The Atlanta Streetcar will not open to passengers this Saturday, a date Mayor Kasim Reed hoped to see the city’s newest transportation system launch in downtown Atlanta.
Streetcar spokeswoman Sharon Gavin said the project still has not received final approvals from state and federal transportation authorities.
Gavin said she remains optimistic the $98 million project will open to riders by year’s end, because “that was our mayor’s promise.”
Earlier this year, after several delays, the mayor said the public will be able to ride the streetcar by Dec. 31, 2014.
Last month, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution exclusively reported that the Federal Transit Administration warned the city of ongoing safety concerns — such as inadequate signage and pavement markings — and delayed a mid-November opening. City officials said those issues have largely been resolved.
According to the documents obtained by The AJC, Reed asked the FTA to allow the streetcar to open to riders this weekend.
A.J. Robinson, head of the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District, which helps fund the streetcar, said last month that part of the push toward a Dec. 6 opening was to capture riders in town for the SEC football championship at the Georgia Dome.
Though the system isn’t yet open to passengers, the city’s four streetcars are regularly circulating the 2.7-mile track. The system has had a few run-ins with other drivers.
Last month, passenger cars struck and damaged streetcars in separate incidents during test runs, Gavin said. The drivers of the vehicles were cited in each incident for failure to yield right of way.
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