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I mean street cars, trains that run on streets behind and in front of cars.

greglindahl 7y ago
Many "street cars" have dedicated lanes, and some sometimes run in tunnels and bridges with no intersections with cars at all. So it's worth explaining what you mean up front.
- loeg 7y ago
  Dedicated lane street cars still can't run >100mph, as chrisseaton seems to suggest.
- philwelch 7y ago
  I live in a city with streetcars with dedicated lanes. They constantly stop and honk at cars that are illegally blocking the dedicated streetcar lane. There are also "bus only" lanes, except the buses can go around blockages sometimes.
Scoundreller 7y ago
That’s called “streetrunning”. If you check out YouTube you can find some freight trains that have to do that from time-to-time. About a hundred years ago, when Toronto’s streetcar was implemented, they made their gauge slightly narrower than train gauge to prevent “trains” from running along streetcar tracks. They pay for it to this day as it means new streetcars need to be designed for a gauge that nobody else uses. Turning radii is also an issue. Possibly by design or not...
- ramshorns 7y ago
  Pedantic correction: Toronto streetcars and subways are actually slightly wider than standard gauge. The rest of your point is unaffected. The streetcars are not discussed much in the article, but they may be a large part of both Toronto's moderate transit success and its slowness to adopt real light rail transit. Streetcars are seen as similar to buses but a bit faster, more comfortable and more reliable. Which suits them well for the busy downtown routes. But plans for suburban LRT routes have been dismissed as "glorified streetcars", even though they would be much faster due to less frequent stops and more signal priority. Since relatively slow downtown streetcars are the only surface rail people know about, they don't get excited about LRT.
- cardiffspaceman 7y ago
  It would seem that the geometry of using bogeys/trucks under carriages/cars requires higher radii for wider gauges. But I haven't worked the math.
- elsurudo 7y ago
  Are you sure that was the reason they did that? I don't have any evidence, other than that I always assumed it was either cheaper or more practical to have narrower gauges in cities. It seems to be the case for most streetcar networks I've seen...

Many "street cars" have dedicated lanes, and some sometimes run in tunnels and bridges with no intersections with cars at all. So it's worth explaining what you mean up front.

loeg 7y ago
Dedicated lane street cars still can't run >100mph, as chrisseaton seems to suggest.
philwelch 7y ago
I live in a city with streetcars with dedicated lanes. They constantly stop and honk at cars that are illegally blocking the dedicated streetcar lane. There are also "bus only" lanes, except the buses can go around blockages sometimes.

Scoundreller 7y ago

That’s called “streetrunning”. If you check out YouTube you can find some freight trains that have to do that from time-to-time. About a hundred years ago, when Toronto’s streetcar was implemented, they made their gauge slightly narrower than train gauge to prevent “trains” from running along streetcar tracks. They pay for it to this day as it means new streetcars need to be designed for a gauge that nobody else uses. Turning radii is also an issue. Possibly by design or not...

ramshorns 7y ago
Pedantic correction: Toronto streetcars and subways are actually slightly wider than standard gauge. The rest of your point is unaffected. The streetcars are not discussed much in the article, but they may be a large part of both Toronto's moderate transit success and its slowness to adopt real light rail transit. Streetcars are seen as similar to buses but a bit faster, more comfortable and more reliable. Which suits them well for the busy downtown routes. But plans for suburban LRT routes have been dismissed as "glorified streetcars", even though they would be much faster due to less frequent stops and more signal priority. Since relatively slow downtown streetcars are the only surface rail people know about, they don't get excited about LRT.
cardiffspaceman 7y ago
It would seem that the geometry of using bogeys/trucks under carriages/cars requires higher radii for wider gauges. But I haven't worked the math.
elsurudo 7y ago
Are you sure that was the reason they did that? I don't have any evidence, other than that I always assumed it was either cheaper or more practical to have narrower gauges in cities. It seems to be the case for most streetcar networks I've seen...