Albuquerque streetcar plan discussed

John at the Big Albuquerque-like Things blog attended an informational meeting about plans of using streetcars on the Duke City’s streets, including Central Avenue (aka Route 66).

John did a good job providing an overview of the project, including pictures from the presentation. He thinks tourists (like me) will use the streetcars to go to downtown, Old Town, Nob Hill and the University of New Mexico campus. But he thinks the project’s appeal will be greater than that:

Now let me make it perfectly clear that I don’t think tourists will be the only ones using the streetcar. There is definetly a market for commuters getting off the Rail Runner and going into the UNM area, and for people commuting from Nob Hill to Downtown. There is also a lot of entertainment stuff, like the sports stadiums, downtown bars, Nob Hill, the BioPark. Big markets there. But with that Airport-Old Town thing going, I think the big market is going to be tourists here.

However, a system that aims at tourists is of course not a doomed system, far from it. The San Diego Trolley started as a Downtown-Mexican Border(Tijuana) route. A few commuters probably used it, but it was mostly for tourists. But then they expanded it, sending a line into the eastern suburbs(no tourist stuff there) and expanding to their Old Town and north to Mission Valley, where the stadium and all the shopping centers are. And they’re still expanding it like crazy. Today it serves tourists and locals alike.