Modified plan for Providence streetcar system coming before City Council

A STREETCAR system is shown in this rendering of the corner of Washington and Empire streets downtown. A modified plan for the Providence streetcar system will come before the City Council this week. / COURTESY STUDIO AMDT
A STREETCAR system is shown in this rendering of the corner of Washington and Empire streets downtown. A modified plan for the Providence streetcar system will come before the City Council this week. / COURTESY STUDIO AMDT

PROVIDENCE – A modified plan for the Providence streetcar system will come before the City Council this week, one that connects South Providence to Providence Station, instead of crossing the river into College Hill.
The new route for the initial phase of the streetcar would create a connection to the mass transit hub at Providence Station, which now has Amtrak and Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority services and could become the central location for Rhode Island buses. The extension into College Hill on the city’s East Side would become a second phase. The southern end of the streetcar line would be near Rhode Island Hospital.
Under an ordinance to be introduced to the council Thursday, the city would establish a Tax Increment Financing district around the proposed route, including its first and second phases. This 980-acre zone would include all properties within a quarter-mile of the streetcar tracks.
Under the financing plan, new development and improvements to these properties following the establishment of the TIF area, the tax base growth, would be directed to the streetcar construction and operations.
The city’s Planning Department, in a document prepared for federal transportation authorities, reported that the modified route would result in a lower cost to begin the streetcar service.
The initial projection set the capital expense at $117.8 million to build the system and purchase four streetcars. That cost is now estimated at $100.2 million, according to the Planning Department overview.
The streetcar line would run for 1.6 miles and include stops at 11 stations. It is expected to attract 2,896 boarding riders daily, according to a projection. If the funding is secured, the streetcar potentially could begin in 2019, according to Luis Aponte, the City Council president.
The operating cost is estimated at $3.2 million in the first year.
The new route would enhance the value of the Interstate 195 district, by connecting the properties to mass transit, according to the Planning Department overview. The revised first phase would also bring a stop close to the South Street Landing project site, as well as the location proposed for a new stadium for the Pawtucket Red Sox.
Providence has an efficient system for getting commuters and visitors in and out of the city, Aponte said, but the streetcar would allow the city to move people within the boundaries of the city more effectively. According to the proposal, the streetcars would reach the stops every 10 minutes.
The new route for the first phase would allow the city to leverage the existing mass transit network, Aponte said.
“It makes a lot of sense to be able to create a central hub for different modes of transportation,” Aponte said.
Providence was awarded a $13 million federal grant for the initial segment of the Providence streetcar in September. That federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant now represents about 13 percent of the estimated startup cost.
Under a preliminary breakdown, the city would provide $57.7 million for the project through a revenue bond repaid by the TIF area earnings. Among other possibilities: the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority would provide $10 million, the state could provide $15 million through Rhode Island Capital Fund, to be repaid by sources including increased sales and meal taxes, and the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority could provide $5 million.
Aponte, who introduced the ordinance this week, said the streetcar proposal will be referred to the council’s Finance Committee, which would later hold a public hearing.
There is a possibility that additional federal grants could be obtained, Aponte said. If the TIF plan is approved, the city could partner with another agency, such as RIPTA, in running the service, or could contract out the operations to a private entity.
Based on an analysis, the city estimates the area around the route could gain another 3.6 million square-feet of new development over the next 20 years, which would generate $734 million more in taxable property value.

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  1. Spending 100 million dollars building a 1.6 mile streetcar system along Providence’s busy and narrow streets will not be cost-effective. Providence and Rhode Island should be looking at building a PRT mass transit system similar to the PRT system that has been operating at London’s Heathrow Airport for over four years. Because each fully loaded car in a PRT system would weigh less than 3000 pounds, the infrastructure to support the PRT guide ways would be light weight, low cost and unobtrusive when spaced a 50 foot intervals. For 100 million dollars, an 8 mile system, where ridership fees would cover 96% of the operating cost, could easily be built in Providence. Please GOOGLE (GCEDC-PRT-Evaluation) for a 70 page evaluation of the existing PRT systems operating today and read the executive summary.