The infamously expensive Washington, D.C., streetcar is getting a six figure advertisement campaign courtesy of the taxpayers to promote the transit service which extends just 2.4 miles.
The D.C. Department of Transportation (DDOT) is spending $221,000 on the ad campign, which is already being heard on radio stations throughout the city. Officials say this is the first of many more promotions to come, noting they have an additional $1.7 million earmarked for marketing through 2017, reports WJLA.
The painful jingle goes, “Streetcar, Streetcar, cruising along. Streetcar, Streetcar, singing a song.”
“With any new transit system, with anything, you want to promote it, raise awareness around it,” Terry Owens, a spokesman for DDOT, told WJLA. “The message is join the party here on H Street.”
The District’s streetcar recently began operating in February after a 54-year hiatus, ten years of bureaucratic roadblocks and $200 million in taxpayer money. The streetcar system runs on a short stretch of track between Union Station and Benning Road. (RELATED: This Tweet Basically Sums Up Everything Wrong With DC)
Officials with the DDOT defend their promotional efforts but critics are concerned with the staggering costs to maintain the streetcar. Passengers ride for free, which will cost taxpayers roughly $8 million a year in operational costs.
“This wasn’t about building a better Streetcar,” David Williams, from the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, told WJLA. “What they are going to try to do is make this Streetcar look like it’s working and it’s functioning so they can expand the service. And what does that mean? $200 million more? $300 million?”
It takes roughly 26 minutes to make it between the two destinations. Obstacles may add to that time, including street parking and illegally parked vehicles. A pedestrian walking the same path can complete the trip in just 27 minutes.
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