Streetcars were an integral part of Glendale culture and the city’s transportation system for over 50 years in the first half of the 20th century. Today, streetcars could make a comeback in Glendale.
The City of Glendale Community Development Department – tasked with maintaining and improving the high standard of living for which the City of Glendale is known for – recently issued a request for proposals, or RFP, seeking qualified firms to study the feasibility of such a project.
The RFP is the first step in the city’s goal to develop a streetcar system that would enhance connectivity and link the various shopping, dining, entertainment, and parking resources of Downtown Glendale with the region via the Glendale Transportation Center and the Hollywood Burbank Airport.
The feasibility study would accomplish several objectives such as an evaluation of different route alignments and technologies for the streetcar, an analysis of Downtown Glendale infrastructure to determine its ability to accommodate a streetcar system, a determination of the overall cost of the streetcar system, and much more.
The study will also consider the following items:
If necessary, determine the infrastructure improvements needed to construct the system
Determine what types of vehicles are obtainable and appropriate
Establish how a streetcar system can be implemented
Project potential streetcar ridership and revenues
Predict traffic impacts
Forecast impacts on Downtown Glendale businesses
Technical and price proposal are due to City of Glendale Senior Transportation Planner Fred Zohrehvand at 633 E. Broadway, Room 300, Glendale, CA, 91206 by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, August 22. Potential applicants with questions about the RFP should contact akamali@glendaleca.gov.
The City hopes to begin this project in summer 2018. A full schedule leading up to the proposed beginning of the project is also available.
Click on the link that follows, to learn more about Glendale's transportation legacy.