The Downtown Streetcar: Conceptual Routes Released

Plans for a streetcar in downtown moved ahead today when conceptual routes were released by Los Angeles Streetcar, Inc. (LASI), the nonprofit charged with giving Los Angeles a streetcar by 2014. The routes all serve three distinct areas.

"Part of the logic behind defining this Core Service Area was to transport people to/from areas they want to get to today, like the LA Live/Staples/Convention area and Bunker Hill/Civic Center, but also route them through the locations they might not have known about or seen previously, like a Broadway corridor or Pico Blvd," explained Executive Director Dennis Allen to blogdowntown in an interview. "This is all part of the two-pronged approach that streetcar systems need to take - 1) as a local circulator and transportation solution, and 2) as one of the best economic development tools to surface in recent times."

Part of the plans call for couplets--north and south tracks running on separate streets--and mini routes like a South Park loop (see the dashed lines in the above maps).

Now that LASI has released their ideas, it's time for you to speak up. They will be hold a community open house on July 29 for public input at the Bradbury Building.