Blast from the past: Pikes Peak Historical Street Railway Foundation

One hundred years ago, Colorado Springs had one of the largest street railway systems of any small city in the United States. But as the automobile metamorphosed from a convenient accessory to the organizing principle of society, the Colorado Springs and Interurban Railway Co. went out of business in 1932.

However, the idea of trolley service within the city hasn't died. The Pikes Peak Historical Street Railway Foundation wants to resume regular service.

The foundation's plans call for a streetcar line which would initially run on Tejon Street from Colorado College to Interstate 25. Eventually, the line would extend to the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and out Colorado Avenue to Manitou.

According to foundation co-founder Dave Lippincott, funding for a $130,000 feasibility study has been secured. He anticipates that the study will be completed by the end of the year.

Old vs. new

The foundation has acquired 13 cars and has been restoring them using volunteer labor. The cars include two vintage Colorado Springs cars from 1901 and 10 newer streetcars from the 1940s and 1950s which were retired from the Philadelphia system during the mid- 1990s.

However, it's unlikely that any of them will actually go into service. There are multiple examples of successful streetcar systems in operation in cities as diverse as Little Rock, Tampa and Portland, and none of them much resemble the re-created turn-of-the- century trolley line that the foundation has imagined.

Instead, they're thoroughly modern. Portland, which built the nation's first new streetcar system in nearly a century during 1997, chose new cars manufactured in Skoda in the Czech Republic. They're not creaky old relics -- they're heated, air-conditioned and handicapped accessible. They're also far more energy-efficient than their antique counterparts.

And the systems aren't cheap. Portland's initial 4.8-mile system cost $55 million, including right-of-way acquisition, moving utilities, laying the track and power lines, and building places to board and disembark. Overseen by a nonprofit entity, its annual operating cost is about $3.4 million.

Economic boost

But it makes economic sense, according to some metrics. Before the streetcar system was built, the area saw little investment. As soon as the system was operational, investment ballooned, as developers made the railway a centerpiece of their marketing strategy.

That's because, Lippincott said, the tracks are permanent.

"Developers can count on the streetcar lines, and they know how much people like streetcars, or light rail, compared to buses," he said. "When San Francisco replaced a bus line with streetcars, ridership increased by 50 percent."

Portland's system, which has been extended twice, includes more than eight miles of track. City officials attribute more than $2 billion in near-track development to the railway -- a return on investment of nearly 2,000 percent.

In every city that has built a streetcar system, ridership has been substantially above predicted levels. In Tampa, the 2.2 mile street railway system carries 500,000 riders annually. And Portland Streetcar, which had projected 3,500 riders per day when the system opened, now has 11,000.

Changing lifestyles

There are demographic reasons for believing that such an economic impact is credible. As the population ages, baby boomers will remain active and engaged, but their lifestyles will change.

The Center for Transit-Oriented Development recently completed a study which revealed that the demand for housing within walking distance of light rail or streetcar transit will more than double by 2025. That's because more than half of Americans aged 25-34 and more than a quarter of middle-aged Americans, would choose to live in transit-served neighborhoods.

Lippincott said that system costs range from $2 million to $12 million a mile. Terrain plays a part, as does financing. Using federal money adds another layer of cost associated with mandates such as the Davis-Bacon Act (which mandates that workers on federal projects be paid "locally prevailing" wages and benefits), which, Lippincott said, can triple the cost of the project.

Financing such systems is far from a "gimme." Portland's system cost $88 million. Of that, $27 million came from parking system revenue bonds, $20 million from tax increment financing and $15 million by increasing property taxes in the "streetcar local improvement district." The remainder came from various state and municipal sources.

It's not clear how a Colorado Springs project would be structured.

Pitfalls and problems

Tim Scanlon, who has worked as a planner for the city for nearly 25 years, said that a revived streetcar system would be desirable, but there are many pitfalls.

"You're overlaying a new system of transportation -- albeit one which existed many years ago -- over an existing system," he said. "There will be many issues -- utility relocation, neighborhood objections, other conflicts. There will be aerial electric lines, and people may see that as a visual impairment, or noise issues if you're running through a residential area."