D.C. Streetcar Reports First Six Months Better-Than-Expected Performance

"Nearly six months since its long-awaited debut, the District’s first streetcar line in more than half a century is quietly exceeding early ridership projections while avoiding the kinds of mishaps that have placed the Metrorail system under constant and intense scrutiny," reports Martin Di Caro.

Di Caro quotes Leif Dormsjo, the director of the District Department of Transportation, to summarize the accomplishments of the streetcar in its first sixth months. Here are Dormsjo's words, as quoted in the article: "So far we’ve been doing quite well. The running times have improved. I think our customers are pleased with the service. The vehicles are being maintained properly. And we haven’t had any safety incidents."

The good service news comes just prior to a decision expected by the end of August about whether DDOT should increase the frequency of streetcars and expand hours of operations to all seven days of the week (service is currently unavailable on Sundays for maintenance). A decision about whether or not to add a fare to use the streetcar will wait for another six months.

As for the specifics of the ridership numbers reported by DDOT, "70,000 passengers rode D.C.’s five streetcars in June, according to DDOT figures. The weekday average was 2,773, and close to 3,000 passengers boarded streetcars on Saturdays that month." Those numbers exceed the projections for 1,500 average daily riders.