Minneapolis — Streetcar Study

Rail Transit Online, January 2006

The city of Minneapolis has appropriated $300,000 for a feasibility study of several streetcar lines that would connect neighborhoods in a pattern similar to that in Portland.  There is strong political support from the mayor and city council, who want modern streetcars as opposed to heritage trolleys.   “We're looking to add more energy to our main streets,” Mayor R.T. Rybak told the Star Tribune.  “It puts us on the cutting edge of American cities, but ironically it also grows out of the city's history.  Minneapolis grew along streetcar lines, and that's part of what created the charm of our neighborhood commercial districts.”  At its peak in 1922, Twin City Rapid Transit Co. streetcars carried 226 million passengers.  The last PCC ran in 1954.  Among the new routes that have been suggested are Washington Avenue from the University of Minnesota to a planned baseball park and a link from the Mississippi River to the Uptown district.  Construction funding has not been identified but the city may have to handle the project itself if the regional Metropolitan Council decides not to be involved.