Quote:
Originally Posted by Pinner
Don't forget Alberta is using coal for 50% of the electricity, not good. Street cars use alot of electricity.
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Well the C-Train is "wind powered." Technically what happens is that the same amount of power that it takes to run the C-Train is purchased in the form of wind power and that is fed into the grid. I would imagine any streetcar system would piggyback onto this program. Besides, any buses that streetcars would replace are diesel powered and produce more noise in addition to emissions.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clarkey
Isn't the C-Train just a glorified street car?
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No. The two operate much differently. The biggest differences are the spacing between stops, top speeds, train lengths, overall capacity (persons per hour per direction). Much higher in all cases with the C-Train.
Some systems in other cities that have been dubbed 'LRT' (or mis-dubbed, as it were) do resemble streetcars more closely. Certainly not the case with the C-Train though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sclitheroe
What are the perceived advantages to streetcars vs LRT or busses?
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Well to start, each one can fill a much different role in the transportation network. Local vs. regional, long distance service, circulation vs. collection and distribution, etc. Streetcar systems usually take a role closer to that of buses than to LRT systems like the C-Train, so they are more often compared to buses when looking at advantages/disadvantages.
A few key advantages are:
- Can run in-street in mixed traffic using existing infrastructure.
- Much less costly than LRT, but more than buses
- Less noisy than buses and less odorous emissions
- Streetcars offer a smoother ride than buses
- Streetcars often have more capacity than buses.
- Has been shown to attract nearby development much more effectively than buses due to the permanency. Developers see it as the municipality making a long-term "investment" in the area and the route
- Has been shown to attract more choice riders than buses with same capacity and speed on same routes. This is due to a concept called
rail bias, whereby people are more willing to take rail public transit than bus public transit if they have the choice. It is seen as a more attractive travel option.
As is often the case, other people have said it better than myself. Here's some links:
In depth:
http://www.railwaypreservation.com/v...agetrolley.htm
http://www.infrastructurist.com/2009...r-renaissance/
Concise:
http://www.cptdb.ca/wiki/index.php?title=Streetcar
The streetcar (or tram) wikipedia page also gives a good synopsis:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tram