According to Public Works Director Charlotte Katzenmoyer, the City will most likely contract with URS Corporation to conduct a planned $40,000 streetcar engineering feasibility study. This San Francisco-based firm led the design and implementation of Portland, Oregon’s first contemporary streetcar system. Because the grant is half-funded by County urban enhancement dollars, URS will not be formally recruited until the City receives go-ahead from the county commissioners, Katzenmoyer said.
The City decided last August that it would move ahead now with engineering study and only expend funds for an economic feasibility report if the engineering proved practical.
The City invited three different firms experienced in streetcar systems (Black & Veach, HDR, and URS) to bid on the engineering study. The attached scope of work (click here to view) began with several driving questions for the study, which included:
- “Will the streetcar operations on [Queen and Prince] negatively impact traffic operations?”
- “Queen and Prince are both state highways. Will the Pennsylvania Department Transportation (PennDOT) accept this alternative use of a state route?”
- “How would the streetcar line impact utilities?”
- “The introduction of overhead wires to power the vehicles could be a visual and maintenance concern. Is a wireless technology feasible and cost effective?”
- “Would it be possible to modify the route alignment to serve downtown destinations but use alternative routes to minimize traffic and utility impacts?”
The scope later stipulates that the contractor must investigate at least one alternate streetcar route using Water Street instead of Prince.
Of the three consultants invited, only URS responded with a bid, which fully adhered to the project budget. According to Katzenmoyer, the lack of response from other contractors was likely due to the study’s low budget and the uncertainty as to whether the study would likely lead to later design work. “I’m sure a lot of cities do feasibility studies and never do design,” she said.
Katzenmoyer noted that at least one firm—Stone Consulting—was not even invited to bid because of its existing connection with the proposed downtown streetcar loop. The firm had in 2006 produced a streetcar feasibility report for the Red Rose Transit Authority. That same report, incidentally, projected a yearly operating loss of nearly $400,000 for such a system.
“We were looking for somebody that’s going to look at it independently and very objectively,” Katzenmoyer said, “Not somebody that’s just coming in here and wanting to sell us on moving forward with the design. That’s why I didn’t send it out to anybody that’s already been working with the streetcar company on the project.”
The dumb leading the blind followed by the stupid going through the motions of something that has already been endorsed and decided by the local power brokers.
Didn’t we “study” the CC? Didn’t those same power brokers want it? Didn’t we get it despite economic realities and public sentiment? This will happen and it will move downtown 3 steps BACKWARD not 2 steps forward.
Seems to me that at least one piece of this puzzle can be an absolute show-stopper and that’s state approval for putting trolleys on the state highways (Queen and Prince Streets).
I’ll bet a simple phone call to the state would get the answer to the question, all without spending money on outside consultants.
But wait, that’s too easy and obvious…
So where in this economy could we use $40,000 to help the citizens of the city and county? We do not need street cars!!! Start using the money we have for really needed projects, not for more progressive pie in the sky ideas.