For four days this week, people can check out a D.C. streetcar to see what riders could be using to get around Washington’s proposed 37-mile streetcar system. Prospective riders can also survey streetcars of the past at the National Capital Trolley Museum, which is running an extended schedule Thursday through Sunday until May 16. We spoke with Pinson, the museum’s education director, about the streetcar’s past.
The museum has had a tough history — arson, a mysterious fire, a forced move because of the construction of a highway — yet it reopened in a new location in January. Why is it important to keep the museum going?
We feel it is an important piece of Washington’s history, and that information may be lost or forgotten if not kept alive.
Which is your favorite streetcar at the museum?
I would say it’s the car that is the Washington streetcar.
What makes it special?
The fact that it was actually used in the city during the time of the trolleys.
Why did D.C. get rid of its streetcars?
At the time, the buses were coming into service and the highways were being shared by the buses, the trolleys, and a lot of people had their own automobiles. It was determined that something had to go, so the trolleys were then taken off the streets.
D.C. is among several jurisdictions looking at bringing back streetcars. What do you think of their return?
I think it’s a great idea. We’re all concerned about environmental issues, and the electric streetcar is certainly environmentally friendly.
But you mentioned the issue of competition on the roadways, so why would streetcars make sense now?
Streets in some cases have been widened. … Perhaps people would be more interested in taking a streetcar, as opposed to taking a gas-powered bus.
– Kytja Weir
