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The GW Hatchet

AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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D.C. rolls back plans for streetcar system

D.C.'s streetcar program was cut back this Thursday.  Media Credit: Photo courtesy of the District Department of Transportation.
Mayor Vincent Gray released a less ambitious plan for the city’s streetcar system this week. Photo courtesy of the District Department of Transportation.

D.C.’s plan for a city-wide streetcar system has faced some significant scaling back.

Mayor Vincent Gray announced Thursday that the city is looking to spend $800 million on a system that would have about eight miles of tracking, the Washington Post reported. The initial plan would have had more than 20 miles of lines run across the city.

The new plans call for extending the 2.2-mile system between H Street and Benning Road into Georgetown and across the Anacostia River, the Post reported. But both the line running north to south from the Takoma Metro station to Buzzards Point and the M Street line would be put on hold.

A report in 2012 found that a streetcar network in D.C. could reduce transportation costs and create thousands of new jobs. A ride on one of the streetcars would cost $1.

In 2013, Georgetown University lobbied the city to put one of the streetcar stops on its main campus.

The D.C. Department of Transportation had announced plans for the streetcar system to open in spring 2012. Since then, the project has faced major delays, and streetcars on the H Street line have just recently begun simulated service with no passengers.

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