Dallas officials have four good options for a new downtown streetcar route, the CEO of Downtown Dallas Inc. said Monday.

Kourtny Garrett told members of the City Council's Mobility Solutions, Infrastructure and Sustainability Committee that a route on Elm and Commerce streets would likely have the biggest economic impact and the highest potential ridership. And a route along Young and Harwood streets could serve 48,000 jobs that don't have nearby rail options.

But Garrett said the other two options — one along Griffin Street and Ross Avenue and another along Main Street — have plenty of potential benefits, too. All four would connect the McKinney Avenue trolley and the streetcar that runs between the Union Station area downtown and the Bishop Arts District in North Oak Cliff.

"You definitely have one of those situations where no decision is a wrong decision," Garrett said.

The presentation Monday, which HR&A Advisors helped prepare, was meant to aid the city's decision on a route.

The council will likely make that choice in concert with an alignment for Dallas Area Rapid Transit's impending downtown subway project. The committee, which offered little reaction Monday, will be briefed on the subway and streetcar options Aug. 28.

Garrett said the streetcar would likely serve a different set of riders than the subway. The subway is meant to help ease the burden on the single track downtown that serves all four rail lines. The streetcar, Garrett said, is for people making short trips across downtown, such as tourists, downtown and Uptown residents and workers during their workday.

While DART would operate the streetcar, it is meant to be part of a network of streetcars in the city's dense urban core.

Garrett said for now she wants the focus on the "greatest demand with the greatest benefit," no matter where the subway goes. She said Elm and Commerce have the most density and potential for new development. Still, the council might want to avoid any rail duplication.

Council member Sandy Greyson said she hopes the city takes a hard look at the Young-Harwood streetcar alignment, which has more potential sites for development. The DART board prefers a subway alignment that runs underneath Commerce but is keeping Elm and Pacific Street options open.

And the committee's chairman, Lee Kleinman, has expressed a preference for more transit options to serve the Farmers Market area and the city's government sector on the downtown's south side.

The D-Link bus already serves some of the areas covered in all four options. The bus runs from the Kay Bailey Hutchison Dallas Convention Center up through Ross, Main and Commerce and into Uptown.

D-Link's annual $1.2 million cost is split among the city, Dallas Downtown Inc. and DART. The service does not run during morning rush hours, and ridership averages only 300 people on weekdays and 400 on weekends.

Garrett said the city is looking at simplifying the D-Link route this fall.

She believes the streetcar extension could be completed by 2021 at the earliest. DART spokesman Morgan Lyons said the subway could be finished around the same time or a few years later. Officials hope to split the estimated $90 million cost for the streetcar between DART and a federal grant.