Savannah — Streetcar Revival

Rail Transit Online, November 2003

The local public transportation provider, Chatham Area Transit (CAT), is proposing restoration of streetcar service in historic downtown Savannah on a four-mile (6.4 km) line along River Street and Broughton Street to Forsyth Park.  Up to six cars would be needed to operate the route on a 10-min. headway.  Preliminary studies estimate the capital cost at $18.5 million, 90 percent of which would be covered by federal and state grants.  Annual operations would cost $850,000, part of which would be generated by fares.  CAT held a series of public meetings during late October as part of a feasibility study being carried out by consultants Team, Inc. and Stone Consulting that will be presented to the agency’s board of directors to help it decide whether to continue the project.  A vote is possible in December, but the idea is already generating support among civic leaders.  “As a viable system of mass transit, the streetcar has a certain panache that fits Savannah,’ Coastal Heritage Society Executive Director Scott Smith told the Savannah Morning News.  The line would link tourist attractions with the water ferry service and the city's parking garages.  “It connects a lot of things together, which the city is in support of,” Assistant City Manager Chris Morrill told the Morning News.  The streetcar revival would get a major boost if the city purchases existing tracks on River Street from Norfolk Southern Railroad as part of a deal to gain ownership of Battlefield Park.  The local Roundhouse Railroad Museum already owns, and is restoring, an 80-year-old Melbourne tram.  It could become part of the new system, which would probably use new vintage replica cars complete with air conditioning and accessibility for the handicapped.  Streetcars last ran in Savannah in 1946.