The Wave is a 2.7-mile (4.3 km) streetcar line planned in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Construction costs are estimated to be $200 million. The first phase includes a 1.4-mile (2.3 km) downtown loop. Broward County will own and operate the line. Ridership is anticipated from the downtown bus terminal, hospitals, courthouses, tourists, residents and office workers. The line will connect with the Sun Trolley buses reaching additional neighborhoods, beaches, Las Olas Boulevard, Tri-Rail, and the Fort Lauderdale Airport. By 2016, however, physical work had yet to begin; by then the start of construction was pushed to 2017, with completion in 2020, subsequently revised to 2021.
The electric streetcar system was estimated to cost $125 million, and is being planned for the downtown. Construction funding will come from federal ($62.5 million), state ($37 million) and city taxpayers ($10.5 million), with approximately $15 million from assessments on properties located within the Downtown Development Authority. Broward County Transit (BCT) has committed to operating the system for the first 10 years at an expected annual cost of $2 million, and has guaranteed funding to cover any shortfall in ridership revenues. The construction cost of $50 million per mile is considerably higher than other recently built streetcar projects, in part due to the challenges of building an electric transit system over the 3rd Avenue drawbridge.
In July 2013, the Fort Lauderdale city commissioners approved a tax on downtown property owners, providing the final part of funding needed for the projects construction to begin.
In September 2017, BCT placed an order with Siemens for five streetcars for the Wave, at a total cost of $31.4 million, including a supply of spare parts. They will be a version of Siemens' S70 model with a length that has been reported variously as either 83.3 feet (25.4 m) or 79 feet (24.1 m).
In late 2017, the project was again put on hold after all the high construction bids were rejected.
Video The Wave (streetcar)
See also
- Transportation in South Florida
- All Aboard Florida
- Tri-Rail
Maps The Wave (streetcar)
References
External links
- Wave Streetcar Fact Sheet, December 2017
- The Wave Streetcar Project planning document
- Argument Against The Wave
Source of article : Wikipedia
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