Portland — Reliable Streetcars

Rail Transit Online, April 2002

“I am embarrassed to admit it, but we may have bought one too many cars.”  That statement by Portland Commissioner Charlie Hales to The Oregonian newspaper referred not to overly ambitious ridership projections but to the reliability of the Czech-made Skoda Astra streetcars used on the downtown trolley line.  The 4.7-mile (7.5 km), one-way loop opened last summer and has since been carrying around 3,000 daily riders.   According to Hales, who was the driving force behind the project, “…these cars have been virtually 100 percent reliable.”  Meanwhile, two more Astras are nearing completion and are scheduled to be shipped from the Skoda plant in Plzen on May 22.  The extra cars were ordered for a planned extension to the RiverPlace and North Macadam redevelopment areas.  A NextBus electronic passenger information system is being installed at 24 of the 32 streetcar stops that will alert passengers to the arrival time of the next two cars on illuminated signs.