Streetcars - Past, Present & Future: Ep. 3

The streetcar was once a mainstay of local transportation. Electric streetcar networks used to span the United States, with many thousands of miles of track. We discuss this history, the decline of streetcars, and wonder what life would be like if we'd kept these systems (like Toronto did). But don't distress—streetcars are back! Starting with the Portland streetcar, the U.S. has been fraught by a streetcar-building fervor. Is this a good thing? Are we building sensible transit? What benefits do streetcars bring to the table? Listen in to find out.

Links and stuffs

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Timestamps

00:00 Welcome! Alex is talking streetcars
00:37 Theme song
01:09 What is a streetcar?
02:11 History of streetcars [19]
02:50 Horse-drawn vehicle on rails
03:35 Spread of the streetcar idea
04:49 Electrification [11]
05:51 LA's streetcar network [12]
06:46 Salt Lake City's streetcars [13] [14]
08:45 Streetcar vs. interurban
09:40 Rebuilding on old right-of-way
10:48 How did the streetcars die?
11:55 Declining ridership
12:59 What if we'd held on to our streetcars?
14:06 The car was the future
15:28 Hindsight's 20/20
16:32 Streetcars are back, baby! [6] [8] [10] [16] [19]
16:54 Heritage streetcars
17:42 The Great Falls Historic Trolley [1]
18:40 The Portland streetcar [7] [15] [17]
19:41 Mostly downtown
20:16 Local vs. long-range service
20:57 Generating development
21:54 Other cities: Salt Lake City [14]
23:15 Streetcars to along busy bus routes [2]
23:51 Are the new streetcars any good? [9]
24:43 Some are abysmal failures
25:30 Don't build only to attract development
26:52 Washington, D.C. plans [5]
28:00 People like riding trains (bus stigma)
29:33 Trains can get people on buses
30:01 Toronto & transit for everyone [18]
30:55 Attract riders—existing bus routes [4]
31:30 Buses are expensive to operate [3]
32:35 Streetcars are the future?
33:15 Outro

References & notes

[1] https://www.gotrolleygo.com/
[2] The Bus 21 does have higher ridership than the S-Line; it's also much longer. https://data-rideuta.opendata.arcgis.... https://data-rideuta.opendata.arcgis.... (To my surprise, the S-Line actually covers the same distance as the Bus 21 in less time. I would love to see an extension—either as streetcar or LRT—along the rest of the Bus 21 route.)
[3] https://www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta...
[4] Related, UTA is https://www.rideuta.com/-/media/Files... to revamp their bus (and rail, too) stop signage, making them more useful and more attractive to potential riders.
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DC_Stre...
[6] https://www.vox.com/2018/7/13/1757015...
[7] https://www.travelportland.com/plan/p...
[8] https://www.railwayage.com/news/rebir...
[9] https://streets.mn/2020/09/26/when-mo...
[10] https://archive.curbed.com/2017/1/19/...
[11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetc...)
[12] https://www.streetcar.la/project-info...
[13] http://utahrails.net/pdf/If-Trolley-C...
[14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_La...
[15] https://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/Portla...
[16] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
[17] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portlan...
[18] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto...
[19] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetc...

This episode on our website: https://www.trlpod.com/episode/3/