Clunk! Clunk! Clunk! Goes the Trolley
Albuquerque Mayor Chavez wants to install streetcars between Old Town and Knob Hill. I don’t know why. Here are a few reasons why not:
1. Construction costs would be high and streets would be torn up for months. Whatever the estimated cost, the actual cost would be far higher.
2. Low benefit-cost ratio. Dozens of cities (including Albuquerque) have abandoned their streetcar systems for one reason or another.
3. Unlike other forms of mass transit, streetcars actually add to congestion, as their tracks use one or more lanes of the street.
4. Streetcars endanger riders who have to get from the sidewalk to the streetcar, dodging auto traffic.
5. Eventually the system will prove to be a lemon, and taxpayers will have to foot the bill for tearing up the tracks and paving over the ruts.
Does anyone disagree?