Last Stop: The DC Streetcar Ends Its Run Today

• March 31st

by UrbanTurf Staff

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After a decade of dividing opinion along one of the city's most-watched corridors, the DC Streetcar will make its final run today.

The District Department of Transportation pulled funding for the line as part of the city's fiscal year 2026 budget, accelerating the closure a year ahead of the originally planned 2027 shutdown. For H Street NE — a stretch that has transformed dramatically since the streetcar's tracks were first laid — it's the end of a chapter that was always complicated.

The single 2.2-mile line, which ran in mixed traffic along H Street and Benning Road NE, launched in February 2016, becoming the first streetcar to operate in DC since 1962. It was always a free ride, which won it fans, but persistent challenges — low ridership, operational headaches from running alongside cars, and mounting maintenance costs — ultimately proved too much to overcome. 

Mayor Muriel Bowser has said the streetcar will eventually be replaced by an electric bus that would draw power from the same overhead wires — with that transition targeted for late 2028 or mid-2029. In the meantime, WMATA's D20 bus is the primary alternative for riders navigating the H Street Corridor.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/last_stop_the_dc_streetcar_ends_its_run_today/24475.