As you may know, the Streetcar Feasibility Study -
commissioned by the City and Mountain Metro
Transportation - was completed this past summer
and presented to City Council, which encouraged
further work towards implementing the system,
provided no general fund monies were involved. The
study, which you can access at
www.csstreetcar.com and by clicking on Feasibility
Report, recommended as a first step, a north - south
corridor through downtown to Colorado College or
Penrose Hospital, with follow-on segments north
through the Old North End Neighborhood ending at
the University of Colorado - Colorado Springs on
Nevada Ave. To broaden community support for the
project, future routes west to Old Colorado City and
Manitou Springs, east along Constitution Avenue or
Platte Avenue and south to Fort Carson were also
suggested.
The Streetcar Task Force, on which our Foundation
is well represented, continues to meet. Although no
commitments have been made, it appears that the
Task Force is leaning towards using our fleet of cars
as restored, which would be contributed to a Public -
Private Partnership we would enter into with the City
and/or the bus system. Our expectation is that city
bus drivers would operate our newer PCC cars in
everyday service and our people would run our
historic cars on weekends, holidays or for special
events, like it is done in cities such as Dallas. For
federal funding a number of events must occur,
however, for that to happen, and this is where the
"slowly" phrase in the header comes into play:
An Alternatives Analysis must take place; it would
define the exact routes the system would use within
the corridors the feasibility consultants
recommended, along with paseenger stops, etc. At
the same time, detailed capital cost data would be
developed, along with projected car scheduling,
marketing plans and revenue and expense pro
formas.
Because Federal monies would be sought for an
estimated 50-80% of the cost of the system, an
environmental impact study would need to be
completed. Funding for this study is being sought -
both Federal and the required local match.
Detailed design and engineering work would follow,
City Council would give final approval to the system,
and with Federal funding secured for construction,
and the local match provided in part by ourFoundation through contribution of our cars
and what other assets we had that the system
could use, we would move forward with the
project.
There is one major uncertainty however, over
which we have relatively little control. The
City's financial situation has caused it to cease
funding the bus system, leaving only fare and
advertising revenues and what monies RTA can
contribute to operate the system in 2011 and
beyond. These monies are not sufficient to
maintain even the reduced levels of service that
now exist. A Governance Study is currently
being conducted with recommendations to City
Council scheduled for next February or March.
That study is evaluating alternative funding and
sustainability alternatives for Mountain Metro,
all of which will probably dictate a vote by the
people in Colorado Springs and some outlying
communities to increase taxes in some form.
How and if a streetcar system is to be included
in any referendum has not yet been addressed.
It should be clear to the reader that there are a
lot of hurdles that must be cleared before
reaching the finish line. Please be assured that
the Foundation is addressing them and has
begun the process of evaluating alternative
strategies, should events not occur as expected.
We remain committed to a streetcar system
operating in Colorado Springs and using our
restored cars. Please stay tuned and
committed.
Dave Lippincott
