Streetcar Coalition December Newsletter

December Newsletter from the

Community Streetcar Coalition

As the holiday season approaches, streetcars are once again helping cities shine—connecting shoppers to local businesses, carrying families to seasonal events, and bringing a festive energy to downtown streets. From twinkling lights and holiday markets to packed platforms and record ridership, streetcars play a special role this time of year, keeping communities moving and connected when it matters most.

Grab your hot cocoa and see what's new…

In this month's newsletter, we have some items of interest:

🔥Registration is Open for KC Summit in April!

🚉 Upcoming Virtual Summit – Don’t wait! Register now to get the link and join the conversation.

🛠️ Working Group Meetings– Interested in doing more with the Coalition? Check out the Working Group Meetings Schedule.

🏛️ FTA Announcements – Check out some of their newest tools.

🚋 Streetcar News – Catch up on the latest developments in streetcar systems across the country.

As always, our Coalition thrives because of you. Your engagement, ideas, and questions help shape our work. Have something to share or want to get more involved? I’d love to hear from you.

Happy Holidays, y'all!

Christy Willhite, AICP

Executive Director

christy@streetcarcoalition.org

Registration is open! Sponsorships are available too! We're so excited to be heading to Kansas City for the 15th Annual Community Streetcar Coalition Summit. Make plans to join us Monday, April 27-Wednesday, April 29, 2026. If you get in on Sunday, there'll be a special treat. Everything you need to know, including hotel information, is on the summit web page. Just click the button below.

Summit Page

Big thanks to our sponsors!

From major sporting events and festivals to conventions and seasonal surges, streetcar systems are often on the front lines when cities host big moments. With increased ridership, crowded platforms, and heightened public visibility, safety and security take on even greater importance.

This webinar will spotlight how streetcar systems are preparing for—and successfully managing—large-scale events while keeping riders and operators safe. Transit leaders will share real-world strategies, lessons learned, and best practices for scaling operations, coordinating with public safety partners, and maintaining a positive rider experience when it matters most.

Whether your city is planning for a major event, experiencing record ridership, or simply preparing for what’s next, this session will offer actionable insights you can use right away.

You’ll hear about:

Managing safety and security during major events and peak demand
Coordinating with law enforcement, emergency services, and event organizers
Crowd management, communications, and rider expectations
Operator safety and frontline staff support
Using data, planning, and partnerships to stay ahead of challenges

Register to learn how streetcar systems can deliver safe, seamless service—no matter how big the moment. This is a free event.

Tuesday, January 27, 2026, 1:00 PM Central

FTA Notifications

FTA Announces Major Event Playbook for Transit Agencies

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) released a Major Event Playbook for public transportation agencies. U.S. transit systems are critical to ensuring the success of major events, and will soon be showcased on the world stage as they safely move millions of fans and visitors to and from World Cup matches.

The new playbook offers a practical guide, strategic insights, and key considerations to help public transportation agencies navigate federal transit requirements related to hosting major events. This includes guidance on navigating regulatory and legal challenges, understanding appropriate uses of federal funds, and encouraging coordination at the national, regional, and local levels.

New TAM Peer Working Group for 2026

Building upon the success of the past three years of the Transit Asset Management (TAM) Peer Working Group series, FTA is launching a new TAM Peer Working Group for 2026. FTA's TAM team will establish a 2026 peer-driven working group of 16-20 participants from Tier II transit agencies to engage virtually over the course of four months on TAM-related topics proposed by participants. Objectives of the group are to promote peer learning, sharing of peer-designed resources, and collaboration on best practices among Tier II transit agencies.

Working group participants should be Tier II transit agency staff who engage with some aspect of TAM and should be willing and able to commit to the following for the four-month program:

Attend virtual monthly one-hour working group meetings led by fellow participants for four months starting in February 2026 (dates/times to be coordinated);
Prepare a brief presentation on a problem statement, experience, or question related to their agency's interaction with TAM, then facilitate a discussion for one of the meetings;
Actively engage and participate in Peer Working Group discussions; and
Review and provide feedback on a summary report that will be shared publicly.

Participants for the 2026 TAM Peer Working Group will be selected based on the diverse perspectives they bring from their agency, as well as thoughtful responses to the application questions to ensure an engaging conversation. For more information on future peer engagement opportunities, please visit the TAM website.

Additional TAM peer program engagement opportunities will be available in 2026. Space is limited for these various programs; applicants should consider the type of engagement they are most interested in when applying.

If you are interested in applying to participate in the TAM Peer Working Group, please fill out this form by Thursday, December 18. If you have any questions, please contact Tamalynn Kennedy.

New Categorical Exclusion Worksheet

FTA has launched a new tool to help project sponsors provide sufficient documentation to support FTA making a categorical exclusion determination for certain construction projects to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

The effort, captured through a uniform "Categorical Exclusion Worksheet," will streamline the documentation process, saving project sponsors time and money.

The new worksheet outlines the information FTA will need to determine whether a project meets categorical exclusion requirements under NEPA and FTA's environmental requirements. The worksheet also houses in a single location the necessary guidance and references the project sponsor should use in its application. Project sponsors should discuss all proposed construction projects with their FTA Regional Office prior to assuming a project would qualify for a CE, and to determine whether to complete this Worksheet.

Working Group Meeting Schedule:

Legislative-Next Meeting, Tuesday, January 13, 2026, 10:00 AM Central

Communications-Next Meeting, Wed, January 14, 2026, 10:30 AM Central

Membership-Next Meeting, Friday, December 19, 2025, 11:00 AM Central

Operations-Next Meeting, Friday, December 19, 2025, 10:15 AM Central

If you wish to join or have one of your team join one of these meetings, please send an email to Christy Willhite, christy@streetcarcoalition.org. She'll add you or your team member to the calendar invite.

Why you should join the Coalition?

Click on the image below to watch

KC Streetcar Ridership Doubles After Expansion

Progressiverailroading.com

Average daily ridership on Missouri's Kansas City Streetcar more than doubled following the Oct. 24 opening of its Main Street extension.

The KC Streetcar, a free light-rail service through downtown Kansas City, logged its highest monthly ridership in system history in November at 341,922 passenger trips. That number is two-and-a-half times the ridership logged in November 2024, KC Streetcar officials said in a press release.

The Main Street extension added 3.5 miles of track and 16 stops, from the previous terminus at Union Station to the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Since the extension's launch, average daily weekday ridership rose from 4,000 daily passenger trips to 10,000 passenger trips. Weekend ridership doubled from approximately 7,000 passenger trips per day to 14,000 passenger trips.

Omaha Prepares for Next Stage of Streetcar Construction

ketv.com

The next step in the streetcar project is mainline construction.

With the reconstruction of the Harney Street bridge complete and the utility construction from Turner Boulevard into Blackstone on track to be done by the end of the year, the city is one step closer to track being laid. Public Works Director Bob Stubbe says this phase will be less disruptive.

Mainline construction is set to begin in January of 2026. It will start at 31st and Farnum heading west and 10th and Capitol heading east.

This phase includes track installation, roadway improvements, stops, overhead electrical work, and underground electrical work.

Transit Briefs: DART, OC Streetcar, Denver RTD

railwayage.com

For the first time, electricity powered an OC Streetcar vehicle along the Pacific Electric (PE) right-of-way, marking a major milestone toward the start of service in 2026, OCTA recently announced via an X post.

OCTA Director Vicente Sarmiento stopped by to observe this recent test, which confirmed functionality of the overhead contact system that supplies power to the vehicles. In the months ahead, OCTA says testing will continue to ensure safe, reliable service for all. When complete, the OC Streetcar will operate between Santa Ana and Garden Grove, providing connections to existing bus and rail routes.

What's the future of The Hop, Milwaukee's streetcar?

wuwm.com

Milwaukee’s streetcar The Hop opened in 2018. It is free to the public, fully electric and has an about a two-mile main route with an extension to the lakefront. It connects the lower east side of Milwaukee through the east side of downtown to the Third Ward and the very edge of the Menomonee Valley.

Some — but not all — of that, could change.

In the past few years, some politicians have been trying to expand the streetcar's route — to no avail, while others are trying to defund it.

Washington DC Streetcar Closure Date Confirmed

railwaygazette.com

Washington’s District Department of Transportation has confirmed the planned closure date for the DC Streetcar service.

From January 4 2026 the tramway will have revised operating hours with headways increased from 12 min to 20 min and no Sunday service. Services will end on March 31 2026.

Announcing the closure date on October 28, DDOT said it was co-ordinating with WMATA Metrobus to provide alternatives for current riders. Information outlining the options, as well as access to Capital Bikeshare and other DDOT-managed modes of transportation, is available on its website.

DDOT said it ‘acknowledges and appreciates’ the contributions of riders, employees and community members who have supported the DC Streetcar during its decade of service.

Wilonsky: Yet Again, an Attempt to Link the Oak Cliff and Downtown Dallas Streetcars

dallasnews.com

editorial

It’s been a few years since I last rode the streetcar from downtown Dallas to Bishop Arts — probably, oh, since The Dallas Morning News moved out of the Young Street building at the end of 2017.

On Monday, I met a regular rider who hadn’t even known the decade-old streetcar existed until she moved to Oak Cliff from Farmers Branch a year ago. And she thinks it’s great — most days, anyway, until it breaks down and she has to pile into a “broken-down DART van” for the short ride to the Eddie Bernice Johnson Union Station.

“But it gets you to where you want to go,” Jarriett Franklin said as we crossed over the Houston Street Viaduct. Franklin, a 17-year veteran of the Air Force and Navy, was on her way to the Dallas VA Medical Center.

Pilot Program for Free Streetcar Fares Approved

oklahoman.com

EMBARK is approved to start free rides on the OKC Streetcar to increase ridership and an Oklahoma City councilman is hoping the free fares, if successful, can be extended to the city’s bus fleet.

The free fares — to start Jan. 5, 2026, through July 5, 2026 — could go permanent if successful. Jesse Rush, director of EMBARK, said the streetcar is in a place to ease growing pains linked to new housing and attractions.

Portland’s Streetcar Extension Hopes to Transform Montgomery Park

theurbanist.org

Urbanism-focused Youtuber Fourth Place delved into Portland’s streetcar extension planned to its Montgomery Park neighborhood, just northwest of its existing streetcar loop. The project still needs to secure funding, but the City of Portland appears bought into the project as a means to jumpstart a large-scale urban redevelopment of an industrial district.

See Video

Community Streetcar Coalition