Images of trolleys on aged roads bring to mind the winding streets of San Francisco, but Madison residents could get their own street cars if the president of Downtown Trolley, John DeLamater, can convince the city to accept his proposals.
DeLamater, a sociology professor at UW-Madison, said he began doing research on the idea of light rail in the downtown area after Madison's Transport 2020 committee, formed to study public transportation in Madison, decided to drop electric trolleys as an option last June.
\I was afraid that they would simply drop light rail on grounds that it would cost too much,"" DeLamater said.
Madison got a taste of the possible future when representatives from Skoda, a Czech company that produces electric cars, gave a presentation Friday touting their high-speed cars.
The new trolleys are just one option. Others would include refurbishing old street cars or creating replicas, which would connect Madison Metro's bus passengers from Metro's west transfer point to its north transfer point, according to DeLamater. Construction costs would be approximately $80 million.
""The advantage of trolleys is that they're much more environmentally friendly [than buses],"" DeLamater said. ""Street cars are also quiet ... whereas buses are quite noisy.""
Ald. Ken Golden, District 10, chair of Transport 2020, said the streetcars could provide solutions to many of Madison's problems.
""Trolleys may prove to be an interesting option not only for Madison, but the entire region,"" Golden said.
According to DeLamater, who studied streetcar systems in five cities, including the recent line created in Kenosha, Wis., more people would ride the trolley than the current bus system.
""For every light-rail system built in the U.S., ridership has far exceeded projections from the first day,"" DeLamater said.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said he is worried about how such a program would be paid for since the city of Madison may lose a large amount of state revenue under Gov. Scott McCallum's Budget Reform Act.
""There is no way in the world the city, or Dane County for that matter, could fund either light rail or commuter rail,"" he said. ""It would take a huge ... subsidy from the federal and state government.""
DeLamater said he is hopeful, though, that the project will be able to receive federal grants covering up to 50 percent of the construction and operating costs if he can get Transport 2020 to approve it.
""They will have met all the requirements to be eligible for any federal funding,"" he said.
The Transport 2020 committee will meet at 5:15 p.m. Jan. 30, in room 260 of the Madison Municipal Building, 215 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
