Railway Boosters Want You to Clang, Clang, Clang the Supes to Approve Trolley Funds
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| Rick Laubscher |
| This ex-Newark streetcar and 15 others could be back on the streets of San Francisco -- for $18.7 million |
The notion of spending millions of dollars on transit vehicles cursed to be "historic" and cute -- something no one would ever say about a Muni LRV train or bus -- while the system faces habitual shortfalls and awaits claims filed by its battalion of wounded riders could strike some as wasteful. Telling that to a trolley fanatic is the quickest way to get him to throw his chocolate milk in your face.
Yes, trolleys are adorable -- but they're also functional. The frequent arguments we've heard in favor of these sorts of expenditures: The F-Line is not an extravagance but carries so many riders that it's stretched to capacity; fixing durable old Muni streetcars is far cheaper than purchasing modern vehicles; and proposed trolley maintenance should last for decades. Trolley people are eager to bring up the dollars-per-mile costs of fixing historic rail vehicles as opposed to buses or modern trams.
We peppered Market Street Railway president Rick Laubscher with calls yesterday -- which he did not return (city trolleys don't go into tunnels, so he can't use that excuse). But he made all of the above arguments and more when telling SF Weekly in April why it was a good deal to sink $2 million into restoring Old No. 1, the nation's first publicly owned streetcar.
In addition to touting the cost-effectiveness of retooling the built-to-last streetcars, Laubscher chided the onerous hoops the city makes those it does business with jump through. He claimed excessive bonding requirements and forests worth of paperwork scared off many of the nation's most prominent trolley restoration companies from even attempting to bid on restoring Old No. 1. Similar trolleys, he said, have been restored at railway museums for less than two-thirds what the city shelled out.
Is this still a factor regarding the proposed $18.7 million maintentance? Could San Francisco save $6 million right here and now if we weren't such a pain in the ass to work with?
We'll keep calling Laubscher to see what he thinks. In the meantime, the budget and finance committee meets today at 11 a.m.; if they approve the contract it will move on to the full board, potentially on Aug. 18.
Update, 3 p.m.: From New York City, Rick Laubscher gets back to us -- "Quick answer to your question is I don't know that there are any "better" organizations (your word) than the one that won the procurement from Muni or even if there are any additional firms with the capability to handle this scope of work that would have bid under different terms and conditions. Remanufacturing 16 streetcars in a group is a much different job than the restoration of a one-of-a-kind streetcar of an earlier era. On a larger level, I think the point is moot, because the city does have requirements in place, and they have to be met for all contracts -- every bus they buy, every police car, everything. Our group accepts that, and I didn't intend to imply otherwise."
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