Simulation of Providence streetcars serving downtown crowds at night. Source: City of Providence.

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Providence, Rhode Island — This mid-sized New England city is ready to install a new streetcar system. All it needs is some federal cash.

According to a recent report from WPRI-TV News in Rhode Island’s capital city, local and federal officials are asking the federal government for $39 million to help pay for about a third of the cost of constructing a new streetcar line to connect the Upper South Providence neighborhood near Rhode Island Hospital to College Hill on the downtown’s East Side.

The following infographic provides a map and further information:

(Click to enlarge) Source: City of Providence.

The 2.1-mile, $114.4-million starter line would have 11 station-stops and 4 streetcars. The federal money would come from the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program, a component of the Obama administration’s original 2009 economic stimulus package.

As the news report explains,

The rest of the project would be paid for with an array of city and state bonds as well about $5.25 million in additional federal funds secured by the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority. Sponsorships, advertising revenues and $2 fares would be used to sustain the system once it got up and running.

Once the project gets a green light, construction would begin by late 2015 and streetcar service would open to the public in 2017.

Read more here…