State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

Cities build streetcar lines amid lessons from failing projects

American City and County: As cities across the country are anticipating improved transit by constructing streetcars, others are learning lessons.

Earlier in February, Oklahoma City officials and residents celebrated the groundbreaking for constructing the city’s new streetcar, The Oklahoman reports. The MAPS 3 streetcar line will pass through the city’s central business district and take about two years and $131.8 million to construct. Construction is set to begin in the city’s Bricktown district.

Mayor Mick Cornett attributed the city’s previous streetcar system’s failure in the 1940s to moving towards a more automobile-centric culture, according to The Oklahoman. Cornett said that voters who approved MAPS 3 in 2009 saw the streetcar as a link to regional rail transit and a way to make the city’s bus system more relevant due to streetcar connections.

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