Posted on 07/17/2015 9:01:58 PM PDT by lowbridge
Charlotte, North Carolina’s $37 million streetcar officially began moving this week, and those in the community were still wondering — was it worth that much money?
Knowing the backlash that the electric streetcar has received in the community, two editors at CharlotteFive, a new project of the Charlotte Observer that says it delivers both news and entertainment to Millennials, decided to see just how efficient the streetcar is and challenged it to a race.
According to a video produced by the online site,Charlotte’s Gold Line streetcar travels at a speed of approximately 16 mph and only makes six stops on its 1.5 mile route, during which it abides by traffic laws such as stoplights. But when pitted against Katie Toussaint, an assistant editor at CharlotteFive, on it’s opening day, the Gold Line streetcar’s achievements didn’t shine quite so bright.
The streetcar completed its route in 11 minutes and 32 seconds, according to CharlotteFive.
Toussaint, 25, completed the same route in 9 minutes and 31 seconds — almost exactly two minutes faster.
(Excerpt) Read more at theblaze.com ...
That seems to be their only purpose: to bring in gullible tourists. A jobs program for urban “teens.” Atlanta has one, of course, traversing the “historic black district.”
At $5000 a foot I hope the cars are air-conditioned.
Seriously, one might suspect a tad bit of graft in the contracting.
“...$25 million of the streetcar’s cost was paid for by a federal grant.”
Must be nice, if you can get it....have the nation’s taxpayers fund the boondoggle in your town instead of paying it directly by the community.
Construction has recently begun on a streetcar line in St. Louis, as well.
Full PDF:
http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/pa559.pdf
We had trolleys all over downtown Cleveland. The overhead wires were really fugly!
Typical public transportation bs. One time long ago i was looking at apartents in philly. I took a cab to the apt on front street and figured i could take a bus back to center city. At the time Chestnut street was strictly a bus corridor. no cars just buses. Well i walked all the way back to work waiting to see if a bus came by none did.
they have uprooted the tolley track on girard ave here in philly for the second time since i’ve lived here. redoing them. The trolley is so out of place
Actally, possessive pronouns shouldn’t even be used for inanimate objects in correct writing.
And they wonder why the Federal highway fund is broke.
Saw one of those when we were up at the Greenway last weekend. It would have been amusing for the children to ride, if we’d known where one gets on/off.
Is the news paper organization reported this looking for a new copy-editor?
No, of course not. This is all part of redefining the language to the point where everything means "whatever".Up until a few years ago I missed going to Charlotte, I don’t any more. This is another reason why.
I sometimes catch some WBT morning stuff and that is all I need.
Yes, but can that 25-year old woman get three people to ride on her at once?
Never mind; don’t answer that.
They're "proud" of the fact that this boondoggle reduces the carbon footprint by 8.7 molecules and "serves the public" by taking them where they don't want to go.
It's for the childrun, dontcha know.
I know what you mean. I was pretty much done with Charlotte after the city ignored the citizen’s (non-binding referendum) “no” vote on the Bobcat’s arena...and they built it anyway. And, WBT radio has gone straight downhill. Rush is the only thing I listen to on that station...and not even that much of him.
two minutes?
what’s time to a hog?
#26 Where is the road? : )
It looks like half of it is covered in grass.
Maybe reverting to the horse drawn carriages of olden days.
I see that in Philadelphia they cannot paint a straight line....
I’d like to see that streetcar make a left or right turn....
#8 A search on cost of a city bus came up with the following:
A typical 40ft new clean-diesel bus will cost anywhere between 350-500K each
A typical 40ft alternative fuel powered ( CNG, LNG, hybrid ) bus will cost around 400-600K each
A typical 60ft articulated or bendy bus will cost average 650-775K each
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.