With dozens of construction workers already hard at work extending Portland's highly successful streetcar system, the city is now pushing to expand its next generation transportation industry.
"We're trying to get a streetcar manufacturer going here locally," said Chris Smith, chair of the Citizen Advisory Committee for Portland Streetcar. "We got $4 million in the last federal transportation bill to build a prototype." Now Oregon Iron Works is working on a deal with a company based in the Czech Republic, where Portland currently buys its streetcars, to source design and manufacturing in the United States. Companies in California and Pennsylvania want a piece of the action, too.
Its a smart move, considering that more than 40 U.S. cities now are building or evaluating urban streetcar systems. And the absence of Great Lakes-based companies like Ford and GM in the conversation highlights the region's ongoing struggle to redefine its mission and adapt to the global economy.
As globalization and the movement toward sustainability takes off, entire industries are now redefining themselves and their services. Companies like Shell and BP, for example, ceased being mere oil companies and evolved into energy companies pursuing a much broader portfolio of power sources such as wind and wave energy in addition to oil.
American auto manfucturers, however, have been much slower to adapt. They're still focused narrowly on making cars, instead of evolving into transportation providers or mobility companies that build modern trains, aerial trams, and other alternatives that - like the car - help people get around.
Sure GM makes a few busses. But for the most part the auto industry appears to be ignoring the promising modern mass transit markets developing right in their backyards. Cities like Milwaukee, Chicago, Grand Rapids, and Columbus now are drawing up plans to possibly spend tens of millions of dollars to rebuild streetcar systems and add light rail. And companies in Germany, the Czech Republic, and now Oregon prepare to service them.
And therein lies the irony. Are the U.S. car companies willing to recognize that future success could, in part, depend on rebuilding the very mass transit systems they helped to dismantle?
