Myrtle Beach — Shorter Streetcar

Rail Transit Online, March 2007

A proposed streetcar circulator line for the seaside resort of Myrtle Beach has been substantially cut back in an effort to gain wider community support.  Last fall, City Planning Director Jack Walker projected a three- or four-mile (4.8 km-6.4 km) route running parallel to the Ocean Boulevard tourist zone and looping past the convention center.  Further extensions could run to the southern end of the hotel district, the airport and even beyond Myrtle Beach.   Now, Walker suggests what is essentially a 2,000-ft (609.6 meter) shuttle from the recently refurbished railroad station down Ninth Avenue North to the ocean using diesel- or battery-powered rail cars.  No cost estimate is available but Walker previously suggested some form of public-private partnership to finance the project.