Washington, DC ― Streetcar Operator Sought

Rail Transit Online, March 2011

Washington's Department of Transportation has issued a Request For Information seeking a private-sector company to operate and maintain the planned 37-mi. (59.5 km) streetcar system, the first two short segments of which are scheduled to open during 2012.

Based on the responses received from the RFI, the DDoT plans to issue a Request For Proposals by early summer and select a contractor in August. The RFI seeks answers to numerous questions including whether the city or the contractor should own the cars, if WMATA should manage the vendor and how fares should be collected. DDoT has tentatively determined it wants an initial five-year contract with three five-year options.

The first two lines are taking shape in Anacostia and along H Street and will use six streetcars, three already on hand that were built in the Czech Republic and three more that will soon be ordered, comprising two conventional units and one that can operate without overhead wires.

A team led by Shiels Obletz Johnsen, HDR Engineering Inc. and ZGF Architects LP is managing the streetcar program.