7 ms·
You really can't overstate the differences between trams and busses. Trams are more like a moving sidewalk, a physical part of the city.
by compare 13y ago
You really can't overstate the differences between trams and busses. Trams are more like a moving sidewalk, a physical part of the city.
- barking 13y agoDon't you mean 'can't overstate'?
- keithpeter 13y agoSeveral cities in UK are bringing trams back. They call them 'the metro' usually to sound more modern. I use one twice a week, but it only runs on actual roads for a small part of the journey (Birmingham to Wolverhampton) so it is more of a light railway really. The extension at the Birmingham end will bring the trams back onto main city streets.
- guerrilla 13y agoSame in Valencia, Spain and a few other European cities I've been to.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- mhb 13y agoThe incidence of that mistake seems to be increasing. It's the new "could care less".
- brudgers 13y agoThe meaningful difference is not between rails and tires. It is between dedicated rights-of-way and one shared with automotive traffic. When buses get dedicated right-of-way, as in Curitiba they provide similar service levels to subways.
- vidarh 13y agoA lot of tram systems don't have dedicated rights-of-way.
- pantalaimon 13y agoStill they don't/can't break as abruptly as buses and the ride is a lot less bumpy in general. And buses are notoriously crammed, even when the next bus would supposedly be there in 2 minutes, people will squeeze into the one that's there now, with trams you can just attach another cart, and carts can be larger to begin with.
- lstamour 13y agoAh, at least in Toronto, we tend to see our trams as streetcars rather than trains, so they fall victim to the same "next bus" problem you quote above. More so, as trains can't hop over one another to pick up passengers at alternating stops, a practice common with the busiest of routes. That said, streetcar drivers are often much calmer than bus drivers. There's just a different kind of expectation...
- lstamour 13y agoActually, I'd say it really comes down to rails and tires. Streetcars can be given the same rights-of-way as buses and would perform similarly, except: the streetcar is a smoother ride. I can grab breakfast and eat it on a streetcar knowing there's only one direction of motion to worry about. On a bus, however, you can never tell which way you'll be jerked around. It really is much less pleasant, even if it's faster without the right of way. (Due to left turning cars)
- mkopinsky 13y agoCan someone who's taken the new MTA Select Bus Service busses comment on whether they are smoother than regular busses? I took an MTA bus today for the first time in a long while and it was uncomfortably bumpy.