FORT WORTH — Fort Worth city leaders want to know if streetcars can ease gridlock and bring new development along the lines.

They want to know so badly that almost every one of them will fly to Washington state Thursday for a first-hand look at three modern systems.

The mayor says this is the biggest delegation he can recall for an out-of-town fact-finding trip, and he says what they find could eventually make a huge difference in how this city grows... and goes.

AP

Trolleys would reduce traffic, noise and pollution in downtown Fort Worth.

At the turn of the last century, Fort Worth had a fine electric streetcar system. It moved people around downtown and back to their urban neighborhoods.

But the rails along streets were dismantled in favor of cars and buses.

City leaders say it's time to make a decision about bringing them back.

On Thursday, 10 city staffers and every council member except Chuck Silcox will fly to Washington state on a fact-finding tour. Silcox can't go because of cancer treatments.

"I think we have to start planning now rather than later," said Mayor Moncrief.

Is $25,000 too much to spend?

"Not when you look at $25,000 versus gridlock. That's an easy decision to make," Moncrief added.

The fact-finding tour comes on the heels of a new city budget so tight it eliminated more than 100 jobs. But Moncrief believes the trip is a good investment, and most people we talked to agree.

"I think it's great. I think Fort Worth needs that. That would be a drawing card," said one Fort Worth resident.

More than two dozen business people will join city leaders to examine streetcar systems in Seattle, Tacoma and Portland in just two days.

Andy Taft, the president of Downtown Fort Worth, Inc., says the development potential is enormous. "They'd be very quiet," he said.

Dallas already has an extensive and growing DART light rail network that operates like a trolley along some city streets.

The McKinney Avenue Transit Authority has been running vintage trolleys between downtown and Uptown Dallas since 1989, and there are plans to expand the line through the Arts District.

E-mail jdouglas@wfaa.com.