of the line in Reno proper traveled west along Fourth Street to Sierra Street, then south to Second Street, east to Virginia Street, and south again to the Truckee River. In January 1905, the line's route was extended over the Truckee River on the Virginia Street Bridge. The car barn for the streetcar company stood at 911 E. 4th Street, near Morrill Avenue. The streetcar service was purchased in 1906 and was renamed the Reno Traction Company. Streetcars were used heavily by commuting workers, shoppers, and pleasure-seekers headed to Wieland’s Park (later known as Coney Island), with the Reno-Sparks line being by far the most popular and generating 80% of all ridership. With an initial fare of ten cents, the journey from Reno to Sparks took approximately thirty minutes, with the streetcar traveling at just ten miles per hour. Later expansions connected downtown Reno to the University of Nevada to the north of downtown. A separate company, the Nevada Interurban, offered interurban service southward along Plumas Street to the Moana Springs resort. The decline of Reno's streetcar network However, the increasing popularity of automobiles, as well as the high cost of track maintenance, soon led to the decline of streetcars in Reno. Facing declining patronage, the Reno Traction Company stopped service on every route in Reno in 1919, except for the Reno-Sparks line. Intercity bus service between Reno and Sparks began on June 15, 1927, attracting away the remaining streetcar line's customers. Operations on the Reno-Sparks line ended soon afterwards, in September 1927. This was the final end of Reno's over two decade experiment with a streetcar system. Potential streetcar revival discussions On October 11, 2009, Reno opened up a new bus rapid transit (BRT) line called RTC Rapid along Virginia Street, sharing a portion of its route with Reno's original streetcar line. Around the time of the opening of the RTC Rapid line, some discussions of ultimately converting the BRT line to a streetcar line arose. However, there have been no further discussion of converting the BRT line to a streetcar line since that time, and there is no mention of building a streetcar line in Reno's long-range transportation plan. See also List of streetcar systems in the United States (all-time list) References Passenger rail transportation in Nevada Railway lines opened in 1904 Public transportation in Nevada Transportation in Reno, Nevada Railway lines closed in 1927 Defunct Nevada railroads