward migration, resulting in the loss of thousands of would-be workers to other states between 2009 and 2016. Between 2015 and 2016 specifically, more than 13,100 people left Milwaukee County.

Milwaukee’s new downtown streetcar service, The Hop, could play a role, albeit small, in keeping, and maybe attracting, those young professionals here, experts say.

“For the next generation of people coming through university and finding cities to call home, the streetcar will be one of those things that puts Milwaukee on the map," said Ian Abston, an urban development specialist and consultant in Milwaukee.

Angela Damiani, CEO of NEWaukee, pointed out that no one moves to a new city because of a streetcar, “but they are more like to stay because of the ease of access, mobility and modernity of it once they are already here.”

“I am so happy we have The Hop nearly underway and I know that once it’s up and running, the squabbles about its value over the past few years will fade far into a distant memory as folks adopt its usage and recognize how a comprehensive transit system is a benefit to all of us who live, work and play here,” she said.

The 2.1 line that starts in November will run from the Milwaukee Intermodal Station, past the entrance to the 3rd Ward on St. Paul Avenue and through Ward 4, Milwaukee’s co-working and startup hub. An expansion route is planned along Hub640, the renovated Boston Store building on Wisconsin Avenue downtown that developers are hoping will house several growing tech companies.

“The streetcar provides an exciting new way for visitors and downtowners to access key points of interest and cultural amenities in Milwaukee. These kinds of options are exactly what people are looking for in an urban city experience, and the Hop is a good element in what should become a comprehensive plan to connect Milwaukeeans to live, work and play destinations,” said Corry Joe Biddle, executive director of FUEL Milwaukee, a community engagement organization for young professionals founded by the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce.

The company itself isn’t as high of a priority for millennials as is the location and urban environment of a city, Abston said. That's where the value of the streetcar can be seen, he said.

13 “The first thing they’re saying is ‘what city do I want to live in’ and the street car positions Milwaukee very well for one of those cities where you don’t need a car, which is an extra expense,” he said.

Milwaukee is already trying to provide alternative modes of transportation that offer financial freedom for commuters working and living around downtown, such as the creation of pilot programs for dockless electric scooter and dockless bike-sharing companies to operate in the city. The scooter program, however, won't take effect until state legislators amend state law allowing the operation of those motor vehicles on public streets.

City officials had predicted nearly 2,000 daily riders on the streetcar system for its first year of service. The Hop is a small step toward meeting transit improvements millennials and future generations want, and need, in Milwaukee, Biddle said.

“The Hop is a great way to make downtown convenient and attractive, but we shouldn’t lose sight of the city’s challenges and the concerns facing Milwaukeeans and millennials with unmet transit needs,” she said. “Hopefully, the market will show over time that the prioritization of this option was a prudent investment benefiting taxpayers in all parts of the city.”

LINK: https://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2018/10/24/streetcar-small-step-forward-to- attract-keep.html

14 Urban planners urging Erie to develop streetcar corridor from downtown to bayfront

Erie News Now By John Last October 24, 2018

Urban planners are urging Erie to develop a streetcar corridor connecting the bayfront to downtown, and to neighborhoods to the north. Some of those experts gave a presentation on the idea during a panel discussion today at the Blasco Library.

In the 1920s, State Street was filled with street cars sharing the road with automobiles. By 1935, those Erie streetcars were gone, a victim of the depression and the rise of automobiles.

Urban planners want Erie to look into reintroducing streetcars on a two mile corridor from the bayfront to downtown, and perhaps as far north as St. Vincent Hospital and the zoo.

Erie's new comprehensive plan calls for an iconic connection between downtown Erie and the bayfront. The Urban Land Institute, a planning group that helped with the revitalization of Pittsburgh and other cities, also recommends a tram between Union Station and Dobbins Landing.

Urban planners who spoke at today's forum, say streetcars would not only be a tourist attraction, but would lead to new development and housing in the areas near the streetcar route. They say the city needs a project sponsor, like the transit authority or another government entity, to obtain the tens of millions of dollars to finance the project.

Larger cities such as Seattle, Portland, and Minneapolis have seen a great deal of economic development and prosperity because of their streetcar lines. Smaller cities such as Little Rock, Arkansas and Lowell, Massachusetts have also gotten in on the action

MAYOR JOE SCHEMBER-"You know, coming in I wasn't that excited about it, but now that I've heard them, it's definitely something I think we need to look at and think about a little bit and how it fits in with other things we’re doing like the iconic connection on the Bayfront Highway, putting that underneath State Street. There's a lot of things going on here in Erie and it's important that we choose the right ones and do them right. This is certainly something I think we should be thinking about."

JOHN PERSINGER/CEO-ERIE DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION-"There's a lot of plans that are going on and being discussed right now. of course, Erie Refocused comprehensive plan calls for an iconic connection between the downtown and the bayfront. So it's interesting to see their proposals today."

JOHN BUCHNA-CEO/ERIE DOWNTOWN PARTNERSHIP- "Connectivity is a key. Connectivity to our downtown, as well as connections to our bayfront. That is definitely a good option that we have looked at and here's an opportunity for us to even look further."

LINK: http://www.erienewsnow.com/story/39352759/urban-planners-urging-erie-to-develop- streetcar-corridor-from-downtown-to-bayfront 15 New development plans for streetcar

Urban Milwaukee By Jeramey Jannene October 23, 2018

While the actual extension of The Hop to the north and south is likely years away, the city has completed a planning process to study what development around stops in Bronzeville and Walker’s Point should look like.

Monday afternoon representatives of the project management team, led by the Department of City Development, presented the transit-oriented development plan to the City Plan Commission. Monica Wauck Smith walked the commission through a vision that would have the streetcar extending north from Downtown to W. North Ave. along N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. and south to E. Mitchell St. along S. 1st St.

She told the commission the study had a goal of creating a plan to extend investment from Downtown, connecting neighborhoods physically and economically, to enhance the local distinctiveness of neighborhoods and ensure that the existing communities benefit from any extensions through equitable and inclusive strategies. The results of the study will be incorporated into the city’s area plans for Walker’s Point and Bronzeville.

The plan, funded by a $750,000 federal grant, was created by lead consultant Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, with a number of subcontractors including local firms P3 Development Group. DAAR Engineering and Abrazo Marketing. The study team held 10 community workshops, five plan advisory group meetings and attended a number of community events to collect feedback from 1,800 people. “We wanted to make sure people did not feel that they would be moved out of the neighborhood,” said King Drive Business Improvement Bistrict director Deshea Agee. The King Drive BID and Harbor District both helped support the study effort.

Wauck Smith said that feedback in both Bronzeville and Walker’s Point supported providing more housing, including affordable housing, as well as preserving existing affordable housing and avoiding displacement. Community residents also expressed a desire for more commercial space and wanted vacant lots to be developed, so long as development stayed consist with the character of the neighborhood.

The plan prepared for Walker’s Point includes 1,500 to 2,000 new homes (primarily through multi- family buildings), 10 to 20 new storefronts and 3,000 to 4,000 new jobs primarily through the creation of new office space throughout the corridor.

The Bronzeville plan envisions 1,500 to 2,000 new homes, 20 to 30 new storefronts and 1,500 to 2,500 new jobs. The plan also envisions up to four new community facilities in the corridor. Most of the development is envisioned to happen near two intersections, where N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. intersects with W. North Ave. and with W. McKinley Ave. Both intersections have seen increased development in recent years including the Bucks arena district just south of W. McKinley Ave. and a host of projects along W. North Ave. including the Pete’s Fruit Market grocery store and The Griot apartments.

16 Implementing the plan will include increasing the maximum and minimum building heights around proposed stops in the city’s zoning code. Wauck Smith also said the city could look at modifying the zoning code in those areas to better regulate building design. “This is kind of homework for the city,” said Wauck Smith about the consulting team’s recommendations.

Even if the streetcar never materializes, the plans are intended to create more walkable and transit-friendly places, said Wauck Smith. Both plans include changes to east-west running streets that intersect with the streetcar corridors to improve bicycle and pedestrian friendliness.

Wauck Smith told the commission that the city is seeking federal funds to support the expansion of the streetcar system into both neighborhoods. To connect to Bronzeville the city will first need to secure federal funds for an already approved extension up N. Vel R. Phillips Ave. to the arena district. The city, which leveraged long unused federal funds to build the system’s first phase, already secured a $14 million federal grant to build the extension to the lakefront.

The study did not include engineering work on the actual streetcar tracks and stations, both of which would still be required to build extensions to the north and south.

Displacement, Race and the State

City Plan Commissioner Darryl Johnson asked about planning efforts to prevent displacement, particularly among those on fixed incomes. “A lot of people refer back to what happened in Brewers Hill and how it could easily happen further north,” said Johnson. The Brewers Hill neighborhood, located just north of Downtown, experienced a surge in property values before the Great Recession.

“It is one of the things that was really challenging,” said Wauck Smith. “One thing that I learned doing this is that the city is really hamstrung doing this by the state. The state doesn’t allow us to cap senior citizen taxes… Some of those tools you see in other cities aren’t on the table for us unless the state makes changes.” Wauck Smith said the study also incorporates principles of the recently approved Anti-Displacement Plan.

Agee added that he’s seen the issue playing out in Walker’s Point already, even before the streetcar arrives. “On the South Side we’re finding that rents are going up and businesses are being displaced,” said Agee. He joked that the changes have led him to put on his “broker’s hat” and attempt to get those businesses to come to King Drive where rents are more affordable.

Daniel Adams, planning director at the Harbor District, said: “that was a big issue through our water and land use planning process, and it continued with this plan.” Adams said the problem is particularly acute with small manufacturers and artisans. “Much of our focus has been on preserving industrial zoning where we can,” said the planning director.

Commissioner Joaquin Altoro had an even more complex question: “I know that there are nuanced differences in being black or brown in Milwaukee, and I’m always a believer that that should have an impact on how we design Milwaukee going forward… how has that impacted the work here?”

“That is a big question, but an important one,” answered Wauck Smith. She noted that every effort was made to make sure bilingual translators were available, as well as producing project materials 17 in Spanish. She also said an effort was made to make sure the staff working on the study represented the races of the community they were working in. “That was very much on the forefront of our minds,” said Wauck Smith.

Agee added that having minority-led local firms work on the project was a sign that diversity was emphasized. “We want to make sure there is a component of black and brown on [real estate] development teams,” he said.

The plan commission unanimously endorsed the changes. More information about the study is available on MovingMKEForward.com.

LINK: https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2018/10/23/eyes-on-milwaukee-new-development-plans-for- streetcar/

18 Where does the streetcar go from here?

Urban Milwaukee By Rob Hullum October 23, 2018

On Friday, Sept. 7, a 67-foot, 83,000-pound streetcar was delivered to the City of Milwaukee from a Brookeville Equipment Corporation plant in western Pennsylvania. It joined four others that had already begun gliding across tracks doing test runs throughout Downtown. At a press conference celebrating the delivery, Mayor Tom Barrett told a crowd of onlookers, “People who are in the heart of the city will see these cars moving around, and in the weeks ahead they’ll see them even more.” In one sense it was the end of a fight that had spanned decades. In another, it was just the beginning.

Hopping Aboard The Hop

Fares are free for the first year thanks to a $10 million sponsorship from Potawatomi Hotel and Casino.

Hours are 5 a.m.-midnight on weekdays, 7 a.m.-midnight on Saturdays and 7 a.m.-10 p.m. on Sundays.

There are four streetcars moving along the route, with expected service times of 10-15 minutes.

Bike racks are available inside streetcar vehicles.

The contention surrounding this project is not lost on Barrett, but the mayor believes in the streetcar even if it has not always been the most popular position to take. “There are many issues where we’ve decided that you have to do what’s right for our community,” he said. “Some of them generate controversy, and some of them don’t. I always felt that this was going to be a significant step forward for the residents of the city, for connecting people and for economic development.”

But, even after the votes have been counted and the tracks have been laid, not everyone agrees. “I feel that the funding priorities in a number of areas are higher than for a streetcar,” said Alderman Tony Zielinski. The Bay View alderman is running against Barrett for mayor in 2020 and has used the streetcar as a wedge issue. He said one reason for running is “because of initiatives like this where the city isn’t listening to the residents of this community.” He also said there will be no expansion of the system if he becomes mayor.

The streetcar, dubbed “The Hop,” opens to the public with a weekend-long celebration taking place Friday, Nov. 2, through Sunday, Nov. 4. As the city awaits the debut of its new $128 million transportation system, questions remain about expanding the route, its economic impact and a growing list of injury claims being taken on by a major local law firm.

Expansions and Backup Plans

Even staunch streetcar supporters like Downtown Alderman Robert Bauman use words like “a start” and “modest” when referring to the initial 2.5-mile route. “It’s kind of the model for streetcar projects around the country to start out with a mile-and-a-half to two-mile route and then expand 19 off it,” said city engineer Jeffrey Polenske, who has been involved in the design and implementation of the project since the beginning.

The city already has extensions in varying stages of development. The first is a 0.4-mile loop that will connect the initial route to lakefront attractions like Discovery World, the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Summerfest grounds. Plans for the extension, which is fully funded and expected to open in late 2020, include a stop at the much-delayed Couture high-rise. The Couture’s issues—which include a Wednesday, Oct. 31, financing deadline from the City of Milwaukee to avoid a default notice according to the Journal Sentinel—could cause problems for the streetcar if the high-rise is not built.

If this were to happen, Bauman said that there is a backup plan that is “arguably as attractive, if not more attractive.” That is to run the tracks across Lincoln Memorial Drive to the front of Discovery World. “Rather than forcing people to get off at the Couture and walk across Lincoln Memorial Drive, they would basically ride across and be put at a station that is actually quite a bit closer to the destinations,” Bauman said. Polenske said he is confident the current route will move forward as planned.

The second planned extension would connect the Milwaukee Intermodal Station to the Fiserv Forum through Vel R. Phillips Avenue, then west to the Pabst Brewery Complex. The Common Council has approved $20 million for the $40 million project; the city has applied for a federal grant for the rest. But, with the current administration in Washington, D.C., federal funds are increasingly difficult to come by. “I don’t anticipate one dime out of the federal government for this project, so long as Trump’s people are in charge,” Bauman said.

Again, there is a backup plan. Depending on costs and the status of the grant, the city could use the money that is already approved to advance the route just to Wisconsin Avenue. This would bring streetcar access to the Wisconsin Center District, Hilton Milwaukee City Center and the Shops of Grand Avenue. “Ideally, we’re always trying to leverage as much federal funding as we can,” Polenske said. “But we are looking at our options.”

Why rush, when the city could wait for federal funds and complete the whole route at once? “Part of the reason we are looking at this with some urgency is that it would be a big piece of serving the Democratic convention,” Bauman said. “It would provide additional connectivity and really help our bid package.” Meanwhile, Polenske said that it is “an extraordinarily aggressive schedule” and “hard to say one way or the other” if the timeline is even possible. “But we are looking at our options to see how we could best advance the project, and, in part, be able to accommodate an event like that being held Downtown,” he said.

Some opponents have derided the streetcar as a shiny toy that only serves a narrow group of upwardly mobile Milwaukeeans who live and work Downtown. Preliminary plans are in motion to change this. Through a federal grant, the city was able to study how a streetcar route could benefit the Walker’s Point and Bronzeville neighborhoods. “We’re already starting that planning exercise, and that will help us determine how we reach out beyond just the central business district,” Polenske said. Findings from the study have been released, but an extension to either neighborhood is “probably five years away,” according to Bauman.

‘An Economic Development Tool’ 20 As Mayor Barrett sold the idea of a streetcar to the city, he did not simply tout its merits as a transportation option. “I look at this as an economic development tool,” Barrett told the Chicago Tribune in 2012, a claim he has often repeated since. Though it is early, the results have been positive so far. Earlier this month, the city announced that property values within a quarter-mile of the initial route have increased by nearly 28% since the project was approved in 2015. This is twice the rate of citywide property value growth according to the statement.

The real estate development community has also, by and large, embraced the project. Paul Dincin, principal at Catapult Realty, said that the streetcar was a factor in his firm’s decision to purchase and develop the Underwriters Exchange Building on North Broadway, which will be renamed Street Car Flats. “I see the new streetcar line as a positive factor for Downtown development,” he said in an email. “It shows a commitment by the city to continue to make the Downtown area a vibrant place to work and live.”

“The exception would be a real estate developer who does not say this is a significant factor in their decision to acquire a site, to develop a site, to invest in a site,” Bauman said. “The rare case would be a developer who does not say the streetcar is relevant to them.”

According to Mayor Barrett, “The market is speaking.” “We’re seeing office buildings, we’re seeing hotels, we’re seeing apartments, because people understand that, when you have fixed transit like this, it’s an investment in the future,” he said. “When they see the city investing in the future, they want to invest in the future as well.” But, as development dollars flow in, liabilities may be on the horizon.

Is the Streetcar Safe for Bikes and Motorcycles?

In August, the law firm Hupy and Abraham announced that it had taken on a client who was injured while riding his motorcycle across streetcar tracks. The statement claimed that the rider was switching lanes when his front tire wedged between the tracks, throwing him off of his motorcycle and breaking his arm. By late September, Hupy and Abraham managing partner Jason Abraham said the firm was representing “about a dozen” bicyclists and motorcycle riders who were making claims against the city for streetcar-related injuries. He expected that there would be more. “I look at it and think of car accidents,” he said. “They’re a function of miles driven. The more we go, the more likely it is that something happens to us. I think the same thing applies here.”

Polenske referred any specific questions about the claims to the City Attorney’s office, which did not respond to multiple requests for comment. He did speak about the Department of Public Works’ response to the issue. “With any accident that we become aware of, we will evaluate and investigate it,” he said. “In general, our goal is to make people more familiar with the infrastructure that’s been put in place… It does take time, and it’s not just that we’re going to start, do it now and be done with it. It’s something that we will have to continue to do.”

Still, the growing number of claims could become a real concern for the city and is already becoming a talking point of streetcar opponents. “That’s just going to be another cost to the city that is associated with the streetcar,” Zielinski said. “We don’t have the money to pay for these lawsuits that are going to be coming.” Whether or not lawsuits are filed remains to be seen. When suing a governmental entity, litigants must first file a notice of injury. This is where Abraham is 21 currently with his clients. Time must pass, and additional paperwork must be completed before an attorney is able to file a formal lawsuit. Abraham is going through these steps and doing his homework in the meantime.

“I’m going to take the cases, I’m going to do the research, and if it turns out that I believe that the city is negligent—and that means they could have done something differently to prevent these accidents—then I’m ultimately going to file a lawsuit,” he said.

Despite the unanswered questions, the streetcar is coming. Supporters are as energized as ever, while many doubters remain just as skeptical. As for the latter, Barrett thinks that many of them will come around. “I anticipate people who haven’t been Downtown in decades to still be critical of it,” he said. “But, people who see how this fits into the other pieces of the incredible renaissance that’s going on in Milwaukee right now will have a better understanding of it.”

LINK: https://shepherdexpress.com/news/features/where-does-the-streetcar-go-from- here/#/questions

22 City Council text messages: Ousted city manager promised ‘streetcar fixes’ to avoid firing

WCPO Cincinnati By Pat LaFluer October 23, 2018

Ousted city manager Harry Black offered "fixes" to Cincinnati's streetcar -- among other promises -- to at least one City Council member if it meant he would not be fired, according to recently released text messages among five elected officials.

Now streetcar advocates say those text messages provide further evidence that politically motivated foot-dragging continued to block the streetcar's progress, more than a year after its launch.

In a series of text messages among City Council's so-called "Gang of Five"-- Democrats P.G. Sittenfeld, Chris Seelbach, Wendell Young, Greg Landsman and Tamaya Dennard - - Seelbach told his colleagues that then-City Manager Harry Black offered to push forward with prioritizing traffic signals for the streetcar -- so it would run faster and have to stop less -- along with making it free to ride.

Both were proposed fixes for the beleaguered 2-year-old streetcar system.

"He agreed...to include in his budget signal prioritization and making the streetcar free," Seelbach wrote, referring to Black, in a March 12 text message. "And I have those promises in writing... in exchange for me not voting to fire him!"

In another text earlier that day, Seelbach criticized Black for his "lack of any kind of leadership on fixing the streetcar." Seelbach said Black also offered cooperation on responsible bidder legislation, in exchange for a "No" vote on a measure calling for his termination.

WCPO has requested from Seelbach's office documentation of such written promise from Black, but has not heard back as of this writing.

The text messages are now the subject of a lawsuit, alleging they violate Ohio's open meetings laws.

The nearly 80 pages of text messages include discussion among the five council members regarding Mayor John Cranley's request for Black's resignation, and subsequent discussions between the council members and Black. The text messages, ordered released by a judge during a court hearing Monday, date from Jan. 19 - March 24, 2018.

The streetcar has been a political hot potato since supporters first proposed the circulator train more than a decade ago. It was a wedge issue in the last two mayoral races -- both won by Cranley, who ran opposed to the streetcar project and paused the project for the first two weeks of his first term.

It's been plagued with mechanical, logistical and ridership issues since its launch in the fall of 2016. 23 For some streetcar supporters, the text message exchange is a window into how politics have plagued the streetcar from before its beginning.

If the streetcar's troubles were the plot of a murder mystery, the texts are what Derek Bauman would call the "smoking gun."

"(Black's) basically saying, 'We could do all this now,'" Bauman said, referring to streetcar fixes like different traffic signal timing or free fares -- fixes that had remained mired in red tape throughout Black's management of the project. "That tells me that Black knew what the answers were, and something was holding him back."

Bauman lives in Over-the-Rhine and was a Mason police officer before running for City Council last year. He also serves as a board member for the rail advocacy group All Aboard Ohio, an organization that has been vocal about its support of the streetcar project.

He's criticized City Hall leaders in the past for dragging their feet on what he says could be simple solutions to some of the streetcar's biggest problems -- primarily its consistent tardiness and, as a result, low ridership.

"The traffic study should have been done years ago," he said, referring to a still incomplete traffic study that city council ordered in October 2016. The study will evaluate traffic signal timing throughout Downtown to maximize its efficiency for all vehicles -- including people using the sidewalks.

"They're still dragging their feet," he said.

Another proposed fix that can't seem to gather traction in City Hall: increasing the fee for parking on and blocking the streetcar tracks. Streetcar proponents on council have proposed raising the fee from $50 to $100, but multiple attempts have resulted in no change to the current fee structure.

"It's cheaper to block the streetcar tracks for 45 minutes than it is to get caught riding without paying," Bauman said. The fine for riding without paying a fare is $100.

A WCPO analysis found that streetcar track blockages steadily increased from August 2017 to July 2018 and created what the transit authority's director of rail services, Paul Grether called a "major constraint physically."

"This is a political football -- always has been," Bauman said. "Finally the layers of this onion are coming off."

LINK: https://www.wcpo.com/news/insider/city-council-text-messages-ousted-city-manager- promised-streetcar-fixes-to-avoid-firing

24 For Erie, is a new streetcar a desire?

Go Erie.com By Jim Martin October 23, 2018

All Aboard Erie, a group advocating for improved mass transit, will host a panel discussion on Wednesday at 1 p.m. about how a streetcar might play a role in economic development.

The challenge isn’t moving people from one point to the next in downtown Erie. The Erie Metropolitan Transit Authority can do that.

The challenge, according to the Erie Refocused report, is to establish an iconic connection between downtown Erie and the city’s bayfront.

The Urban Land Institute, which is working on a final version of a report for the city and the Erie Downtown Development Corp., offered another challenge — to establish a tram between Union Station on 14th Street and Dobbins Landing at the foot of State Street.

All Aboard Erie, a local group advocating for improved mass transit, will host a panel discussion on Wednesday at 1 p.m. about how a streetcar might meet those challenges while playing a role in economic development.

The panel discussion, which is open to the public, will be held in the Hirt Auditorium at Blasco Library.

Panelists will include Peter Voorhees, a Cleveland-based transportation planner; Dina Lopez, a project manager for Rapid Speed Transportation Initiative; and Mark Dorn, a transportation design engineer.

The event is sponsored by Brookville Equipment Manufacturing, a Brookville-based supplier of street cars.

Brian Pitzer, executive director of All Aboard Erie, said it’s significant that both Erie Refocused and the Urban Land Institute reached the same conclusion “that a streetcar could play a major part in rebuilding the downtown.”

According to Pitzer, “Streetcars are about more than just transportation. They are also about significant economic development. Where streetcars run, economic development almost always follows.”

The reasons for that effect aren’t always clear, but Pitzer said streetcar routes have a history of spurring investment.

“Part of the appeal of streetcars is that they are permanent and people can see where they are. Buses are out of sight, out of mind,” he said. “Streetcar routes are always there. They are not going to shift routes overnight.”

25 While streetcars might seem like old technology, Pitzer said they’re making a comeback in a growing list of cities that includes Dallas, Kansas City, Seattle, Portland, Detroit and Cincinnati.

In addition to pollution-reducing benefits, Pitzer said a certain amount of their appeal might be intangible.

“Streetcars are making a comeback in city after city across the U.S. because people like to live and work where streetcars and transit are available,” he said. LINK: http://www.goerie.com/news/20181023/for-erie-is-new-streetcar-desire

26 City engaging businesses along The Hop route

Urban Milwaukee By Jeramey Jannene October 22, 2018

In advance of The Hop’s grand opening weekend, the city is ramping up its efforts to engage businesses along the route. The streetcar system’s first phase, the M-Line, will open with a celebration held from November 2nd through the 4th.

The city is distributing approximately 275 kits to businesses located at ground level on or near the route.

The kits contain “Hop Here” posters so businesses can let the public know they’re easily accessible via the starter line, information on how to participate in the opening weekend by offering specials or hosting events and information on safety, how to ride, the route map and operating hours.

Mayor Tom Barrett delivered the first two kits on Friday afternoon to Ouzo Cafe and London Cleaners along N. Milwaukee St.

“We are distributing these kits to businesses along The Hop route and asking that they ‘Hop Along’ as long-term partners of this project” said Barrett. “We know how important businesses will be in informing riders and in the future success of The Hop.”

November 3rd’s activities are intended to center around thanking and promoting businesses that have had to deal with the system’s construction.

Rides on the system will be free through at least next November 2019 courtesy of a $10-million, 12-year sponsorship agreement with Potawatomi Hotel and Casino. No tickets will be required to ride; riders can simply get on the vehicles at any of the stations.

In delivering his 2019 budget proposal, Barrett said last month the system was “on time and on budget.” Due to a federal grant for transit operations and Potwatomi’s sponsorship agreement, the streetcar has no impact on the 2018 or 2019 city budgets.

Following the launch party, the system will begin operating on its normal schedule. Service will be provided Monday through Friday from 5 a.m. until midnight, Saturday from 7 a.m. until midnight and Sunday from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m.

The 2.1-miles-long first phase connects Westown and the Milwaukee Intermodal Station with the Historic Third Ward, East Town and the Lower East Side. The lakefront line expansion, the system’s second phase, is scheduled to begin service in 2020. The two systems have a combined capital cost of $128.1 million funded by federal grants and tax-incremental financing districts.

LINK: https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2018/10/22/eyes-on-milwaukee-city-engaging-businesses- along-the-hop-route/

27 Invest Atlanta launches $15M transit-oriented development fund, but is it enough?

Curbed Atlanta By Sean Keenan October 22, 2018

Atlanta’s economic development agency is making an effort to boost the city’s transit-linked development stock, but at $15 million, is the budget big enough to make a dent in chronic traffic problems?

Invest Atlanta announced Wednesday it was launching the city’s first-ever transit-oriented development fund, which will provide “below-market, patient capital to support the acquisition and predevelopment of workforce housing near MARTA stations, the Atlanta Streetcar, the Atlanta Beltline, and other modes of transit,” according to an agency news release.

Roughly 70 percent of metro Atlanta residents commute to a different county for work, according to Invest Atlanta. If they could lop off an hour each week from those trips—and save on travel costs—the agency reports, workers could save nearly $1,000 annually.

“If we can achieve this with just 20 percent of our workforce through investments like the transition-oriented development fund, we can inject an extra $460 million into our local economy,” according to the news release.

But let’s pause for a bit of context.

When a single redevelopment project like the Hotel Clermont, as just one example, costs nearly twice as much as the transit-oriented development fund is worth, some might wonder if Invest Atlanta’s new initiative is but a stepping stone.

A little more context: One of Atlanta’s most anticipated transit-oriented development projects, a long-planned, 297-unit complex at the King Memorial MARTA Station, is expected to cost upwards of $51 million. (About 80 of those units are earmarked for affordable housing, according to the latest news on progress from March; construction was scheduled to start a year ago.)

Near the Edgewood-Candler Park MARTA stop, the 224-apartment Spoke—with 34 workforce housing units—cost around $43 million.

That’s not to say there’s no other financial help coming from the city. The Eastside Tax Allocation District is funneling millions of dollars toward transit-centric projects, too.

A $6 million Eastside TAD grant has helped with Place Properties’s plans for the aforementioned King Memorial development. Some $9 million from the TAD has supported plans for a 14-story, 345-unit residential tower on Peachtree Center Avenue.

And at Underground Atlanta, the 180-unit multifamily workforce housing complex The Avery received a TAD grant worth just under $4 million.

28 Some OTP cities, such as Dunwoody, have wholeheartedly embraced transit-focused development, too. On Hammond Drive, Trammell Crow’s Twelve24 seeks to bring more than 300,000 square feet of office space next to the local MARTA train station, as just the latest example.

Additionally, College Park is considering adopting what’s called “transit-oriented zoning,” which would encourage higher-density development close to the city’s MARTA station.

Of course, with MARTA’s board of directors recently approving a major plan of action for upwards of $2.5 billion worth of transit expansion, logic says transit-adjacent developments could be cropping up more and more.

LINK: https://atlanta.curbed.com/2018/10/22/17996782/invest-atlanta-transit-oriented- development

29 New coalition pushes for deeper investment in Seattle’s transit

Curbed Seattle By Sarah Anne Lloyd October 22, 2018

As the Seattle City Council drills down on the city’s biennial budget for 2019 and 2020, a coalition of transit, urbanism, and climate change advocacy groups have banded together to push for greater investment in public transportation. Called Move All Seattle Sustainably, or MASS (we see what you did there), the group includes the Seattle chapter of the Sierra Club, the Transit Riders Union, Cascade Bicycle Club, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, 350 Seattle, 500 Women Scientists Seattle, Seattle Subway, Seattle Transit Blog, and the Urbanist.

The council is currently in the process of amending a budget proposed by Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan back in September. In an open letter to both the mayor and the city council, MASS argues that Seattle is not on track to meet its goals—despite Durkan’s efforts to seem at the forefront of being a Climate Mayor. The coalition also calls out what it believes to be an insufficient investment in Vision Zero, a national effort to eliminate road fatalities and serious injuries. (Seattle’s goal is to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2030.)

The need is immediate both globally, MASS argues, in light of a recent report that found we have only 12 years to avoid catastrophic climate change, and locally, as Seattle approaches what city planners are calling the “period of maximum constraint,” when multiple road and construction projects will descend upon Seattle all at once, causing heavy bottlenecks.

The letter outlines a litany of specific budget asks under four, more general categories: “Invest in safe and accessible streets,” “help people get to, from, and through downtown,” “connect our neighborhoods with quicker and more reliable transit,” and “ensure transportation equity.”

Requests include funding Seattle’s “basic bike network”—in accordance with an ordinance passed by the city council in July setting specific benchmarks for connected bike lanes downtown— extending the Third Avenue transit-only corridor through Belltown, and prioritizing the Center City Connector streetcar line, which would connect two existing lines via First Avenue downtown. (The streetcar’s fate is currently in limbo.) The coalition also specifically highlights the need for clear transit and bike connections to the soon-to-be-renovated Key Arena.

The letter also asks for improved transit, pedestrian safety, and bike access in Seattle’s neighborhoods outside of downtown. On Rainier Avenue—”Seattle’s most dangerous street,” MASS says—the letter asks the city to prioritize the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT)’s Rainier Avenue Safety Corridor and Accessible Mount Baker projects and to prioritize bus lanes for the Route 7 in advance of planned bus rapid transit upgrades.

It also calls for bike lanes on Eastlake Avenue East, a popular corridor for cyclists despite a lack of safety measures, finish the long-delayed Missing Link bike lane project, and to divert money from adaptive signal projects, which can create a frustrating pedestrian experience, to fund a pilot for “home zones,” a tactic deployed in the UK to prioritize pedestrians, cyclists, and playtime on neighborhood streets.

30 “We are particularly asking Seattle’s elected leaders to choose to prioritize people who are walking around our city and our neighborhoods,” said Clara Cantor, a community organizer with Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, in a statement. “This means prioritizing people walking at intersections, and not spending money expanding the adaptive signal program until it can measure and mitigate delays to people walking. It also means finding additional sources of funding for building out our network of sidewalks, as well as funding low-cost, creative solutions such as home zones to help people feel safer walking down the street.”

The mayor’s budget proposal cut the Pavement to Parks program, which takes underutilized streets and turns them into permanent, or at least long-term, parks—like the park with the Pac- Man design on Capitol Hill. MASS also asks that this program be reinstated, but “with an equitable focus” on neighborhoods in need of open space, pointing specifically at Rainier Vista and South Park.

“Transportation is by far Seattle’s largest source of emissions,” said Sarah Shifley, a volunteer with 350 Seattle, in a statement. Data from the mayor’s office shows that 50 percent of all Seattle’s greenhouse gas emissions were from passenger vehicles, like cars, SUVs, and light trucks. “The steps outlined in the MASS Coalition’s letter are not optional measures, but very real necessities for a livable future.”

In response to the letter, the mayor’s office told Curbed Seattle that “Mayor Durkan’s proposed budget makes significant investment in our transit and Seattle’s transportation system—everything from focusing on essential services like repairing sidewalks to supporting our partnership with Sound Transit to delivering more light rail to Seattle as soon as possible.”

Durkan’s office pointed to $609 million in her proposed budget for SDOT and $128.3 million more in transit investments over 2018. That includes a 30 percent increase to the city’s investment in King County Metro, requesting 100,000 more service hours over the next two years; continuation of the ORCA Opportunity program, which provides free transit passes to Seattle Public Schools high school students and some community college students; $1 million “to help low-income residents access transit”; and $9 million for Seattle’s streetcar system, including funding to “continue evaluating” the Center City Connector.

“Mayor Durkan will continuing listening to the community and working to help build a city of the future with more transit, fewer cars, and less carbon pollution,” the office said.

LINK: https://seattle.curbed.com/2018/10/22/18010308/mass-transit-coalition-seattle-budget

31 Light rail reopens after tropical storm caused more than $1 million in damages

The Charlotte Observer By Fred Clasen-Kelly October 21, 2018

The Lynx Blue Line light rail and Gold Line streetcar will return to full service Monday, the Charlotte Area Transit System said Sunday.

In a tweet, CATS said normal service would return to uptown, South End and between uptown and NoDa.

A fallen tree damaged overhead wires that provide electricity and communications to the trains when the remnants of Tropical Storm Michael blew across North Carolina, according an Oct. 16 Observer report.

CATS previously had said contractors were making $1.2 million in repairs, but did not give an exact date when they would be completed.

That forced passengers to use buses that have been set up to link the Blue Line stations that have been out of service between the Scaleybark and Sugar Creek stations. Passengers transferred from the train to the bus or vice versa to get to their final destinations.

LINK: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/latest-news/article220404300.html

32 BQX streetcar project faces renewed skepticism by pols, residents

AM New York By Vincent Barone October 21, 2018

It’s one step forward for Mayor Bill de Blasio’s streetcar and two steps back.

As the de Blasio administration looks to move forward with the proposed Brooklyn-Queens Connector, called BQX, there’s renewed hesitation among local elected officials, experts and some residents about the merits and prudence of the project.

The latest skepticism comes after a summer report in which the administration outlined that the streetcar, now envisioned to run along the waterfront of Brooklyn and Queens from Red Hook to Astoria along an 11-mile route, would cost more and take longer than estimated to build while running a shorter route.

The project, initially projected to pay for itself, is now looking for federal funding to cover about half of its costs.

"We would be able to add additional bus service — bus lines, express bus, Select Bus — we’d be able to do that extremely quickly, much more efficiently and at much lower cost,” said City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, whose district includes Long Island City, Queens, which the streetcar would transverse.

De Blasio first billed the streetcar as a project that would pay for itself by increasing property values along its route and increasing tax revenue, a tactic known as value-capture financing. Now, however, the project is expected to cost $2.7 billion, with only about half the cost coming from value-capture financing and the other half from the federal government.

The city also now expects to break ground on the project long after de Blasio leaves office, in 2024, leading Van Bramer and others to believe that it could never come to fruition.

"We need solutions and we need them now,” Van Bramer continued. “Hunters Point, LIC, Court Square — these areas have seen unprecedented growth and we want more and better north- south, east-west routes, but I just don’t know if we can afford to wait for something that may or may not happen.”

With the subways built to shuffle people between the outer boroughs and Manhattan, the mayor sees the project as a meaningful way to create a new city-run, Brooklyn-to-Queens transit option for a growing number of residents who work in emerging economic hubs in the outer boroughs. The city is now looking to start the process for an environmental impact study this winter, followed by a formal review process for development projects, the ULURP (Uniform Land Use Review Procedure), in 2020.

“These neighborhoods have grown rapidly without the transit to match,” mayoral spokeswoman Jane Meyer said in a statement. “The BQX is part of an all-the-above approach to make sure people have the public transit they need. Communities will be involved at every step of the process and are integral to the project’s success.” 33 Brooklyn Councilman Carlos Menchaca, who leads the Council’s BQX Task Force, and some of his colleagues in recent weeks said that public input will be integral to shaping their ultimate stances on the project. Menchaca, who is currently planning the first convening of the task force, seemed dedicated to making sure the city won’t waste money on a project if communities didn’t want it.

"I think what we want to do is really shepherd through the mandate of the Council, which is the people’s voice — to bring the people’s voice into the discussion,” Menchaca said.

"Only then will we be able to consider pressing the green light on this,” he continued. “In fact, the option to press the red light is not only real and possible but is within our role as a Council."

After more than two years since de Blasio first introduced the streetcar concept, residents with whom amNewYork spoke in Brooklyn and Queens were still unfamiliar with the project. Some welcomed the idea.

“Any addition to transportation is a good idea,” said Marina Rana, 34, of DUMBO.

But many more were skeptical and felt that the region’s more pressing needs — the subway and bus systems’ service crisis — should come first.

“Just fix the subways,” said Michael Naula, a technician who lives in the Bronx and works in Long Island City.

While Gov. Andrew Cuomo controls the MTA, the authority is looking to the city to help fund its roughly $40 billion, 10-year plan, called Fast Forward, to modernize subways, buses and accessibility. Brooklyn Councilman Brad Lander said recently that the fact that BQX won’t pay for itself is “a real negative” because MTA already needs “many billions just to maintain our current infrastructure."

The streetcar is expected to travel about 12 mph, saving a projected 50,000 daily riders between several minutes and 14 minutes, depending on the trip and destination. But some critics have pointed out that a significant portion of the proposed route closely mimics that of the G train and that, as the city has noted, the streetcar would need to mostly run on an exclusive track separated from traffic and take priority at signaled intersections to meet expected travel times.

Critics of the BQX, including Tom Angotti, professor emeritus of Urban Policy and Planning at Hunter College, can see the streetcar continuing as a zombie project that the next mayor could kill. Angotti described the streetcar as a project conceived by developers that doesn’t do much to serve neighborhoods outside of the subway's footprint.

“The No. 1 problem is it’s not a transportation solution. It’s a development solution driven by new high-rise, luxury development on the waterfront,” Angotti said.

“The City Council can say, ‘No, not a penny [for the BQX].’ Right now they don’t even have to do that, because this is not going to be done on this mayor’s watch,” he continued. “But if I were a betting man, I would bet that it’s not going to happen.”

LINK: https://www.amny.com/transit/bqx-streetcar-de-blasio-1.22247300

34 Rail supplier news from The Andersons, Thales and Brookville (Oct. 19)

Progressive Railroading By William Crum October 19, 2018

The Andersons Inc. reached an agreement to acquire 67.5 percent of Lansing Trade Group LLC. for $305 million. In addition to paying $175 million in cash, The Andersons will issue $130 million worth of unregistered shares to current Lansing equity holders. The transaction will result in the consolidation of Thompsons Limited of Ontario and related entities that were jointly owned by Lansing and The Andersons. The acquisition is expected to close before Jan. 31, 2019.

Thales today will introduce the SelTrac™ G7 train control system to the North American market. Developed at the company's Toronto plant, the system incorporates the latest computing technologies and train operation features to improve the passenger experience, according to a Thales press release. The company unveiled the SelTrac G7 technology at the InnoTrans 2018 conference last month in Berlin. The system is designed to ensure "long and extendable design life without the need for disruptive, systemwide re-signaling," Thales officials said.

Brookville Equipment Corp. this week delivered the fifth of six Presidents' Conference Committee (PCC) streetcars for a new streetcar system in El Paso, Texas. The unit is the 50th PCC streetcar that Brookville has restored and delivered since entering the market in 2002, company officials said in a press release. The 4.8-mile El Paso Streetcar system began pre-revenue service earlier this month. Meanwhile, Brookville marked the delivery of its 100th new streetcar. The company delivered the 100th unit to Milwaukee for its streetcar system slated to open Nov. 2.

LINK: https://www.progressiverailroading.com/supplier_spotlight/news/Rail-supplier-news-from- The-Andersons-Thales-and-Brookville-Oct-19--55919

35 Wheel deal: Streetcar service gets a big boost

Business Observer Florida By Business Observer Staff October 19, 2018

Downtown Tampa residents and workers now have a car-free, no-cost way to get around town thanks to a $2.7 million Florida Department of Transportation grant that eliminates fares for the 2.7-mile, 11-stop TECO Line Streetcar System — which connects downtown Tampa with the Channel District and Ybor City — for the next three years.

The funding will also allow the streetcar’s operator, Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART), to offer expanded and more frequent service. To cater to downtown workers, the streetcar will pick up passengers every 15 minutes from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays, and then every 20 minutes thereafter.

Though the TECO Line has been in service only for the past 16 years, Tampa is no stranger to streetcars. The city’s first electric streetcar service debuted in 1892, becoming a popular way for workers to get around during the cigar industry's boom times.

With younger workers eschewing ownership of personal vehicles, long wait lists for downtown parking and the influx of development brought by Jeff Vinik’s Water Street Tampa project, HART believes the time is right to raise the profile of the TECO Line.

The service “can play a greater role in the broader transportation network of Tampa to better serve residents, customers, and visitors, not only today, but into the future,” HART Interim CEO Jeff Seward states in the release.

LINK: https://www.businessobserverfl.com/article/teco-streetcar-tampa-free-fares

36 Moving forward: Downtown streetcar project nearing finish line

Oklahoma 4 News By KFOR-TV and K. Querry October 19, 2018

A major milestone was reached on the MAPS 3 streetcar in downtown Oklahoma City.

On Thursday, crews welded the last rail in place along the streetcar tracks.

We’re told there are just a couple more things that need to be done before the streetcar is ready to hit the rails.

In 2013, the Oklahoma City Council first voted to move forward with a proposed streetcar project throughout downtown.

“To alleviate the amount of vehicles that are on the road at any given time,” said EMBARK spokesperson Michael Scroggins.

Officials say it will be another six weeks before the streetcars are ready for passengers.

LINK: https://kfor.com/2018/10/19/moving-forward-downtown-streetcar-project-nearing-finish-line/

37 Streetcar ridership continues to fall. And one solution just got more complicated

Cincinnati Enquirer By Hannah Sparling October 19, 2018

It’s more bad news for the streetcar.

Ridership numbers in September were down nearly 23 percent compared to the previous year.

That’s after being down 15 percent year-over-year in August and 7 percent in July.

In all, one quarter into the streetcar’s new fiscal year, which started in July, ridership is down 15 percent.

Here’s the bigger picture: The Cincinnati Bell Connector launched in September 2016 and has been in operation for 25 months. There are year-over-year ridership comparisons for 12 full months. In 11 of those – March is the lone exception – the streetcar lost riders from one year to the next.

"Major changes are coming, and everything is on the table," said Cincinnati City Councilman Greg Landsman, who has taken a lead on trying to address the streetcar's woes.

One major change expected soon is the announcement of a new streetcar CEO.

There are also ongoing talks about making the streetcar free, though a recent City Hall memo threw a bit of cold water on that idea.

This project was always contentious. People in power were trying to kill it before even a single foot of track was laid. Derek Bauman, a retired police officer and streetcar supporter, said some in the city administration are still trying to kill it.

“It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy,” Bauman said. “They create these conditions then point to the results.”

There are easy fixes, Bauman said. The city could time traffic lights so the streetcar moves faster. And, it could increase the fine so people quit parking on the tracks.

“There’s a lot of finger pointing and everything else, but to me,” Bauman said, “it’s not a coincidence that when you have an administration that’s politically opposed to this, it’s been hamstrung. … The problem is at the top. It’s not being managed properly, and it was not implemented properly. If you fix that, then it’s going to improve.”

But the numbers are what they are.

Ridership has been a huge disappointment. Cars are frequently late. And the bad PR is enough that Cincinnati Bell, the streetcar’s namesake, has toyed with pulling its sponsorship.

38 In an email to city leaders, Over-The-Rhine resident Brad Thomas, part of an effort to boost streetcar ridership, said that ridership for the first quarter was projected to be the highest of the fiscal year.

“It is becoming clear incremental changes will be insufficient to fix (the) ridership situation and all options need to be on the table,” Thomas wrote.

Anecdotally, Thomas wonders whether the new electric scooters are hurting the streetcar. They cover a lot of the same territory – the scooters actually cover more – and depending on wait time for the streetcar, grabbing a scooter could easily be a quicker option.

“If you look at the transportation landscape, that’s the only real difference (that would account for the recent dip),” Thomas said. “I think it’s a possibility.”

Thomas still believes the streetcar can be successful, and he thinks in some ways – driving development, for example – it already is.

He thinks hiring a streetcar CEO will make a big difference – one person in charge and one person accountable. And he thinks Cincinnati needs to look at cities with comparable, successful streetcars, and copy what they are doing.

Kansas City, for example, has a streetcar line very similar to Cincinnati’s except that it gets four times the ridership. One of the main differences: In Kansas City, the streetcar is free.

“If we’re looking at trying to make this as successful a system as possible, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel,” Thomas said. “We just need to look at what works for other cities.”

But even that is not as simple as it might seem.

Cincinnati City Councilman David Mann proposed back in May making the streetcar free, but a recent memo from City Hall shows that might be costlier than initially thought.

Mann’s basic argument was this: Not enough people are riding the streetcar, and maybe more would if it were free.

The streetcar makes a little more than $400,000 a year on fares, but it spends half of that just to collect those fares.

Mann proposed making rides free and making up the difference from developers in Downtown and Over-The-Rhine. Plus, more riders might mean better opportunities to sell advertising, so free rides could end up making the streetcar money in the long run.

A memo from Acting City Manager Patrick Duhaney, however, argues it could be more complicated. No. 1, if the streetcar were free, it might need more security – to the tune of $60,000 to $100,000 extra a year.

And, the one-time cost to remove and store the fare-card stations could be anywhere from $90,000 to $360,000, according to the memo.

39 Mann said it seems to him like people are just looking for reasons to keep charging. The projections seem overblown, he said – the fare boxes, for example, could just be left at the stations – and he plans to keep pushing for a free streetcar.

“I keep looking at Kansas City and, you know, explain to me the difference between the two cities,” he said. “The big difference is free rides. … Kansas City embraced this wonderful new transportation option, and Cincinnati, being Cincinnati, had to play it differently.”

LINK: https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2018/10/18/cincinnati-bell-connector-streetcar- ridership-declines/1682384002/

40 New council texts: Cranley tried to make a deal with critics to fire Black

Cincinnati Business Journal By Chris Wetterich October 19, 2018

In late March, during Cincinnati city government’s political crisis over the fate of then-City Manager Harry Black, Mayor John Cranley allegedly offered to make a deal with two of his harshest critics — council members and fellow Democrats Wendell Young and Chris Seelbach — in exchange for their votes to terminate Black.

“Cranley calling Wendell and me asking if he can give us something in exchange for our vote,” Seelbach texted Young and council members P.G. Sittenfeld, Tamaya Dennard and Greg Landsman on the morning of March 24, according to a transcript of the messages obtained Friday by the Business Courier.

“Same,” Landsman responded. “Meeting with him tomorrow. He claims he’s willing to put anything on the table.”

Landsman suggested that up to four of the five Democratic council members who were in coalition together to oppose Black’s firing meet to discuss the situation. Adding a fifth would have violated the state’s open meeting laws.

It’s unclear what transpired at the March 26 meeting, but Black stayed on the job for another 26 days until Landsman flipped and Black resigned under pressure on Saturday, April 21.

Landsman disputed the characterization that Cranley was trying to cut a deal.

“The mayor was trying to determine priorities as he worked to advance the priorities he and others had, that’s all,” Landsman said today. “Either way, time to move on and focus entirely on the work.”

Sittenfeld and Seelbach declined to comment.

In a statement, Cranley did not dispute the content of the messages.

"Going forward, I hope City Council members will stop putting loyalty to a gang ahead of the public good," Cranley said.

On March 12, three days after Cranley had demanded Black resign, Seelbach texted the others about a meeting he had with Black in which the two agreed to reset their relationship. Seelbach had told Black that he was considering being the fifth vote to terminate him.

Black agreed to back Seelbach’s responsible bidder ordinance, a controversial measure which required certain apprenticeship requirements on some city work as well as to budget to make the Cincinnati Bell Connector streetcar fare-free and to give it signal priority. Streetcar supporters believe such measures would make the streetcar more reliable and improve ridership.

41 “And I have those promises in writing,” Seelbach added.

On March 13, Seelbach said he met with Cranley and left with the understanding that the mayor planned to pressure Landsman to be the fifth vote to fire Black.

“Told us he has every union, (Ohio Democratic Party Chair) David Pepper, etc. reaching out to get him on board,” Seelbach said.

“(Landsman Chief of Staff) Vanessa (White) just said that’s not true,” Dennard responded.

The texts are the subject of ongoing lawsuits in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court by Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes member Mark Miller and his attorney, Brian Shrive, against the city and the council members.

While this batch apparently contains all texts over the past year between the five — Seelbach, Landsman, Sittenfeld, Young and Dennard — Shrive and Miller have argued all messages between them must be disclosed, regardless of how many members were on each individual string.

The city does not believe texts between individual elected officials are public record.

On Sept. 19, the Business Courier requested all text messages concerning city business between Cranley and all nine City Council members, either individually or within a group, between Jan. 1, 2018 and April 30, 2018. On Oct. 2, the city denied the Courier’s request, saying that the city does not keep text messages and that the Ohio Supreme Court has not ruled that they are subject to disclosure under the Ohio Public Records Act.

The texts are another window into the behind-the-scenes deliberations of the five Democrats not only on Black’s fate but on other matters, including Cranley’s rejected appointment of Rayshon Mack to the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority and the FC Cincinnati stadium deal for the West End. An initial batch was obtained by the Courier on April 18:

In January, the five Democrats discussed the appointment of Mack, a political ally of Vice Mayor Christopher Smitherman, to the SORTA board. Sittenfeld brought Mack’s appointment to the attention of the other four.

Sittenfeld noted that Mack had called some black leaders in Cincinnati “traitors” or “snakes.”

“He has tweeted things accusing me of ‘corruption,’” Sittenfeld wrote. “He has tweeted things himself that are overly anti-labor. Anti-Labor. Anti-Democrat. Villifying leaders in the black community. And mean on top of that.”

Sittenfeld also asked the others whether he was missing anything when it came to Mack and whether they would support Cranley’s nominee.

“I don’t think you are,” Landsman texted back, later suggesting Cranley appoint former state Sen. Eric Kearney to the board.

“If he is who I think he is, he’s a nut,” Young texted earlier in the string. “Let’s bounce the sucker.”

42 On March 12, Sittenfeld expressed his irritation at pressure being applied by FC Cincinnati and its general manager, Jeff Berding, for council to approve a financial package for the club to build its stadium in the West End. Earlier that day, Berding had set a March 31 deadline for government approval of a plan. Council, with Sittenfeld’s support breaking the logjam, ultimately would approve such a deal on April 16.

“The gall is [expletive] unbelievable, and really does a disservice to trying to make a cool thing work for our city,” Sittenfeld wrote. “The real takeaway, Jeff is saying to council, despite giving you no concrete info, you all need to rush a decision in the next 2 weeks. Community benefits agreement be damned.”

“Just drove through the West Bank,” Landsman, who was in the Middle East at the time, texted. “I think it’s actually less tense and awkward here.”

LINK: https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/10/19/new-council-texts-cranley-tried-to- make-a-deal.html

43 OKC Streetcar stuck downtown

Oklahoma News 4 By Kaylee Douglas October 19, 2018

The Oklahoma City Streetcar is stuck downtown near Reno & EK Gaylord during testing.

City official Kristy Yager said the pantograph (the arm on top of the streetcar that connects it to the cable) was up when it went under the bridge.

Why or how it was up is still being investigated.

OKC Police said they’re not doing any traffic control.

There is no other information at this time.

LINK: https://kfor.com/2018/10/19/okc-streetcar-stuck-in-downtown/

44 Businesses get “Hop Along” kits ahead of launch of Milwaukee streetcar

CBS 58 By CBS 58 Newsroom October 19, 2018

With just a couple weeks left until the launch of Milwaukee's new streetcar, The Hop, Mayor Tom Barrett delivered "Hop Along" kits to businesses along the route of the Hop.

The kits include promotional materials as well as brochures to inform and engage businesses as the hop gets ready to go public.

"We want them to know how much we appreciate their support and their understanding as we went through this process, but now we want more people to use their businesses, we want people to ride the Hop and we're very proud of the fact that it's coming in on time and under budget," said Mayor Barrett.

The grand opening ceremony will be celebrated on November 2 at noon in Cathedral Square Park.

Rides for the first year will be free.

LINK: https://www.cbs58.com/news/businesses-get-hop-along-kits-ahead-of-launch-of- milwaukee-streetcar

45