More Better Brooklyn Trolley Talk

It cheers us to read that there's ongoing talk about bringing trolleys back to Brooklyn, and specifically about recreating a network that would link Brooklyn attractions. At least, that's one proposal being made as part of planning for Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Our old friend the Brooklyn City Streetcar Company, which was formed in 2002 after the Brooklyn Historic Railway Association's plan to build a trolley line in Red Hook died, is involved. It recently pitched a proposal, according to the Park Slope Courier, to the Downtown Brooklyn Waterfront Local Development Corporation, which is doing a $1 million transportation study of ways to improve access to Brooklyn Bridge Park:

The Brooklyn City Streetcar Company imagines the restored cars ferrying passengers along a series of interconnected tracks through neighborhoods like Red Hook, DUMBO, and to destinations like Brooklyn Bridge Park, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Borough Hall.

“Trolleys, of all the means of transportation, are the most fuel efficient and pollution free,” said Arthur Melnick, the director of administration for the BCSC, a not-for-profit corporation....“Trolleys are economical in all respects, and this could be done at little cost to the city,” he said, noting that the system could be connected to the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s MetroCard system. Funding for the proposal could come from private, federal and state sources, Melnick said.

“Trolleys make the most sense,” Melnick said.

Trolleys make so much sense in some part of Brooklyn that they are the ultimate no brainer. They are perfect surface transportation, relatively low cost and very cool. (They're also an important part of Brooklyn's history.) Using restored, old cars would also create a tourist attraction. They are, in short, the perfect sensible Brooklyn transportation alternative.

Related Post:

• Red Hook's Transportation Problem and How to Fix It: Trolleys