Oakland transit developers could go streetcar route

Oakland has a free bus service on Broadway which attracts 2,700 riders on weekdays and 1,000 more on weekends. Oakland has a free bus service on Broadway which attracts 2,700 riders on weekdays and 1,000 more on weekends. Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Oakland transit developers could go streetcar route 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

To borrow and twist a well-known phrase, a streetcar on Broadway could be Oakland’s next desire.

The city last week held the second of two public hearings on an ambitious plan to construct a streetcar that would run from the MacArthur BART Station down the Broadway corridor to Jack London Square.

It’s an expensive but intriguing concept based on hopes of capitalizing on the city’s downtown renaissance, linking popular spots in Oakland’s Uptown district and Jack London Square with the city’s next redevelopment challenge: the rapidly shrinking Broadway auto row.

At a time when Oakland’s waterfront is the site of the Brooklyn Basin Project, a plan to build more than 3,100 units of housing, 200,000 square feet of new retail and 32 acres of new parks, why wouldn’t you want to build a streetcar system?

It would provide a daily public transportation service and enhance the city’s efforts to resuscitate interest in a new downtown waterfront ballpark for the Oakland Athletics, who are looking for a new stadium to showcase their talents.

The clean-fuel Broadway shuttle, which attracts 2,700 riders on weekdays and 1,000 more on weekends, provided “proof positive” that there was high demand for downtown transportation, said Zach Seal, an economic development specialist for the city who leads the project.

“Shuttle ridership in Uptown and downtown has blossomed in the last few years, and we want to extend that energy north,” Seal said in a phone interview Monday.

Seal and his staff are now working to determine if the economic benefits of a streetcar system justify the higher construction costs associated with such a project.

The price tag for the streetcar project is estimated at $202 million, nearly 10 times the $22 million required to expand the city’s downtown shuttle program.

In Portland, Ore., where the city approved a rail line in 1998, the city saw more than $3.5 billion in private investment in preparation for the completion of the project.

And when you consider Oakland’s need and stated desire for smart growth, housing near job sites and retail stores, the streetcar project seems more and more affordable. The Broadway corridor just north of downtown Oakland has already been identified as the site for Oakland's next big redevelopment push, a plan that calls for mixed-use retail and housing development.

In researching the project, Seal’s staff found that the nostalgia, visual appeal and technology of modern streetcars can “give cities a boost in terms of attracting retail and mixed-use development,” Seal said.

Rail lines are a much more permanent fixture than a rerouted or expanded bus line — and that’s the kind of long-term security private investors are looking for.

If it’s built, the streetcar system would connect to both BART and AC Transit bus lines. A committee including the regional transit agencies has been formed to avoid competition for the same funding sources.

The streetcar proposal will be presented to the Oakland City Council early next year for a final determination. If approved, Seal said it would take about five years to secure private and public funding for the project. The construction period would take about two years.

Oakland is in the throes of a booming local economy. It’s growing and changing by leaps and bounds, as is evident just taking a stroll down any downtown street.

A streetcar on Broadway has practical application and could create the kind of positive buzz Oakland wants, and increase the popularity of the city’s downtown entertainment district, which is rapidly becoming one of the most popular spots in the metro Bay Area.

Chip Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. His column runs on Tuesday and Friday. E-mail: chjohnson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @chjohnson