Type Streetcar Stations 16 | Status In planning Opened Future | |
 | ||
Website Los Angeles Streetcar, Inc. Operator(s) Los Angeles Streetcar, Inc. | ||
The Los Angeles Streetcar is a planned, partly-funded electric streetcar that would serve Downtown Los Angeles, much in the same way the Los Angeles Railway streetcar system did in the earlier part of the 20th century.
Background
In May 2011, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the city of Los Angeles, and several stakeholders began conducting studies and holding public meetings to identify the feasibility of restoring streetcar service downtown. The streetcar restoration efforts will further support in revitalizing Downtown Los Angeles's Historic Core and connect people to employment centers, shopping districts, civic resources, cultural institutions, historic landmarks and entertainment venues within the project study area. A restoration of the streetcar service is anticipated to underscore the overall downtown renaissance occurring in the historic downtown area of Los Angeles according to Metro.
After narrowing it down to seven possible alignments, one alignment was chosen as the Local-Preferred Alternative in January 2012. This alignment would travel on Grand Avenue, 1st Street, Broadway, 11th Street, Figueroa Street, 7th Street, and Hill Street, though a second alternative including an alignment on 9th Street instead of 7th Street was also included – thus two Build Alternatives will be studied further for potential development. A Draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Assessment (Draft EIR/EA) for these two Build Alternatives is currently in preparation, and was expected to be released to the public in Spring 2014.
As of June 2016, a draft EIR for the streetcar was finished, but only about $80 million of the estimated $280 million construction cost had been identified.