The Streetcar: Everything You Have to Know

The streetcar is a mode of public transport that is experiencing a huge revival. It is the process of running electric trains along tracks in the road. Certain trains operate by connecting to an electric cable overhead. Although they were popular during the first half of the 1900s in the US the popularity of streetcars declined by midcentury. The streetcar was revived in America in the years following 2000. Numerous cities built and designed new streetcar networks.

The exact definition of streetcar can be a bit hazy, especially when it comes to light rail. In fact the American Public Transportation Association (an international industry trade group) defines streetcars as a kind of light rail. However, it's not always as easy to define. Cities are sometimes able to confuse which one they're building. Click over here to find out additional hints on streetcar.

However, generally speaking streetcars are train that travels on rails that are set into roads, which means it drives alongside automobiles for much of its journey. Here is a photo showing a streetcar within Portland's system.

This is what makes streetcars distinct from light rail trains which tend to have their own tracks set aside from the road. Below is a photo of the Minneapolis light rail, which for the most part runs on tracks set apart from the main road.

Some light rail systems, however, mix tracks that are run on roads as well as tracks that run separately from cars.

Streetcars are also more frequent in their stops and tend to travel a shorter distance with frequent stops. Streetcars are also smaller single-vehicle trains. Light rail trains are typically longer than a car and can travel longer distances with smaller stops than streetcars.

Streetcars and light rail have different objectives. Streetcars are smaller and can be used to take people to the suburbs. Light rail is generally larger in size, whereas streetcars can be used to transport people to cities with a lot of traffic.

Light rail, incidentally, is not light in comparison to dark. it's light , not heavy. Heavy rail systems can carry more passengers than light rail systems, and are often the subways the majority of commuters in urban areas know. One of the subways in New york city is a prime instance.

How many years have streetcars been in existence?

In the late 1800s the popularity of streetcars drawn by horses was high across a number of cities. New York City is home to the first streetcar drawn by horses that runs along the rails of the road. It was inaugurated in 1832. South Bend, Indiana claims to be the first electric streetcar in America. Its line began operation in 1882. According to Smithsonian Institution records, streetcars were popular in America during the early 1900s. They covered 45,000 miles and carried millions of passengers in 1917.

However, this popularity decreased and the cause of the decline is the subject of some dispute.

Some claim that electric mass transport was destroyed by auto companies. The Senate held hearings in 1974 on the subject. Senator counsel Bradford Snell testified to the reality that GM had destroyed electric transportation in 45 cities. This is commonly called "streetcar conspiracy".

The conspiracy is believed to be the source of a plot in the 1988 film "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" The main antagonist in that film, who is imaginatively named Judge Doom (played by Christopher Lloyd), buys the Los Angeles streetcar system in order to take it apart and allow cars to take over. The story of this conspiracy was retold in numerous news reports and in a 1996 PBS documentary.