The Plan in 2013 was to get $56 million from the federal government (DOT, HUD, EPA) and raise
another $16 million from the city Hotel and Car Rental tax and downtown CID to
build this 2.7 mile tracked route with 4 cars and 12 stations to run East/ West
on Auburn Ave. from the MLK Center to Centennial Olympic Park. The streetcar is planned to run 7 days a week
and tickets will be $1.
Operating
expenses were planned for $1.7 million a year and ticket revenue planned for
$420 thousand a year. The revenue is 25%
of the operating cost. It will require
tax subsidies of $1.28 million a year. The current cost to build the streetcar
project has risen to $95 million.
This is
like making a $100 million investment that plans to lose $1.28 million a
year. There is no hope for an eventual
“break-even” deal. The Streetcar is a
theme park feature in the middle of the city built to attract downtown tourists
and locals.
The plan
estimates 4.7 million tourists and 1.4 million conventioneers per year. Event attendance for sporting events and
concerts was estimated at 12 million a year, but the Braves move to Cobb will
affect this. Once the Streetcar and its venues have been completed, many of our
4 million metro residents will ride the streetcar, but that might be a
“one-time thing”. The Streetcar will
need more people to move to this downtown area to live.
Saporta
reported ridership was now around 700,000. If the Streetcar can maintain high
ridership year-round, tickets could pay for half of the operating cost.
This is
corporate welfare for downtown hotels, restaurants and venues. It removes car lanes and makes it harder to
navigate an already poorly planned downtown. The property seized by the city
from previous property owners is theft.
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