Streetcars few desire free for all
Good morning: I enjoyed the column on the streetcar line. Unless I missed it, an important datum was missing: What do annual revenues amount to? Perhaps that figure appeared in an earlier column. Or perhaps you didn’t consider it directly relevant. One positive externality of the streetcar is that it gives all the rich folks at the Capital Hotel and Bar a pleasant prospect while dining and drinking. — Buzz
Dear Buzz: We reread last week’s column and became despondent over our failure to include the fact that trolley rides are — as Frau Blucker said about the Monster — free! Free! Free!
As for the Capital, the trolley does make a charming sight as it passes by mostly empty. Especially when sipping an Old Fashioned. That’s our favorite cocktail. Just sayin’.
A criticism of the trolley system is that it’s not especially functional. As amateur historians know, trolley cars once stretched to the outer limits of Little Rock. That is, Pulaski Heights. And deep into North Little Rock via Main Street. The Fabulous Babe’s grandfather lived on Main Street and would take the trolley to work at the Missouri Pacific yards.
MoPac is now gone; same for those trolley lines, which back in the day constituted mass transit.
The only mass transit in these parts is the bus system. Central Arkansas isn’t big enough yet for the kinds of mass transit seen in, for instance, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Buses run constantly in Buenos Aires. There’s a subway system. And you can’t swing a coatimundi by the tail without hitting a taxi. But that metro area is about 15 million people. We only have about 750,000 in Central Arkansas.
Guru of the Rails: Your column on the Rock Region Metro trolley system didn’t mention the fare is free. The transit organization at the time admitted the trolley was not considered mass transit but was instead a tourist ride. Seems to me the tourist tax collected by the restaurants and hotels should fund the trolleys instead of the general public. Or collect a fare like New Orleans. — Not a Rider of Our Rails
Dear Not: Be careful what you wish for. A cynic like us immediately thinks hotel and restaurant taxes wouldn’t be shared, but increased, in order to support the trolley.
Bottom line on the trolley is that it’s here to stay.
As was explained last week, the second phase of the system — serving the Clinton Presidential Center — doesn’t fully depreciate until 2047. If the rail were ripped out today, the cities of Little Rock and North Little Rock, and Pulaski County, would have to pay back about $10 million to the Federal Transit Authority, which ponied up about $21.8 million of the $27.2 million total cost.
Vanity plate on a Mini: YPKIYAY.