What Is a
Streetcar?
Let’s say your downtown or small
town—old or new—realizes it needs streetcars to fulfill its hopes and dreams
for its future, a future not unlike the past. How does it begin to explain,
to the larger public, the politicians, the press and the planners, what
streetcars are?
Let’s begin with a definition:
Streetcars are rail transit
vehicles designed for local transportation, powered by electricity received
from an overhead wire.
That's simple enough. As always,
there will be a few exceptions. Some streetcars, in cities such as
Washington, D.C., where overhead wires were forbidden, got their electric
power from a “slot” in the street, a few were powered by storage batteries,
and those now running in Galveston, Texas, have diesel engines. But the
general rule has been and will remain electric motors with an overhead wire
and a trolley pole. After all, that is why we call them “trolleys.”
Photo: W.S. Lind
Streetcars in Service, Philadelphia.
Rails are a must. You cannot turn
a bus into a streetcar for the same reason you cannot make a sow’s ear into
a silk purse: the original material always shows through.
Streetcars differ from buses, but
they also differ from Light Rail (although streetcars and Light Rail work
well together, and can even share the same tracks). The main difference is
purpose: as our definition says, streetcars are for local transportation. A
Light Rail line may operate ten or twenty miles out beyond the downtown,
running at high speeds between suburban stations spaced a mile or more
apart. Streetcars operate in the downtown and perhaps a bit beyond it,
picking people up and letting them off at almost every street corner. Often,
people will use Light Rail to come into town, then use a streetcar to get
around town. Of course, along downtown portions of the Light Rail line, it
also serves as local transportation. But the much lower construction and
operating costs of streetcars mean they can serve the downtown more widely,
and do so without reducing the overall "line speed" of Light Rail trains.
A table showing the differences
between Light Rail and streetcars might be useful:4
| Characteristic |
Light Rail |
Streetcar |
| Right-of-way |
Mostly on private
right-of-way; needs broad curves and gentle grades |
Mostly on streets in
mixed traffic; can adapt to any built environment |
| Materials |
All new, heavy duty |
Often used, light |
| Overhead wire |
Catenary |
Simple span wire |
| Vehicles |
Large, modern, usually
in two or three-car trains |
Small, often traditional |
| Stations |
Separate, built, often
massive to serve whole trains |
Sign indicating
“Streetcar Stop” |
| Labor |
Paid |
Often volunteer, at
least in part |
| Capital cost |
Should not exceed $20
million per mile though many systems now do |
Average less than $10
million per mile |
| Functions |
Line haul, distribution |
Distribution, downtown
loop or shuttle |
| Route length |
Usually more than 10
miles |
Always less than 10
miles |
| Peak use |
Rush hours |
No real “peak,”
ridership spread throughout day |
| Main users |
Commuters |
Some commuters, also
many tourists, shoppers |
Photo: W.S. Lind
Light Rail
Photo: W.S. Lind
A Streetcar
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