This article analyzes case studies of the H Street Streetcar in Washington, DC, and the Rampart Streetcar in New Orleans, two newly built U.S. streetcars that are part of a national trend of modern streetcar investments. We situate these investments within state-led gentrification that exacerbates racial disparities by expanding White privilege in Black neighborhoods and reshaping racial geographies. While supporters rationalize streetcars as economic development strategies, we contextualize modern streetcars within a broader framework of colorblind neoliberalism. We advance the concept of colorblind transit planning to codify a critique of current practices and advance an argument that colorblind transit planning minimizes the ongoing salience of institutionalized racism and exacerbates existing racial geographies and experiences of race, symbolically and materially reproducing a city of exclusion. Our findings caution against further public investment in streetcars, as they contribute to state-led gentrification and private accumulation, rather than address unequal modern public transit systems.
Equity concerns regarding local revenue sources are increasingly important in the United States, as local sales taxes for transportation increase amid perceived federal funding shortfalls. This study examines shifts in the federal role and local funding sources for public transit projects supported by the New Starts program. The analysis finds that total federal New Starts spending grew over this period, but was distributed across more costly projects, with a resulting decrease in the average federal share per project. As expected, there was increased sales tax use at the local level. The increase in local spending on transit should be met with concern. Prior research has established that sales taxes fail along both the beneficiary to pay and ability to pay equity principles. Thus, the recent massive commitment to expanding public transit infrastructure relies on concerning funding mechanisms and may also fail to prioritize the needs of those with limited accessibility.
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