Mayor Bill de Blasio and his administration have elected former head of Toronto’s transit system, Adam Giambrone, to take the Brooklyn-Queens streetcar from fantasy to reality (h/t DNAinfo). According to NY Mag, the once scandal-swathed ex-politician (think Anthony Weiner) will first be tasked with convincing the residents along the BQX’s proposed route to get on board with the project, essentially asking them to deal with years of construction and street reconfiguration.
Giambrone, who has served as a traveling light-rail expert in Montreal and Milwaukee believes that the streetcar will be the transportation method of choice in the near future. "The subway was a 20th-century design. Streetcars are a 21st-century technology, which is why all the fastest-growing cities in Asia and the Middle East are all looking at them," he stated.
Hopefully Giambrone will be able to get the community on board despite having very few details hashed out. For instance, people want assurance that BQX fares will cost the same as the MTA standard fare and accept subway transfers but Giambrone makes it clear that those details won’t be available until much later down the line stating "We have eight years to get this built, and that’s a long time to have these discussions."
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