H Street Streetcar Test Runs to Increase Tomorrow

The empty H Street streetcar will be making more trips up and down H Street NE starting tomorrow as the beleaguered tram gets ready for safety certification to carry passengers.

The District Department of Transportation announced today that the streetcar will begin “Pre-Revenue Operations” tomorrow, meaning that the system will simulate normal service for at least three weeks without passengers.

The tests are the final round of dry-runs before the streetcar can be approved to carry passengers. However, this is the second time the streetcar has entered the PRO phase. The last time was in September 2014, when the streetcar failed to pass the final round of test runs.

The announcement today comes four days after the Washington Post editorial board wondered whether it might be wiser to pull the plug on the streetcar altogether.

For at least the next three weeks, empty streetcars will run about every 15 minutes during its planned hours of operation, which are:

• Monday-Thursday: 6 a.m.-midnight
• Friday: 6 a.m.-2 a.m.
• Saturday: 8 a.m.-2 a.m.
• Holidays: 8 a.m.-10 p.m.

DDOT is warning pedestrians, drivers and cyclists in the H Street area to watch for the streetcars and use caution traveling through the H Street corridor.