Providence streetcar gets authority backing

The board of the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) voted Monday to support a $126 million plan to reintroduce streetcars to the state capital. The vote, however, involved no financing for the proposal, and observers note a definitive route has yet to be selected.

So far, the proposal outlines a 2.1-mile route serving Brown University, Kennedy Plaza, the jewelry district, Rhode Island Hospital and the city’s train station on the Northeast Corridor, served by both Amtrak and Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority trains.

Amy Pettine, RIPTA project manager working on the plans, said the system could be developed in stages, with an initial link between the train station and the Brown Medical School a likely start.

A December 2009 report for RIPTA prepared by HDR Engineering Inc. says streetcars “shaped the expansion of Providence until they were replaced by buses in the 1940s. Now, nearly 150 years after streetcar was first introduced, the technology again has stirred interest as a means to shape growth and spark new economic development opportunities.”