The long anticipated streetcar in Downtown Los Angeles was supposed to open last year. However, due to financial constraints and other problems, the project will remain in initial planning stages and won’t debut until 2021.

In a recent report filed to the City Council’s Transportation Committee, it doesn’t seem as if the project’s funding troubles will get any easier. Once reporting a low of price of $125 million, the report shows an updated cost estimate for the streetcar development for at least $274 million. The revised estimates reflect the delay in opening dates and whether or not the Metro’s Grand Avenue extension line will be built. Of course, it will also depend on the decisions of the Transportation Committee.

Project developers will receive a $100 million grant from the Los Angeles Department of Transportation. However, they still need another $200 million. This amount is available through a Metro sales tax hike called Measure M, but wouldn’t be accessible to the project until 2053. If the Transportation Committee rejects the report’s request to receive the $200 million earlier, developers need to secure public-private partnerships to compensate for the lack of funding.

That would push the streetcar opening date even further to mid-2022.

 If the DTLA streetcar happens, the Financial District will have another mode of transportation that could possibly alleviate some traffic congestion. Even though the streetcar only moves at about six miles per hour, it can still carry approximately 100 passengers and make a total of 25 stops around Downtown. The cars would typically arrive every 10 to 15 minutes. During peak hours, they would come by every seven minutes.