Comments on: 22 US Cities Consider Building Streetcar Lines

By: jriley

jriley — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 14:23:24 +0000

At least monorails don’t compete with street traffic or create the related hazards. There are no unsightly wires and much less disruption during construction. Over all costs are probably similar. Yes station design is a complication due to elevation differances with street levels but safety over street, bicycle, & pedestrian traffic is worth it.

By: Pete P

Pete P — Mon, 03 May 2010 18:52:15 +0000

Seattle has a relatively new street car that was installed in a terrible location, between downtown and Lake Union, disregarding all the comments against it from consultants, designers and residents. It achieves all the negative points mentioned by SeanWG and JuliePatchoolie. — It runs on and competes with surface traffic on a handful of streets that are crucial to flow in and out of the city. It adds nothing and slows down traffic thus adding pollution and stress (and gives non-car transportation a bad name). Ridership is very low, giving it a worse reputation.
I am not categorically against street cars but they need to be used only where they make sense; and that is usually only in a few spare locations. The other street car in Seattle makes sense because it runs along the waterfront parallel to the BNSF railline (very permanent) and it doesn’t cut through or hinder surface traffic in such a crucial way. It adds like a good bus route adds to your options.
So I say put the rails (or monorails) where they make sense and let people ride those for their nostalgia, and as the right transportation choice to be part of happy and sustainable lifestyle and community.

By: JuliePatchoolie

JuliePatchoolie — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 19:22:25 +0000

To add to the comment from SeanWG, the rails are also dangerous to bikers, rollerbladers, strollers, etc. Too many times in Toronto, have I seen a biker get their wheel caught in the dip between rail and the asphalt and take a tumble.

By: SeanWG

SeanWG — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 03:08:39 +0000

There are few things I love more than a subway system and great public transportation, but I have to disagree with streetcars being the solution. 1) They have to travel on the road so are negligibly faster than a bus (e.g. Boston’s green line) 2) They add lots of unsightly wires, detracting from the city’s beauty 3) installing rails on the streets is massively expensive 4) this seems an issue of perception towards buses – how about spend the money on marketing, or beautifying buses 5) I really could go on. I think it should be a combination of high speed intercity rail, dedicated light rail separate from streets, effective buses, plus walkability.

By: Yuri Artibise

Yuri Artibise — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 20:32:22 +0000

In Phoenix, in addition to the recently completed first phase of Light Rail system. there is a group in Phoenix who wants to resurrect an old trolley through one of the cites arts districts: http://www.garpaz.org/