The September 9th Sunday News ran a long article extolling the virtues of bringing trolley cars (they call them “street cars”) back to Lancaster. The article is available at http://local.lancasteronline.com/4/209236.

NewsLanc comments item by item and endeavors to provide the missing balance:

1) The formation of the Lancaster Street Car Co., a Pennsylvania nonprofit corporation, is recognition that no “for profit” company would be willing to invest in the trolley system.

2) How does a trolley “stitch the city together” any better than a bus? If “fifty-cent fares” is the key, we could simply subsidize loop buses.

3) “The 2.6-mile loop would cost an estimated $14.1 million.” Guess who will pay the $14.1 million. If you say we taxpayers, you got it!

4) The idea is that it would be ‘financially sustainable.’ But the published projections by the sponsors indicate an annual loss of about $300,000. Research trumps wishes. So who gets to pay the $300,000 deficit that is likely to soar? Again, taxpayers.

5) But wait. “…backers will certainly look for philanthropic dollars…” More wishes.

6) “…backers will chase advertising dollars…” But buses also run advertisements yet Red Rose Transit System requires taxpayer subsidy.

7) “…tax exempt status to provide donors with tax advantages and help solidify corporate partners…” Tax exempt status means indirect tax payer subsidy.

“…fine tune the route and design of the proposed system, with an eye on minimizing traffic disruptions.” They acknowledge that running trolleys down the street and stopping every time someone wants to get on or off disrupts traffic.

9) “Streetcars would operate at about 10-minutes intervals around a north-south loop along Queen and Prince streets, from the city Amtrak station to Southern Market Center at South Queen and Vine Streets.” These main streets are already congested several hours each day.

10) “There are, backers acknowledge, a lot of legitimate concerns about the project. Traffic is a major worry…[they] may in fact reduce traffic volume, if people park at the edges of the city and use the trolley to get around town.” The Amtrak station is the “edge of the city?” And even if parking garages are finally built at the station, would commuters be willing to park cars there and have to wait for a trolley rather than park downtown?

11) “Conventioneers and visitors … might want to visit Clipper Magazine Stadium or go antiquing in the 300 block of North Queen Street.” Conventioneers will come to Lancaster to watch our local baseball team? Shoppers won’t take a loop bus or walk a couple of short blocks to visit antique stores?

12) “It can be built quickly, inexpensively, right into the street to get around without a car more easily.” It requires $14.3 million minimum to create the infrastructure for the trolley line. It costs nothing towards added infrastructure to simply run a distinctively painted loop bus.

13) “This is not some harebrained idea,” said Jack Howell of the Lancaster Alliance. Seems so to us!

9/9/07