DCist has the details on how the city managed to salvage a deal for two streetcars (on top of the three they’ve already purchased):

Today DDOT also announced that it had inked an $8.7 million deal with Oregon Iron Works, a Portland-based manufacturer, to purchase two new more streetcars. A similar deal signed in December quickly fell apart after the Czech company that made the first three streetcars protested that it was denied the opportunity to offer bids for the cars D.C. is looking to buy. The deal was cancelled altogether in January, causing streetcar advocates to worry that the H Street line would only have three cars to work with, making waits too long to make it an attractive commuting option.

So how did the city get around the Czechs this time? A little creative legal arrangement DDOT calls a “Cooperative Purchase Agreement.” Essentially, Portland, which has an existing contract with the streetcar manufacturer, will buy the streetcars and then sell them to us.

We bet the Czech company is happy about this.

Photo via DDOT