Quote:
Originally Posted by ssiguy
I've never understood the recent fascination with streetcars.
If they are already there then I can see keeping them as they offer a smooth and comfortable ride as well as having high capacity. I can also see extensions of those system but as far as building new systems, I think they are little more than vanity projects.
BRT offers the same service as streetcars but is vastly cheaper and easier to implement. The ride quality of buses has also increased greatly due to battery/hydrogen making them non-polluting, have far faster acceleration, and are much quieter inside and out. Battery buses also don't have the upkeep and unsightliness of overhead wires. For the ridiculous amount spent on 10km of streetcar you could get 40km of equally fast BRT serving hundreds more destination and tens of thousands of more riders.
This "look Mom I have a streetcar too" crap is a classic example of poor transit planning made by politicians who are more concerned with ribbon cutting ceremonies than providing the best transit for the masses.
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Advanced nations have seamlessly interwoven tram networks into their transportation networks for eons- they're a non-controversial piece in most places where they also use buses as a natural extension of service.
There's no controversy over trams in any city that has had them for ages any more than subways or S-Bahns or whatever.
Would you be more excited if there were hydrogen trams?
And let's face it: BRT is the lowest cost option when you have crap transit and you're not willing to spend the cash to implement serious transit.
That's why BRT is being promoted. Let's not fool ourselves.
It's cheap, we're cheap.. let's study it for 20 years!