No offense to 202 Cyclist or D.C., but I'd rather be behind the controls of Skoda's newest LRV, the T-14:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...14_T_Praha.jpg
source

Why? Is it functionally better or just aesthetically different?

Aesthetically, I think that one Busy Bee posted is rather ugly. The bulbous front looks like some sort of weird animal snout. Not cool at all. IMO, anyway.

I personally think the 14T is a better styled train. I guess it was designed by Porsche industrial design. I like it better, but thats just me. My main issue is this copycat notion transit operators in the US seem to have about equipment, like there for awhile where it seems every single freakin LRV in North America was a Siemens SD series, quite possible the most banally designed rolling stock of all time. I think the Skoda 10T is a great streetcar, I just think maybe D.C. deserves something a bit more unique, a bit more 'wow, that's modern' inspiring.

Well, it's a known product. At this point streetcars are still not common in American cities, so when selling the idea to decision makers it helps to say "look, it's the same as the very successful one in another city". As more American cities build streetcars, inevitably there will start to be more variety.

But yeah, I agree some of those Siemens LRVs from the 90s were just awful.

I understand and agree with you Cirrus, but it's important to remember that within a tram manufacturers line, most are functionally similar, with its cosmetics often tailor designed or tweaked for the buying operator. If US officials can't understand that, especially for a high profile system in the Nation's Capitol, that workaday POV is a little unsettling. Oh well, I'm probably making too much of it, I'm a bit quixotic in my expectations. I don;t want to steel any thunder from DC. Don;t get me wrong, the streetcar program in DC is very impressive and inspiring—but as a designer I just wish the rolling stock was same. And as a side note, am I the only one that thinks the Connector scheme is ghastly?

I don't really like the connector scheme. I really don't think you can wrong with the good old red/white/blue combination. Maybe just a red/white DC flag combination. But whatever, it's not that big a deal to me.

I hope they get a streetcar up Wisconsin, I may be moving to Glover Park and while the buses run well, a streetcar would be great.

The Fairfax Connector? I like it well enough, but a lot of people don't. I'm a fan of solids. I think the big problem with it is that the particular shades of red and yellow they choose resemble ketchup and mustard a little too closely.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3536/...3b3ec44b_o.jpg

... It just occurred to me that you probably meant the DC Circulator.

I have mixed feelings about it. The red and black is good. The yellow I could do without. I'm pretty ambivalent about the fish shape. The words were clearly a mistake, since not all the routes go to those particular destinations. Overall I think it's OK, but not great.

I will say it's better in person. Not as cluttered-looking when it's 30 feet long instead of 4 inches on your screen.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4051/...54335cd98d.jpg

Is that a Jesus fish on the side of that bus?

It's not supposed to be. It's just coincidentally sort of the same shape.

yeah, I meant circulator as well and I don't think it looks bad in person either. If I had my way, the city buses would be red/white/blue and more conservative looking and the circulator would be flashy but w/ the same color scheme, just for continuity sake even though they're not the same system.

I like the look of the Circulator busses, though I hadn't noticed the yellow lines being in the shape of a Jesus fish until now. Regardless, the flashy look gives them a more enticing appeal than regular ho hum busses.

I was told by a wonk in Portland that there's a high possibility that United Streetcar will branch out with new designs and hire design teams and such.

^
Some day they'll have to, but it's too early for them right now. Right now they simply need to work on making sure they're big enough to handle orders. They are still way too small to even consider bidding on most large orders. They're confined to small projects looking for just 2 or 3 vehicles at a time.

Washington Airport Selling $650 Million for Dulles Transit Line (Bloomberg)
 

Washington Airport Selling $650 Million for Dulles Transit Line

By Catarina Saraiva and Allison Bennett
Bloomberg

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=aVOT579bNVCM

May 11 (Bloomberg) -- The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority plans to sell $650 million of revenue bonds this week to help finance an extension of the U.S. capital’s passenger rail system to Washington Dulles International Airport.

The issue, backed by revenue from the Dulles Toll Road, a 14-mile (22.5 kilometer) highway to the airport, could begin selling as early as today, said Andrew Rountree, the authority’s acting chief financial officer. Its offering to individual investors, scheduled for yesterday, was delayed because of market “uncertainty” over a financial rescue of highly indebted European nations including Greece, he said.

“We’re interested in making sure that when we do bring a deal to market, there’s a receptive market,” Rountree said. “We would like to come at a time where we think that the pricing won’t be impacted by the short-term shock.”

Tax-exempt yields rose 1 basis point to 3.18 percent yesterday, up from a six-week low of 3.16 percent May 6, on concern over the debt crisis. One basis point is 0.01 percentage point. U.S. Treasury 10-year yields rose the most in nine months yesterday, ending the day at 3.54 percent, after the announcement of a $1 trillion European rescue spurred a global rally in stocks, reducing the safe-harbor appeal of Treasuries.

The ratio of 10-year municipal yields to equivalent- maturity Treasuries had reached a five-month high of 93.345 percent May 7. The higher the ratio, the more attractive municipal bonds are to investors relative to Treasuries.

“Everyone pays the price when Europe has these issues, even the municipal market,” said Justin Hoogendoorn, a Chicago- based managing director in the BMO Capital Markets Fixed Income Group. The issuers “pay the price in the form of an illiquid nervous market.”

Commercial property owners may be asked to pay for part of streetcar costs (Wash Post
 

Commercial property owners may be asked to pay for part of streetcar costs

By Jonathan O'Connell
Monday, May 17, 2010
Washington Post


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...051405073.html

Commercial property owners along 37 miles of planned routes for a D.C. streetcar system may be asked to foot the bill for a quarter or more of the $1.5 billion system proposed by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty.

Hours before Fenty held a downtown news conference to unveil one of the city's three shiny streetcars, more than a dozen owners of commercial properties adjacent to the lines gathered at the Renaissance Washington hotel to hear a pitch from the city's Transportation Department and the Downtown D.C. Business Improvement District.

A BID-commissioned study by the Brookings Institution, Robert Charles Lesser & Co. (RCLCO) and Reconnecting America, a transit advocacy group, suggests that streetcars would increase the value of the revenue-producing commercial properties along H Street and Benning Road Northeast by $1.1 billion over 20 years...

ANC 2E to consider streetcars on Tues, June 1
 

The ANC 2E (Georgetown, Burleith) will be considering the proposed K Street/Benning Road streetcar and the potential Wisconsin Avenue streetcar route at the upcoming monthly meeting on June 1. If you're available this Tuesday, I encourage you to attend. The meeting will start at 6:30 PM at the Georgetown Visitation School , 35th and Volta Place , Heritage Room, first building on left by gatehouse, 2nd floor.

Write to the ANC 3B Commissioners to advocate for a Wisconsin Avenue streetcar route
 

The ANC 3B (Glover Park, Cathedral Heights --http://www.dcnet.com/anc/3b/) will be considering a resolution introduced by Brian Cohen this evening supporting a Wisconsin Avenue streetcar route. This follows the success of getting ANC 3C (Cleveland Park, McLean Gardens) and ANC 2E (Georgetown, Burleith) to support resolutions in favor of a Wisconsin Avenue streetcar route.

Due to a prior commitment, I will not be able to attend tonight's meeting. If you have a minute and you're a DC resident, please write to the ANC Commissioners to let them know that you support this investment in improved mobility and sustainable transportation (that will not require oil) for the Wisconsin Avenue corridor.

Cathy Fiorillo cathyfiorillo@verizon.net
Jackie Blumenthal jackieblumenthal@aol.com
Melissa J. Lane mjlanedc@comcast.net
Horace "Howie" Kreitzman horacekreitzman@aol.com
Brian Cohen brian.a.cohen@gmail.com

Is Wisconsin Ave 4 lanes for the entire route through Georgetown without street parking that takes up the outside lanes? I wonder if left turns would be eliminated so as not to hold up the streetcar behind turning vehicles? Would it make more sense to extend the streetcar up Wisconsin to Massachusetts Ave and then send it up that route to American University before ultimately sending it up Nebraska Ave to Tenleytown where it can terminate? Or is Wisconsin Ave too populated north of Massachusetts Ave/south of Tenleytown to skip over in order to directly serve the AU campus? Also, could the eventual K Street streetcar that will extend west into Georgetown under the Whitehurst be turned north at Wisconsin Ave? In essence you'd have a single streetcar line that ran from Tenleytown all the way to Benning Road via Georgetown, K Street, Union Station, and H Street.

Excellent selection of technical PDF's from APTA's streetcar and heritage trolley site. Covers trackway infrastructure guidelines, streetcar electrification and streetcar propulsion alternatives including images of the Bordeaux system. All have very much to do with DC's current streetcar program.