Concerns Raised About the Brooklyn-to-Queens Streetcar Proposal

Yonah Freemark wrote for The New York Times about the challenge of designing a functional streetcar system: "A streetcar line that actually improves quality of life for New Yorkers must be fast, frequent and reliable — all of which require redirecting street space away from private automobiles and toward public transit."

Freemark examines the current plan, and finds it falls short of the ideal as a transit resrouce. The article, however, is full of examples from around the world (the streetcar system in Paris) and nearby (the Select Bus Service in New York) to inform the discussion about how to improve the streetcar proposal. Freemark even references Chicago's 2015 approval of a Transit-Oriented Development Ordinance that increased building size and reduced parking requirements. "Without a similar change, New York’s streetcar will be hobbled by neighborhoods not designed for transit," writes Freemark.

In a separate article, published the next day, James Fanelli and Jeff Mays reported on the emerging implications of that plan for drivers—as predicted by Freemark. According to the article, the BQX (as the streetcar plan is called), "will eliminate a 'substantial' number of parking spaces and cause streets to be ripped up so underground utilities can be relocated…" The article gleans its insights from "a 2011 Department of Transportation study of a 6.8 mile streetcar system in Red Hook that determined the project was not feasible." In addition to parking, traffic, and zoning concerns, the Fanelli and Mays add utility relocation as another challenge for the BQX plan to overcome.