Kansas City unveils new CAF streetcar

Kansas City, Mo., officials late last week unveiled the design of the city's modern downtown streetcar, which is scheduled to be operational by fall 2015.

"This milestone is yet another step down the road we need to travel to get the streetcar moving downtown," said Mayor Sly James in a press release.

The streetcar is a URBOS 3 platform vehicle that will be built by CAF at a plant in Elmira, N.Y. Each car will have the capacity to accommodate 148 passengers. The streetcar's color will be determined by the Kansas City Streetcar Authority.

"This vehicle is innovative, cutting-edge and frosty, just like Kansas City," said James. "Downtown has undergone an undeniable transportation in the past few years and the streetcar will take that to another level."

The city has set up a website, www.kcstreetcar.org, through which the public can monitor the streetcar project's progress.