The Secret Scam of Streetcars: How to Sell a 100-Year-Old Technology as the Future of Transportation

Meet the Thighmaster of urban public policy: streetcars.

Municipal politicians across the country have convinced themselves that this costly, clunky hardware can revitalize their flabby downtown economies.

That includes the fearless leaders of America's capital city. The D.C. government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars over the last decade trying to erect a streetcar line in the up-and-coming neighborhood of H Street. The project has been an epic disaster, perfectly demonstrating how ill-suited streetcars are to modern urban life.

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Run time: About 5 mins.

Produced by Rob Montz, who also hosts. Camera by Todd Krainin. Graphics by Jason Keisling and Meredith Bragg.