A Streetcar Named Disaster

Jarrett Stepman / March 05, 2018

There are few more illustrative examples of government dysfunction and waste than the DC Streetcar.

At a hearing last week, the Washington, D.C., City Council reportedly discussed replacing its fleet of streetcars, just two years after the DC Streetcar went into service, even though the Federal Transit Administration generally sets a streetcar’s lifespan at around three decades.

Acquiring the new streetcars will cost the city at least $25 million.

This would be just the latest unexpected problem for a public transport system plagued by delays, cost overruns, and failure. It has become a monument to government waste.

The DC Streetcar is essentially a very slow-moving mobile libertarian recruitment ad that cost $200 million and took a decade to build.

— CJ Ciaramella (@cjciaramella) February 26, 2018

Currently, the streetcar operates on a 2-mile stretch on H Street, a mere fraction of the 40 miles of track originally promised.

The Daily Signal went to H Street and spoke to Michael Sargent, a Heritage Foundation expert on transportation and infrastructure, and Lyndsey Fifield, who is the social media director for the Heritage Foundation and a resident of the District of Columbia.

They discussed why this project has had so many problems and what it has cost taxpayers.