Reminiscing About the D.C. Streetcars and the Georgetown Circulator
In 2019, on the final day of my junior year of high school, a friend and I skipped school and paid two euros for a bus to take us to downtown Kaiserslautern, Germany. I was no expert at taking public transportation, but it was easy, cheap, and reliable enough to figure out. We walked along the cobblestone streets, went to the mall, ate pasta, and drank wine; it was the perfect way to welcome our last year and for me to say goodbye. That summer I moved to the United States from Germany and completed my degree in Virginia. I was excited to move back, and it was easy enough to assimilate into the school and culture. Even once the pandemic began, I was privileged that my plans were not upturned in a life-altering way. I continued to live with my parents, took an overflow of classes online at Northern Virginia Community College, and on the weekends, I worked at a local coffee shop.
I was heavily reliant on the generosity of others to get around. Anytime I needed to travel, my transportation method was my parents or a friend (thank you, I’m sorry). At times I felt ashamed about this; it felt embarrassing to need to ask for a ride each time, and I knew it was unfair to always put that responsibility on another person. I would often decline or make up an excuse as to why I couldn’t see someone simply because I didn’t want to have to ask to be picked up. During this time, I earned my permit, and my dad taught me how to drive, but as time moved forward, I had less time to practice and didn’t set time aside to prepare for the driver’s test. I continued to work and attend school, and after graduating, I completed a summer fellowship in Baltimore. When I returned home, I prepared to complete my Bachelor’s at Georgetown, but instead of living on campus, I chose to continue living at home and commute to D.C. each day.
It was my first time having to rely so heavily on public transportation, and I wasn’t excited about the $200 I had to spend on a monthly pass and the early morning rush hour, but over time, I fell in love. I took the Orange Line train from Vienna to Rosslyn each day, then took the Georgetown University Transportation Shuttle (GUTS) bus to campus. I became extremely comfortable traveling via public transportation and loved the access it gave me to the city — in 2023 I was in the top 2% of all WMATA Metro riders (Metro’s version of Spotify Wrapped). In the final two years of my undergrad, I spent the majority of my time in Georgetown, if not another part of D.C., and commuted everywhere to do so.
Georgetown is an incredibly historic neighborhood, but one of its richest past lives lies in the formerly robust streetcar system. Along a few blocks of P Street and O Street, tracks remain. In fact, the Car Barn building, now owned by Georgetown University for classroom space, originally held the street cars during hours when they were not in use. A lecture given by John Hillegass presented the history of the streetcar demise:
“Like many of the great tragedies in urban planning history, it starts with the automobile. As automobiles flooded the streets, planners were scrambling to find solutions to the unbearable congestion. Rather than blaming the root causes of congestion—the car—they found a scapegoat in the streetcar… Of course, it made logical sense: The streetcar takes up space on the road and blocks, or gets blocked by, cars. So, if we remove the streetcar, it will solve our traffic congestion.”
This statement would likely make modern D.C. drivers laugh as congestion issues have scarcely improved.
For years the D.C. Department of Transportation discussed the possibility of extending a streetcar line into Georgetown, but in January of 2020 that idea ‘died’ due to funding and other limitations. The D.C. Streetcar network is now only partially functional in some neighborhoods, but the remains of the original tracks and Car Barn building are reminders of an alternative reality that could exist if the streetcars of Georgetown were invested in instead of scrapped.
On October 1st, 2024, the D.C. Circulator Rosslyn-Dupont Circle route was terminated. The Circulator was the cheapest public transportation method to cross the Francis Scott Key Bridge. An article from The Georgetown Voice states:
“The decision to cut the service was partly driven by the fact that Circulator ridership has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, whereas ridership on Metrobuses — Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) buses which service the entire D.C. metro area — has recovered. Last year, revenue from the Circulator, which charges $1 per ride, recouped only five percent of its $40 million operating budget, according to reporting from The Washington Post.”
The loss of the Circulator is another historic example of the retraction of public transportation in Georgetown and all of D.C., but hey, at least we still have hope for that Georgetown-Rosslyn Gondola.
As part of my fellowship, over the summer, I attended the RCC American Environmental Leadership Institute (AELI) where I listened to and spoke with Maryland State Senator Sara N. Love. I asked her specifically about our country’s heavy reliance on cars, and why major shifts weren’t happening to switch to more sustainable transportation methods. Her response was composed, as is likely of a Senator, but one thing she said sticks with me today: It’s a matter of convenience. People choose the most convenient option for their needs, and you have to make your change more advantageous to their livelihoods. I was momentarily taken aback when she said this. My next thought was, “Of course!” Her answer seemed so simple and obvious but was correct. Environmental movements and solutions are not sustainable unless they are accessible –– in both creating change and administering it.
I don’t have a driver’s license. I’m a 22-year-old living in Northern Virginia who works in D.C. and takes Master’s courses in-person and I can’t legally drive. I consider the fact that I can’t drive a large part of my identity or a fun fact to tell others, but it’s not uncommon. About 19% of people aged 20 to 24 don’t have their license. I’m far from perfect (it’s still quite common that I ask a roommate for a ride to the Metro station) and need to do more to lessen my carbon footprint and consumption habits, but my reliance on public transportation has become a choice as much as a responsibility. I often joke with friends that maybe I’ll never get my driver’s license as a form of protest, and I’m planning on buying a bicycle soon to help me travel longer walking distances. It’s easier to make these choices in areas where public transportation is more accessible, but this method of traveling is still far from perfect in urban environments. There is still a fight to be had to encourage legislators and city planners to plan for the people instead of our 283.4 million death machines with wheels (cars). I can imagine a future where grocery stores and public spaces aren’t a 15-minute car ride away, can you?
RCC National Environment Leadership Fellow – Chiara Grimes – George Mason University
Chiara Grimes is a graduate of Georgetown University earning her Master of Public Administration at George Mason University with a concentration in Environmental Science and Public Policy and has served as an intern for the Women’s Earth Alliance (WEA) Global Programs. Chiara believes we must cultivate and reimagine a culture that respects and finds immense value in our environment simply because it exists; not because of any resource or economic goods it can provide. She has a deep interest in eco-feminist studies and research focusing on Black womanhood, Indigenous autonomy, and their connection to violent colonialist efforts to control land and the environment.
