With an eye to the future, North America’s capital is embracing streetcars, trams and light rail as an optimal means of moving passengers quickly and conveniently to their destinations, and by environmentally friendly means.

Streetcars will once again be plying the streets of Washington D.C. from the summer of 2013. For around 100 years between 1862 and 1962, trolley buses transported the population across the city and around the region – a service killed off by the rising appeal of automobiles and cheap gasoline.

Washington, D.C. formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. In 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a special district to serve as the permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution. It is thus interesting to note that the District forms no part of a U.S. state and instead is overseen directly by the federal government.

The history of Washington D.C.’s streetcars goes back to their horse-drawn trolleys, which carried people solely over short distances and flat terrain. In time, the introduction of faster and cleaner electric streetcars, capable of climbing steeper slopes, opened up the hilly northern suburbs of the old city.

By the beginning of the 20th century, the streetcar system was fully electrified. The District developed a robust network with over 200 miles of track and with multiple companies providing services. Several of the District's streetcar lines extended into Maryland, and two Virginia lines crossed into the District.

However, the growing popularity of the automobile, as well as pressure to switch to buses, marginalized the streetcar after the Second World War. The system was dismantled in the early 1960s and the last streetcar ran on 28 January 1962.

Nearly fifty years on, this decision has now been reversed. as according to the District Department of Transportation for Washington D.C. "Without streetcars, the prospects for public transportation in the District are much less promising. The forecast calls for a 32 percent increase in the number of transportation trips in the District by 2030. Already, many Metrobus routes and Metrorail lines are operating at or above capacity, and congestion on two Metrorail lines is expected to become "unmanageable" by 2013. It is clear there is a need for more transit service and the DC Streetcar is an investment that will pay tremendous dividends for District residents."

Work on the new line and infrastructure is proceeding rapidly, with Phase 1a: Streets roadway reconstruction in the corridor plus installation of tracks, pole foundations and conduits anticipated for completion by October 2011.

Phase 1b will end in March 2012. This includes the installation of the overhead catenary system and the construction of a maintenance facility under the Amtrak tracks behind Union Station.

The 2.2 miles of track in place on H Street, the line is the preliminary part of a streetcar system designed to cover 37 miles in the District, with the goal of serving around 150,000 passengers per day in all eight of the city’s political subdivisions.

Washington city planners’ strategies to revitalize H Street between Third and 14th Streets NE have been under consideration for many years, and they are now bearing fruit. With new shops and restaurants beginning to open on the street, the city is investing in the creation of a proper boulevard with wide sidewalks, granite curbs, freshly paved traffic lanes and new landscaping, in the hope that the more affluent Capitol Hill populace will move north to H Street.

The District’s new Inekon 12 Trio streetcars have been built and specially adapted for the city by Skoda-Inekon of Plzen in the Czech Republic. In late 2009, the vehicles were shipped across the Atlantic to the Port of Baltimore and then to the Metro Yard in Greenbelt, Maryland, where they are currently being stored, maintained and tested before being brought into service in 2013. Inekon’s streetcars are also running in the American cities of Portland, Seattle and Tacoma.

These cars are 20 metres (about 66 feet) long and 2.46 metres (about eight feet) wide, and they are about 25 centimeters (about 10 inches) narrower than and one third of the length of a light rail double car train. They are able to operate in mixed traffic and easily accommodate existing curbside parking and loading spaces.

Streetcars and light rail may well be the way forward for the capital and other American and world cities, in terms of speed, convenience, ecology, the removal of bottlenecks and the reduction of parking problems. It is to be hoped that the current economic crisis and cuts in Federal budgets will not stop major US conurbations going back to the future.