Why Austin Needs Street Cars

Today most Austinites would agree our city needs to improve mobility. This November the Capital Metropolitan Transit Authority will ask voters for permission to build a commuter rail line from downtown Austin to Leander. The proposed commuter rail will bring riders into Downtown Austin without the hassle of long commutes, frustrating traffic snarls, and unnecessary exhaust emissions. While the commuter line is a good start for a future transportation system, Connect Austin believes the best way to connect people with places in the heart of Austin are streetcars.

Streetcars can easily move riders to various points of interest including Auditorium Shores, the State Capitol, UT Austin, and many of Austin's local businesses and restaurants in the downtown and entertainment districts. Streetcars allow people to travel without the worry of added driving or searching for parking, and pedestrians can enjoy greater safety and ease of movement. As an important part of a future transit system, a streetcar would benefit area residents and visitors alike.

In a town or downtown setting, streetcars do many things. Obviously, they provide mobility, without the automobile and in a way that is friendly to pedestrians. In addition, they bring development and channel it where it is wanted. They attract tourists. They let people who use transit to get to town move around in the downtown (in transit language, the "distributor" function). They bring new people to transit; as San Francisco Municipal Railway General Manager Michael T. Burns said, "People who wouldn't ride a bus will ride a streetcar." And, perhaps most important, streetcars say, "This town, this downtown, is here to stay. It's not going to go down hill again." George Sanborn, reference librarian of the Massachusetts State Transportation Library, put it well. "Every city's streetcars were different. When the streetcars went away, so did the flavor of that city." Bringing back the streetcars puts back the flavor our cities and towns have lost, and tells the world that it is not going to go away again.