Savannah — Grant for Extension Filed

June 2013

The tourist-oriented streetcar line on River Street in Savannah which uses an ex-Melbourne tram converted for biodiesel propulsion for wire-free operation may be extended if a federal grant can be secured, Savannah Morning News reports. The one-mile demonstration line opened in 2008.

Chatham Area Transit filed an application for 80 percent federal TIGER funding for the $59 million plan. The route is not yet finalized but likely would include extensions east from the existing line to Hitch Village and west along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to the Visitor Information Center area. Economic development is expected to follow the line.

The plan will be incorporated in a five-year transit development plan to be voted on this summer.