Cincinnati and Kansas City streetcar systems near completion

By Bill Holloway
Streetcar projects in both Cincinnati and Kansas City are nearing completion with service on both lines slated to begin next year.
The final welds were completed on the Cincinnati streetcar track in mid-October and the first streetcar vehicle was delivered to the city’s Maintenance and Operations Facility last Friday (10/30). Four additional streetcar vehicles will be delivered to the city over the coming months. Testing and street readiness preparations will follow and passenger service on the 3.6-mile route is set to begin in September 2016.
Work on the 2-mile long Kansas City streetcar is also nearly complete. The overhead wires were turned on for testing in late September and the first of the system’s vehicles arrived in Kansas City today (11/2). Service on the line is expected to start in early 2016.
The development of both streetcar systems has been motivated by a desire to draw residents and economic activity to downtown areas.
Bill Holloway is a Transportation Policy Analyst at SSTI.