“The BQX is one of the biggest, most ambitious projects in a generation,” the mayor said in a statement. But a $1.3 billion funding gap has opened up, mostly because of a 2016 city policy that earmarks much of the increase in tax revenue for other purposes, including affordable housing, making it unavailable for the streetcar, Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen said. It is that gap that the city is looking to Washington to help close. Ms. Glen said that the public-private partnership that would build the streetcar would be expected to contribute up to 10 percent of the cost, leaving about $1 billion to come from the federal government. Critics asked why buses along the same route could not be used instead.

Source: New York Times August 30, 2018 14:39 UTC