Tempe Streetcar

The construction of this three-mile streetcar provides residents of Tempe, students at Arizona State University, and visitors a more convenient way to get to any of the hundreds of events held in the city yearly. The vehicles are propelled by a combination of overhead catenary wire and off-wire battery power to preserve established tree-lined streets and the aesthetics of Tempe’s most popular nightlife destination.  

Need 

The first modern streetcar in Greater Phoenix adds to the existing transit network of buses, circulators, bicycles, and pedestrian amenities. It provides two connections to Valley Metro’s existing light rail system, making Tempe accessible by rail to downtown Phoenix and Sky Harbor International Airport.   

Work 

• 14 stations.  
• Public art.  
• Utility relocation.  
• Roadway reconstruction.  
• Track construction.  
• Signals and communications systems.  

Scheduling Collaboration 

Minimizing the impact of construction on these events was paramount to the project’s success. 

During preconstruction, our team met with representatives from ASU, the City of Tempe, the Downtown Tempe Authority, and Valley Metro to gain a full understanding of the stakeholders’ event schedules, durations, access requirements, restrictions for construction activities, travel routes, and attendance of event goers. This was used to develop a schedule that would minimize disruptions and provide and efficient work sequence. 

Work was completed in time to create designated unloading zones at the university dorms for move-in days, roadway demolition d was halted during finals, and tie-ins to the light rail occurred during holidays and winter breaks when ridership levels are low. We continually adjusted work hours to accommodate the variety of events, campus activities, and busy night life. 

Innovation 

The tree canopy along the alignment is critical for livability in the desert climate, creating a design challenge for the overhead power requirements of the streetcar’s OCS. Further, high temperatures required air conditioning, so the team pushed the manufacturers’ capabilities in hybrid car design. 

The development of hybrid streetcars is uncommon in the industry.  The team took maximized maximum advantage of them, pushing the limits of the technology and using it as a tool to work with neighborhood leaders to identify and preserve many key tree-lined streets. This helps provide a model future streetcar systems.