Private Owned Street RR

In this day and age, is it at all possible to have a private owned street car system?

Here is an example: Say I am a multi-billioaire and I have a knack for wanting to reduce the traffic and pollution of a city. I have had my own planners draw up plans, environmental studies, ridership projections and I have my own fleet of streetcars that are on order at a car builder. Would the city let me tear up streets, lay my tracks, cast overhead trolley wire and run my service?

I know back in the day, that is what was done. Anyone with the money could start a streetcar line, and in often case, did!

What do you guys think?

Probably not, though it would be a great idea. Remember, along with the "NCL conspiracy" problem, it was the attitude of most municipal authorities toward the then existing streetcar systems that led to the bustitution of most of them. Though we are much more aware, today, of the environmental problems caused by the automobile and its transit derivative, the diesel bus, I don't think that the thinking of most municipal authorities has come far enough for them to permit a private entity to build a streetcar line in the public streets as was done 100 years ago. ( and you wouldn't want to repeat acceptance of some of the franchise requirements that were placed on traction companies back when most of our old streetcar lines were being built, particularly the paving requirements.)

I don't think that the thinking of most municipal authorities has come far enough for them to permit a private entity to build a streetcar line in the public streets as was done 100 years ago.

Plus, it wasn't unheard for some of the upstarts to become financial failures that saddled municipalities with undercapitalized and sometimes competing transit systems after their owners went bankrupt. Better planning and funding at the government level is what is required, IMHO.

You'd need a charter or some other kind of government approval, and I assume it would entail some kind of review of the service plan, in part to ensure that the operation wouldn't be trying to cream off all the profitable traffic and leaving service at unprofitable hours in the hands of SEPTA or some other public agency. This is where the 'dollar van' operators in New York ran afoul of the law.

Specifically to Pennsylvania, I assume the PUC would have some regulatory power over the service. And if it were to be a street railway, I'm sure there would be other regulatory matters, such as who would be reponsible for paving, for broken rails and other hazards, and for keeping the overhead safe. Definitely not a simple task.

I have often wondered what a billionaire could do with SEPTA in general. If Bill Gates offered to pump $30 billion of his own money into SEPTA, demanding only a say (a significant say) into how the money is used, could anyone really deny him, when the potential benefits are so clear (and needed)?

PARailWiz wrote:I have often wondered what a billionaire could do with SEPTA in general. If Bill Gates offered to pump $30 billion of his own money into SEPTA, demanding only a say (a significant say) into how the money is used, could anyone really deny him, when the potential benefits are so clear (and needed)?

I'm cynical, but I suspect the loudest voices to deny are those who have their fingers in the politics of Septa.

Mr Gates, should he lose his mind and do this, would demand accountability and most of all results.

I suspect there's be a lot of sacking at first.

It's a nice dream though...

Septa's pretty broken, but then, geeeee, Bill Gates? The organization he runs isn't noted for high quality goods either!

Is it too much to ask that a single user computer *not* crash doing basic tasks?

And my cow-orkers wonder why my home machine's a Mac....

Imagine how much fun a Microsoft run SEPTA would be, though:

* Everytime a passenger boarded, you'd hear a little beep followed by "A new passenger has been detected"

* The emergency brakes would be replaced by ctrl-alt-del

* For no reason at all, the train would randomly suddenly stop, and the crew would have to close all the windows on the train cars and then open them again...

* New equipment would be made to fit every gauge in SEPTA's system.

* Ticket machines would print out 8X10 tickets on glossy photopaper...

* Every schedule change would require all new trains to implement...

* Microsoft would copy every other popular form of transportation in the city, and sell it for free to run the competition out of business...

* Trains would randomly explode and kill everyone on board, yet nobody would care.

* Controller and brake handles replaced by wheel mouse and GUI display.

* Pantographs wouldn't be compatible with the catenary, but that'll be fixed in version 2.0....

* Information booths replaced by animated dog.

* No heat, no a/c, unreliable, but web enabled multimedia Silverliners

* GG-1s and MP-54s could be run in special 'compatability mode', but not with other trains running at the same time.

* Regular buses replaced by an expensive, impossible to find RAMBUS.

* Microsoft security - fare evasion would be amazingly easy, system would get crippled every week by a new virus...

* Trolley poles replaced with giant animated paperclips (man, I HATE that thing...)

Private owned, oh man.

Drivers make over 20 bucks an hour, track & wire costs and maintance, insurance on all workers, benefits, buildings and taxes, maintance equipment, shops crews, front office staff, printing of time tables, signs, the costs would be nuts. The basic fares could bot cover all this. Plus there are tons of fare evaders.

Not to mention all the customer service and track work would be out sourced to India!

This has taken a rather hilarious turn, although I must admit that originally i mostly meant his money rather than management style.

But imagine, all the train's problems could be fixed by reinstalling the windows