Why Do People Like Streetcars?

I have become increasingly convinced that the streetcar project is a major misstep for the city. However, there is significant support for the streetcar plan among those who are knowledgeable about local issues in Cincinnati.

Streetcars were a smart form of transportation (and actually profitable for companies to run) in the old days when the internal combustion engine had a very low efficiency. I suspect this nostalgia for the old days is one of the reasons they receive some popular support. But now streetcars have all of the problems of buses with none of the advantages (Some argue that it’s an advantage that the system is inflexible and people know the routes cannot quickly change. However, if you think this is important why not try to propose an amendment to the city’s constitution that locks in bus routes? I’d say because that’s not a very good idea. All else equal, it’s better to have a flexible system that can adjust to changes in development and transportation needs).

The city’s current plan is to spend $30 million per mile constructing a streetcar system that will lose about 60% ongoing (and thus never pay back any of the capital). Throw in the significant budget deficit the city already faces and I think the financial argument against streetcar spending is overwhelming. Yet, if the city insists on spending the money - We live in a world of tradeoffs, so they must consider the alternatives uses of those funds. I can think of many, but the obvious alternative is another transportation option: Buses. With the capital costs, streetcars are much more expensive than additional bus service.

As streetcars are an inferior technology, the persistence of public support is a small puzzle. As far as I can tell, there are a few reasons people prefer streetcars to buses. The first is nostalgia. There seems to be a view that a streetcar will make Cincy more popular with tourists. But, I don’t see this being much of a factor as every other city seems to be sinking money on streetcars. They simply don't differentiate the city and aren't a tourist attraction like SF cable cars.

Another further reason for support is offered up by Megan McArdle at the Atlantic:

The streetcars I'm most familiar with are Philadelphia's… so let me offer my take on why people (read: affluent, especially white people) like streetcars: they don't have so many poor people on them.

Streetcars are developed in a fixed area and not frequently expanded. They have a high capital cost. This means the area along the lines gentrifies. Thus, when you get on a streetcar, it normally has a lot of other affluent people on it. By contrast, when you get on a bus, it normally has a lot of poor people who have been sitting on it for an hour, patiently waiting to get to work. The association builds between streetcars and affluence, busses and poverty, in one's mind.

Even though streetcars may help gentrify a neighborhood, that doesn’t mean they’re a good investment. Sinking a bunch of the city’s money into a loser investment may be good for the effected neighborhood, but is still a net loss for the city.

Economic growth is fundamentally about productivity improvement. Streetcars are a move in the opposite direction and make the city a little poorer. The streetcar project is not as bad as say spending funds on a monorail, but it’s still a waste. Streetcars wouldn’t make Cincinnati the next San Francisco or Portland. They’d make Cincinnati more like St. Louis and Cleveland - poorer versions of Cincinnati with light rail.