The Board of Directors of the Lancaster Streetcar Company is currently being formed to continue the process. The Lancaster Streetcar Company is working on a variety of tasks. This includes ridership surveys, bylaws, potential funding recommendations for both construction and operations, and continuing to learn from other cities.

 

Ridership surveys demonstrate likely demand for using streetcars. The Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College conducted a telephone survey of 408 Lancaster County residents living within a twenty mile radius of Lancaster City. Residents were selected for participation using a random digit dial method where phone numbers were randomly generated based on telephone exchanges. The survey was designed to assess County resident’s™ impression of and likelihood to ride a proposed streetcar in downtown Lancaster. Residents that completed the telephone portion of the survey were asked to answer several addition questions online. The online component of the survey included images of streetcar designs and a map of the proposed streetcar route. Ninety-six of the 205 residents who provided their email address completed the online portion of the survey. You can view the results of the survey on-line. Lancaster Streetcar Ridership Survey (PDF). Additional surveys are now being deployed, including surveys to elderly residents in North and South Prince Street towers and downtown employers. These results are not yet obtained.

 

A Sunday News Article provides a good overview of the initiative.

 

Questions?? There are several good web sites to learn more about streetcars. To learn about how streetcars evolved in America, check out www.aroundmaine.com/07/trolley/default.asp. This site includes some interesting historical video footage and narration. To learn about how streetcars are being reinvented for the 21st century, check out www.reconnectingamerica.org (check out the Powerpoint presentations) and www.heritagetrolley.org/. Another good web site is www.mata.org/. This is the web site for the McKinney Avenue line in Dallas Texas. This line is about the same distance as proposed in Lancaster and is managed by a non-profit organization with partnership from the transit authority, city, private sector and others.