What the US Gets Wrong About Trams

Canada and the US actually build a lot of tram systems, but compared to those in Europe, we have a long way to go.

As always, leave a comment down below if you have ideas for our future videos. Like, subscribe, and hit the bell icon so you won't miss my next video!

=PATREON=

If you'd like to help me make more videos & get exclusive behind the scenes access and early video releases, consider supporting my Patreon! Every dollar goes towards helping my channel grow & reach more people.

=ATTRIBUTION=

=COMMUNITY DISCORD SERVER=

(Not officially affiliated with the channel)

=MY SOCIAL MEDIA=

=ABOUT ME=

Ever wondered why your city's transit just doesn't seem quite up to snuff? RMTransit is here to answer that, and help you open your eyes to all of the different public transportation systems around the world!

Reece (the RM in RMTransit) is an urbanist and public transport critic residing in Toronto, Canada, with the goal of helping the world become more connected through metros, trams, buses, high-speed trains, and all other transport modes.

[danny.j]

Trams in Europe aren’t primarily used for “walkable” distances. That applies only in the historic city centres. They are mostly used for connecting medium sized apartment neighbourhoods to the city centre and to avoid traffic jams. They are perfect middle man between buses and metros. In cities where metros are overkill, a fast collision free tram network is the backbone of transportation. And in the most European cities with metros they are also used as circle line since a metro circle line is also an overkill for most.

[erejnion]

The biggest positive of trams is that they can easily get into dense pedestrian centers without obstructing anything, all while providing street-level access. That's something impossible for the metro or the bus.

[hansklaus]

The thing with trams is that they are incredibly versatile. A tram can run fully grade separated like a metro, or run in traffic like a bus, and anything in between.
This can allow for highly specialized and very unique transit systems, such stadtbahn systems.
But it also makes it really easy for trams to be used in a lazy and suboptimal manner.

Trams are an extremely powerful and versatile tool. But if your only tool is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail.

[RMTransit]

A few people have mentioned that I am talking too much about aesthetics, but I think they are critical! Public transit should be attractive and bring people joy so pleasant visual design is really important in my opinion!

Obviously service Is the most important thing, but there’s no reason not to have an attractive system as well! I think it’s a big part of being user centric in your planning!

[MrAronymous]

In the transit hierarchy trams are indeed a nicer bus, on paper. But when it comes to rider experience trams are actually 'a slightly less good metro riding on the surface' in a lot of cases. Put them in a tunnel in some sections and the experience can be nearly identical. And a lot of anti-tram pro-bus people don't see that because they have probably have never gotten to experience a proper tram network with the most important features; dedicated lanes, complete signal priority, close integration with pedestrianized areas. That in addition to actually having a useful and sensible route, which a lot of the US streetcar systems don't.

[jessecruzu]

Can we all appreciate the fact that this guy pushes a great video almost every day. It is now a daily routine to watch RMtransit

[Hiro_Trevelyan]

As a French myself, I have to add a precision : almost all modern trams in France are the same Citadis model from Alstom. They've been altered for each city (sometimes each line like T3 in Lyon that has its own special Citadis) but most of our trams are derived from the same model over and over again.
In France alone, Alstom sold more than 800 Citadis tramways to 23 tramway networks. Worldwide, 55 cities are equipped. They're everywhere.

This is obviously done to reduce the costs, since it's mass-produced and it seems to be a very versatile model, so... Good for us I suppose.

[hollywood]

In the US I think the Build America requirement for federal funding plays a huge role in why our trams all look alike from maybe two builders. We don't have the ability to simply pick and choice from competing manufactures. Not to mention our need to ensure it meets our US build requirements. And i believe that's worth mentioning.

[bobbyswanson]

it’s a shame what happened to the classic american streetcar. they created some of the most human scale neighborhoods in modern cities with 2-4 story density and would’ve developed wonderfully if we moved in the direction of european trams rather than ripping them out

[eriktoth]

If you want to make a video about the Budapest transit system, I am happy to help you with it. 4 metro lines (one is the oldest in continental europe, another is just beautiful), shiplines, 30+ tramlines, 10+ trolleylines, a funicular and a really widespread an well-connected bus system, so plenty to talk about. And also I really like your vids, keep up the great work!

[peachtpm]

I feel that a lot of the poor design choices in NA are made because of the idea that "only the poor use transit", whereas in Europe transit is seen both by the mass and by transit designers as something that is often used even by the middle class. NA designers for this reason just do not put enough care and effort into transit which is seen as some welfare program.

[piotrrywczak]

The main benefit of tram system is how seamless it is. You exit the building, walk along the road to the near tram stop, you board the vehicle and sit down/hold the handrail, and after a few/dozen minutes you exit and walk to your destination.
The rails provide smooth ride, you don't need to get out of your way to go downstairs to an underground station and back up. There isn't even a station to speak of. It's all in one place already, there is a shelter and a place to sit down but most of the time you won't use it and the tram is directly next to the things you want to visit.

[Londoncycleroutes]

Great video - it would be interest to hear your analysis of where would be most suitable for trams. In London we tend to take the ex-rail-alignment approach you talk about but one big issue is these don't necessarily exist everywhere!

[transitspace]

In Europe, TBMs are used precisely because the streets are too narrow to build cut and cover tunnels, I really don’t understand why line 5 in Toronto wasn’t built entirely like this given the impressive width of the Eglinton avenue, in Europe we dream of having so much space! It seems like the Quebec City tramway will be the first modern European tramway in North America (they will even have Alstom Citadis 405 trains, like T9 in Paris)

[denali]

Houstonian checking in:

Our "metro" system is drastically insufficient, because we desperately need true intracity and regional rapid transit.

But our "light rail" network - the red line in particular - really is a high quality example of a tram, in my opinion, and it exemplifies the specific advantages of trams over underground metros or regional rail, in that you can get from the tram door to the cafe counter in a couple of steps. Also, the six-minute headways, while not quite world-class, are pretty excellent for the US.

The green and purple lines are not frequent enough (12min peak, 18min off-peak) to be useful "walking accelerators" downtown, but they become handy outside of downtown, and are accelerating development along their corridors. It will be interesting to see how they are impacted by the Inner Katy BRT line, whose proposed route runs along the same downtown streets as the green and purple lines - hopefully this will mean fully dedicated transit ROW and signal priority along those corridors (maybe even partial pedestrianization, like the red line corridor? I'm afraid to dream of it...).

If you ever get far enough down your list to consider a video on Houston, definitely look at the Inner Katy (/silver line extension) and University BRT lines. If executed right, they could be quite transformative, and the former could be one of the country's best examples of BRT (though I'm not convinced the University line is best served by BRT). The MetroHouston youtube channel has good flyover animations of both projects.

[davebirch]

Here in south Yorkshire the Sheffield supertram network is still using the same trams they had when they started in 1994, they run on former train lines into Sheffield, and then on-street tracks once in the city centre. A couple of years ago we got some new Tram/Trains which run on the national rail network between Parkgate and Tinsley-Meadowhall south where the tram joins the existing tram network into Sheffield city centre

[MrBirdnose]

My theory is trams in North America are ugly because people are really cost-sensitive about public transit, so anything that "looks expensive" is likely to draw criticism as an example of government waste.

[idot]

3:19
I don't know much about American trams, but I much prefer the aesthetic design of the first tram to the second one. It looks quite retro, but if it's nice and well maintained I think I prefer it over a lot of modern European tram designs which often look a bit cheap and tacky in my opinion. Obviously practicality is the most important factor, which I can't comment on based one one photograph, but I really love that boxy retro design for trams and trains.

[Santiago-inxf]

Munich is another good example of the "could walk" trip city. From the Old Town to one of the adjacent neighborhoods is usually walkable but a well timed tram can speed up the trip or make a longer not walkable trip that much more walkable. I'd find myself hoping on a tram for part of the trip and walking the rest or for longer trips, chaining two tram rides.

[Namy]

Glad to hear someone else say some good things about the G:Link! Sometimes I feel like the only person not in Australia to care about it at all. Usually when I hear people talk about it, it's just "that weird light rail that's connected to Brisbane" lol