Streetcars in North America
Encyclopedia
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
s outside North America—once were the chief mode of public transit in scores of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n cities. Most municipal systems were dismantled in the mid-20th century.
Today, only Toronto
Toronto streetcar system
The Toronto streetcar system comprises eleven streetcar routes in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission , and is the largest such system in the Americas in terms of ridership, number of cars, and track length. The network is concentrated primarily in downtown and in...
and New Orleans still operate streetcar networks that are essentially unchanged in their layout and mode of operation.
Boston, Cleveland
Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority
The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority is the public transit agency for Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and the surrounding suburbs of Cuyahoga County. RTA is the largest transit agency in Ohio, providing over 44 million trips to residents and visitors of the Cleveland area in 2010...
, Mexico City
Xochimilco Light Rail
The Xochimilco Light Rail is a light rail line that serves the southern part of Mexico City. It connects to, but is not considered a part of, the Mexico City Metro...
, Newark
Newark Light Rail
The Newark Light Rail is a light rail system under New Jersey Transit Bus Operations serving Newark, New Jersey. The service consists of two segments, the original Newark City Subway, and the extension to Broad Street station...
, Philadelphia
SEPTA Subway-Surface Trolley Lines
The Subway–Surface Trolley Lines or Green Lines are five SEPTA trolley lines that operate on street-level tracks in West Philadelphia and Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and in a shared subway with rapid transit trains in Philadelphia's Center City....
, Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh Light Rail
The Pittsburgh Light Rail is a light rail system in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; it functions as a subway in Downtown Pittsburgh and largely as an at-grade light rail service in the suburbs. The system is owned and operated by the Port Authority of Allegheny County...
, and San Francisco
F Market
The F Market & Wharves line is one of several light rail lines in San Francisco, California. Unlike the other lines, the F line is operated as a heritage streetcar service, using exclusively historic equipment both from San Francisco's retired fleet as well as from cities around the world...
have rebuilt their streetcar systems as light rail systems. Buffalo
Buffalo Metro Rail
The NFTA has a fleet of 26 rigid-bodied LRVs for the Metro Rail system, numbered sequentially from 101 to 127. They were built by Tokyu Car Corporation of Japan. One car was damaged in transit and later purchased by a restaurateur, Bertrand H. Hoak, of Hamburg, as an addition to Hoak's Armor Inn...
, Calgary
C-Train
C-Train is the light rail transit system in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It has been in operation since May 25, 1981. The system is operated by Calgary Transit, a department of the Calgary municipal government.-Operations:...
, Dallas
DART Light Rail
DART Light Rail is a light rail system in Dallas, Texas and its suburbs owned by the Dallas Area Rapid Transit. The system comprises between its three lines — the , the and the . Its 72 miles of track make it the largest light rail system in the United States. It has a daily ridership of...
, Edmonton
Edmonton Transit System
The Edmonton Transit System, also called ETS, is the public transit service owned and operated by the city of Edmonton, Alberta. It operates Edmonton's bus and light rail systems.-Service:...
, Houston
METRORail
METRORail is the light rail line in Houston . It is the second major light rail service in Texas following the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system. With an approximate daily ridership of 34,155, the METRORail ranks as the fourteenth most-traveled light rail system in the United States, with the...
, Los Angeles, Minneapolis
Hiawatha Line
The Hiawatha Line is a light rail corridor in Hennepin County, Minnesota that extends from downtown Minneapolis to the southern suburb of Bloomington. It was formerly known as the Hiawatha Line named after Hiawatha Avenue. Major connections on the line include the Minneapolis-St...
, San Diego
San Diego Trolley
The San Diego Trolley is a light rail system operating in the metropolitan area of San Diego. The operator, San Diego Trolley, Inc. , is a subsidiary of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System ...
, Charlotte
LYNX Rapid Transit Services
Lynx Rapid Transit Services comprises a light rail line serviced by the Charlotte Area Transit System in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States...
, St. Louis
St. Louis Metrolink
MetroLink is the light rail transit system in the Greater St. Louis area of Missouri and the Metro East area of Illinois. The entire system currently consists of two lines connecting Lambert-St. Louis International Airport and Shrewsbury, MO with Scott Air Force Base near Shiloh, Illinois through...
and other cities have installed new light rail systems, parts of which run along historic streetcar corridors and in a few cases feature mixed-traffic operation like a streetcar. Portland, Oregon
Portland Streetcar
The Portland Streetcar is a streetcar system in Portland, Oregon, that opened in 2001 and serves areas surrounding downtown Portland. It is currently a single line that is almost long and serves some 12,000 daily riders, but a second line is expected to open in 2012.As with the heavier-duty MAX...
and Seattle
South Lake Union Streetcar
The Seattle Streetcar—South Lake Union Line is a streetcar line connecting the South Lake Union neighborhood to Downtown Seattle, United States. Service began on December 12, 2007...
have built both modern light rail and modern streetcar systems.
Edmonton, Memphis, Seattle, Vancouver, Whitehorse, and other cities have restored a small number of streetcars to run as heritage lines for tourists.
History
Omnibuses and horsecars
From the 1820s to the 1880s urban transit in North America began when horse-drawn omnibus lines started to operate along city streets. Examples included Gilbert VanderwerkenGilbert Vanderwerken
Gilbert Vanderwerken , originally from Albany, New York, was most notably recognized for introducing the omnibus, an urban version of the stagecoach, in Newark, New Jersey, in 1826.-Biography:...
's 1826 omnibus service in Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
. Before long Omnibus companies sought to boost profitability of their wagons by increasing ridership along their lines. Horsecar
Horsecar
A horsecar or horse-drawn tram is an animal-powered streetcar or tram.These early forms of public transport developed out of industrial haulage routes that had long been in existence, and from the omnibus routes that first ran on public streets in the 1820s, using the newly improved iron or steel...
lines simply ran wagons along rails set in a city street instead of on the unpaved street surface as the omnibus lines used. When a wagon was drawn upon rails the rolling resistance
Rolling resistance
Rolling resistance, sometimes called rolling friction or rolling drag, is the resistance that occurs when a round object such as a ball or tire rolls on a flat surface, in steady velocity straight line motion. It is caused mainly by the deformation of the object, the deformation of the surface, or...
of the vehicle was lowered and the average speed was increased.
A horse or team that rode along rails could carry more fare paying passengers per day of operation than those that did not have rails. North America's first streetcar lines opened in 1832 from downtown New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to Harlem by the New York and Harlem Railroad
New York and Harlem Railroad
The New York and Harlem Railroad was one of the first railroads in the United States, and possibly also the world's first street railway. Designed by John Stephenson, it was opened in stages between 1832 and 1852 between Lower Manhattan to and beyond Harlem...
, in 1834 in New Orleans, and in 1849 in Toronto along the Williams Omnibus Bus Line
Williams Omnibus Bus Line
Williams Omnibus Bus Lines was the first mass transportation system in the old City of Toronto, Canada with four six-passenger buses. Established in 1849 by local cabinetmaker Burt Williams, it consisted of horse-drawn stagecoaches operating from the St. Lawrence Market to the Red Lion Hotel in...
.
more hours per day of useful transit service than horses and were especially popular in the south in cities such as New Orleans, Louisiana and Celaya
Celaya
Celaya is a city and its surrounding municipality in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, located in the southeast quadrant of the state. It is the third most populous city in the state, with a 2005 census population of 310,413. The municipality for which the city serves as municipal seat, had a...
, Guanajuato
Guanajuato
Guanajuato officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 46 municipalities and its capital city is Guanajuato....
, Mexico.
In many cities single animal drawn streetcars were known as "bobtail streetcars" whether mule or horse drawn.
By the mid 1880s, there were 415 street railway companies in the USA operating over 6000 miles of track and carrying 188 million passengers per year using animal drawn cars. In the nineteenth century Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
had streetcars in around 1,000 towns and many were animal powered. The 1907 Anuario Estadístico lists
35 animal-powered streetcar lines in Veracruz
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...
state, 80 in Guanajuato
Guanajuato
Guanajuato officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 46 municipalities and its capital city is Guanajuato....
and 300 lines in Yucatán
Yucatán
Yucatán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Yucatán is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 106 municipalities and its capital city is Mérida....
.
Although most animal drawn lines were shut down in the 19th century a few lines lasted into the 20th century and later. Toronto's horse drawn streetcar operations ended in 1891.
New York City saw regular horsecar service last until 1917 (see photo at left).
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
's Sarah Street line lasted until 1923.
The last regular mule-drawn cars in the United States ran in Sulphur Rock, Arkansas
Sulphur Rock, Arkansas
Sulphur Rock is a town in Independence County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 421 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Sulphur Rock is located at ....
until 1926 and were commemorated by a U.S. Postage Stamp issued in 1983.
The last mule tram service in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
ended in 1932, and a mule-powered
line in Celaya, survived until May 1954. In the 21st century horsecars are still used to take visitors along the 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) tour of the 3 cenote
Cenote
A cenote is a deep natural pit, or sinkhole, characteristic of Mexico and Central America, resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes groundwater underneath...
s from Chunkanán near Cuzamá Municipality in the state of Yucatán.
Early power
During the nineteenth century, particularly from the 1860s to the 1890s, many streetcar operators switched from animals to other types of motive power. Before the use of electricity the use of steam dummiesSteam dummy
A steam dummy or dummy engine, in the United States of America and Canada, was a steam engine enclosed in a wooden box structure made to resemble a railroad passenger coach....
, tram engine
Tram engine
A tram engine is a locomotive specially built, or modified, to work on a street, or roadside, tramway.-Steam tram engines:In the steam locomotive era, tram engines had to comply with certain legal requirements, although these varied from country to country:* The engine must be governed to a maximum...
s, or cable car
Cable car (railway)
A cable car or cable railway is a mass transit system using rail cars that are hauled by a continuously moving cable running at a constant speed. Individual cars stop and start by releasing and gripping this cable as required...
s was tried in several North American cities. A notable transition took place in Washington, D.C. in the U.S. where horsecars were used on street railways from 1862 to the early 1890s. From about 1890 to 1893 cable drives provided motive power to Washington streetcars, and after 1893 electricity powered the cars. The advantages of eliminating animal drive power included dispensing with the need to feed the animals and clean up their waste. A North American city that did not eliminate its cable car lines was San Francisco and much of its San Francisco cable car system
San Francisco cable car system
The San Francisco cable car system is the world's last permanently operational manually operated cable car system, in the US sense of a tramway whose cars are pulled along by cables embedded in the street. It is an icon of San Francisco, California...
continues to operate to this day.
In this transition period some early streetcar lines in large cities opted to rebuild their railways above or below grade to help further speed transit. Such system would become known as rapid transit
Rapid transit
A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
or later as heavy rail lines.
Electrification
South Bend, Indiana
The city of South Bend is the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total of 101,168 residents; its Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 316,663...
in 1882.
In 1883 Leo Daft
Leo Daft
Leo Daft was an English professor and builder of early American urban railroads.He led the construction of an electrical railroad in Newark, New Jersey, in 1883, of the Baltimore and Hampden Electric Railway in the Hampden neighborhood of Baltimore in 1885, and of the Los Angeles Electric...
built Ampère, an experimental 2 ton electric locomotive in Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
that was intended to pull
passengers through the city's streets. Daft's locomotive used one rail to supply and the other rail to return current to the generator.
One of the wheels on each axle was insulated from the axle with "vulcanized fiber".
The World Cotton Centennial
World Cotton Centennial
The 1884 World's Fair was held in New Orleans, Louisiana. At a time when nearly one third of all cotton produced in the United States was handled in New Orleans and the city was home to the Cotton Exchange, the idea for the fair was first advanced by the Cotton Planters Association...
was held in New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
from December 16, 1884 to June 2, 1885.
It featured displays with a great deal of electric light illumination, an observation tower with electric elevators,
and several prototype designs of electric streetcars.
On April 15, 1886 Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
established its electric streetcar
system nicknamed the Lightning Route
Lightning Route
The Capital City Street Railway, also known as the Lightning Route, was the first city-wide system of streetcars established in Montgomery, Alabama, United States on April 15, 1886. This early technology was developed by Belgian-American inventor Charles Joseph Van Depoele. James Gaboury was the...
.
Another early electrified streetcar system in the United States was established
in Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area. Scranton had a population of 76,089 in 2010, according to the U.S...
by November 30, 1886, giving Scranton the nickname "The Electric City".
In 1887 an electric streetcar line opened between Omaha
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
and South Omaha
South Omaha, Nebraska
South Omaha, Nebraska is a former city and current district of Omaha, Nebraska. During its initial development phase the town's nickname was "The Magic City" because of the seemingly overnight growth due to the rapid development of the Union Stockyards. Annexed by the City of Omaha in 1915, the...
, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
.
The Omaha Motor Railway Company began operation in 1888.
Along the east coast a large-scale electric street railway system known as the Richmond Union Passenger Railway
Richmond Union Passenger Railway
The Richmond Union Passenger Railway, in Richmond, Virginia, was the first practical electric trolley system, and set the pattern for most subsequent electric trolley systems around the world. It is an IEEE milestone in engineering....
was built by Frank J. Sprague
Frank J. Sprague
Frank Julian Sprague was an American naval officer and inventor who contributed to the development of the electric motor, electric railways, and electric elevators...
in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, and was operating by February 2, 1888. The Richmond system had a large impact upon the burgeoning electric trolley industry. Sprague's use of a trolley pole
Trolley pole
A trolley pole is a tapered cylindrical pole of wood or metal, used to transfer electricity from a "live" overhead wire to the control and propulsion equipment of a tram or trolley bus. The use of overhead wire in a system of current collection is reputed to be the 1880 invention of Frank J....
for D.C. current pick up from a single line (with ground return via the street rails) set the pattern that was to be adopted in many other cities. The North American English use of the term "trolley" instead of "tram" for a street railway vehicle derives from the work that Sprague did in Richmond and quickly
spread elsewhere.
Growth
The rapid growth of streetcar systems led to the widespread ability of people to live outside of a city and commute into it for work on a daily basis. Several of the communities that grew as a result of this new mobility were known as streetcar suburb
Streetcar suburb
A streetcar suburb is a residential community whose growth and development was strongly shaped by the use of streetcar lines as a primary means of transportation. Early suburbs were served by horsecars, but by the late 19th century cable cars and electric streetcars, or trams, were used, allowing...
s. Another outgrowth of the popularity of urban streetcar systems was the rise of interurban
Interurban
An interurban, also called a radial railway in parts of Canada, is a type of electric passenger railroad; in short a hybrid between tram and train. Interurbans enjoyed widespread popularity in the first three decades of the twentieth century in North America. Until the early 1920s, most roads were...
lines, which were basically streetcars that operated between cities and served remote, even rural, areas. In some areas interurban lines competed with regular passenger service on mainline railroads and in others they simply complemented the mainline roads by serving towns not on the mainlines.
Hagerstown and Frederick Railway
The Hagerstown & Frederick Railway, now defunct, was an American railroad of central Maryland built in the 19th and 20th centuries.-Early development:...
that started in 1896 in northern Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
was built to provide transit service to resorts and the streetcar company built and operated two amusement park
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
s to entice more people to ride their streetcars. The Lake Shore Electric Railway interurban in northern Ohio carried passengers to Cedar Point
Cedar Point
Cedar Point is a 364 acre amusement park located in Sandusky, Ohio, United States on a narrow peninsula jutting into Lake Erie. Cedar Point is the only amusement park with four roller coasters that are taller than...
and several other Ohio amusement parks. The Lake Compounce
Lake Compounce
Lake Compounce is an amusement park located in Bristol, Connecticut, United States and a part of the neighboring town of Southington, Connecticut; the lake itself lies completely in Southington. It is the oldest continuously operating amusement park in North America, having operated every year...
amusement park, which started in 1846, had by 1895 established trolley service to its rural Connecticut location. Although outside trolley service to Lake Compounce stopped in the 1930s, the park resurrected its trolley past with the opening of the "Lakeside Trolley" ride in 1997 which is still operating today as a short heritage line. In the days before widespread radio listening was popular and in towns or neighborhoods too small to support a viable amusement park streetcar lines might help to fund an appearance of a touring musical act at the local bandstand
Bandstand
A bandstand is a circular or semicircular structure set in a park, garden, pier, or indoor space, designed to accommodate musical bands performing concerts...
to boost weekend afternoon ridership.
Many of Mexico's streetcars were fitted with gasoline motors in the 1920s and some were pulled
by steam locomotives. Only 15 Mexican streetcar systems were electrified in the 1920s.
Strikes
Between 1895 and 1929, almost every major city in the United States suffered at least one streetcar strike. Sometimes lasting only a few days, more often these strikes were "marked by almost continuous and often spectacular violent conflict," at times amounting to prolonged riots and civil insurrection.Streetcar strikes rank among the deadliest armed conflicts in American labor union history. Samuel Gompers
Samuel Gompers
Samuel Gompers was an English-born American cigar maker who became a labor union leader and a key figure in American labor history. Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor , and served as that organization's president from 1886 to 1894 and from 1895 until his death in 1924...
of the American Federation of Labor
American Federation of Labor
The American Federation of Labor was one of the first federations of labor unions in the United States. It was founded in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions disaffected from the Knights of Labor, a national labor association. Samuel Gompers was elected president of the Federation at its...
called the St. Louis Streetcar Strike of 1900
St. Louis Streetcar Strike of 1900
The St. Louis Streetcar Strike of 1900 was a labor action, and resulting civil disruption, against the St. Louis Transit Company by a group of three thousand workers unionized by the Amalgamated Street Railway Employees of America....
"the fiercest struggle ever waged by the organized toilers" up to that point, with a total casualty count of 14 dead and about 200 wounded. The San Francisco Streetcar Strike of 1907
San Francisco Streetcar Strike of 1907
The San Francisco Streetcar Strike of 1907 was among the most violent of the streetcar strikes in the United States between 1895 and 1929. Before the end of the strike, thirty-one people had been killed and about 1100 injured....
saw 30 killed and about 1000 injured. Many of the casualties were passengers and innocent bystanders.
The 1929 New Orleans streetcar strike was the last of its kind. The rise of private automobile ownership took the edge off its impact, as an article in the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
observed as early as 1915.
Decline
The Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
of the 1930s led to the closure of many streetcar lines in North America. The onset of World War II held off the closure of some streetcar lines as civilians used them to commute to war related factory jobs during a time when rubber tires and gasoline were rationed. After the war automobile use continued to rise and was assisted in the 1940s and 1950s by the passage of the Trans-Canada Highway Act of 1948 and growth of provincial highways in Canada as well as the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956
Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956
The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, popularly known as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act , was enacted on June 29, 1956, when Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the bill into law...
in the United States. Declining ridership and traffic jam crowding of city streets by streetcars were often cited as reasons to shut down remaining lines. By the 1960s most North American streetcar lines were closed, with only the exceptions noted above and discussed below remaining in service. The survival of the lines that made it past the 1960s was aided by the introduction of the successful PCC streetcar
PCC streetcar
The PCC streetcar design was first built in the United States in the 1930s. The design proved successful in its native country, and after World War II was licensed for use elsewhere in the world...
(Presidents' Conference Committee car) in the 1940s and 1950s in all these cities except New Orleans.
City buses were seen as more economical and flexible: a bus could carry a number of people similar to that in a streetcar without tracks and associated infrastructure. The transit operators in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
and San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
removed some streetcar tracks but kept the electric infrastructure so as to run electrified trackless trolley bus
Trolleybus
A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...
es (see also Trolleybuses in Dayton
Trolleybuses in Dayton
The Dayton trolleybus system forms part of the public transportation network serving Dayton, in the state of Ohio, United States. Opened on April 23, 1933, it presently comprises seven lines, and is operated by the Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority, with a fleet of 54...
, Trolleybuses in Philadelphia
Trolleybuses in Philadelphia
The Philadelphia trolleybus system, or trackless trolley system as it is known by its operator, forms part of the public transportation network serving Philadelphia, in the state of Pennsylvania, United States. It opened on October 14, 1923, and is now is the second-longest-lived trolleybus...
, Trolleybuses in San Francisco
Trolleybuses in San Francisco
The San Francisco trolleybus system forms part of the public transportation network serving San Francisco, in the state of California, United States...
, Boston-area trackless trolleys
Boston-area trackless trolleys
There are currently four trolleybus routes in the Boston, Massachusetts area, all run by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in the Harvard Square area, and all former streetcar lines...
, Trolleybuses in Seattle
Trolleybuses in Seattle
The Seattle trolleybus system forms part of the public transportation network serving Seattle, in the state of Washington, United States. Opened on April 28, 1940, it presently comprises 14 lines, and is operated with 159 trolleybuses by the King County Metro, commonly known as Metro.Of the five...
and Trolleybuses in Vancouver
Trolleybuses in Vancouver
The Vancouver trolleybus system forms part of the public transport network serving Metro Vancouver, in the province of British Columbia, Canada....
). In 2001 Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
started operation of its newly constructed Silver Line
Silver Line (MBTA)
The Silver Line is the only bus rapid transit line currently operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority . It operates in two sections; the first runs from Dudley Square in Roxbury to downtown Boston, Massachusetts and South Station, mostly via Washington Street, with buses...
trackless trolley service.
Purported conspiracies
The abandonment of city streetcar systems in the mid-twentieth century,led to accusations of conspiracy which held that a union of automobile, oil,
and tire manufacturers shut down the streetcar systems in order to further the use of buses
and automobiles. The struggling depression-era
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
streetcar
companies were bought up by this union of companies who, over the following decades,
dismantled many of the North American streetcar systems.
While it is true that General Motors, Firestone Tire, Standard Oil of California, Phillips Petroleum
Phillips Petroleum
Phillips Petroleum Company was founded in 1917 by L.E. Phillips and Frank Phillips, of Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Their younger brother Waite Phillips was the benefactor of Philmont Scout Ranch....
, and some other companies formed holding companies that purchased several dozen of the hundreds of transit systems across North America, their real goal was to sell their products — buses, tires, and fuel — to those transit systems as they converted from streetcars to buses. During the time the holding companies owned an interest in American transit systems, more than 300 cities converted to buses. The holding companies only owned an interest in the transit systems of less than fifty of those cities, albeit the largest of them. GM and other companies were subsequently convicted in 1949 of conspiring to monopolize the sale of buses and related products via a complex network of linked holding companies including National City Lines and Pacific City Lines. They were also indicted, but acquitted of conspiring to monopolize the ownership of these companies. The latter verdict was upheld on appeal
Appeal
An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....
in 1951.
Renaissance
The term light rail was devised in 1972 by the U.S. Urban Mass Transportation Administration to describe new streetcar transformations which were taking place in Europe and being planned in North America.The Edmonton Light Rail Transit
Edmonton Light Rail Transit
Edmonton Light Rail Transit, more commonly referred to as the LRT, is a light rail system in Edmonton, Alberta. Part of the Edmonton Transit System , the 20.5-kilometre route starts in Edmonton's northeast suburbs and ends at Century Park in Edmonton's south end.The ETS designates the LRT as Route...
became the first urban light rail system in North America.
Construction of the Edmonton line started in 1974 and it became operational on April 22, 1978.
Some notable distinctions between light rail systems and their streetcar predecessors were that
light rail lines may run at least partially along exclusive rights of way instead of only along streets, a light rail line is more likely to run multiple unit
Multiple unit
The term multiple unit or MU is used to describe a self-propelled carriages capable of coupling with other units of the same or similar type and still being controlled from one driving cab. The term is commonly used to denote passenger trainsets consisting of more than one carriage...
trains instead of single cars, and a light rail line may use high level stations instead of in street stops. These design differences mean that light rail systems tend to have more passenger capacity and higher speeds than their streetcar predecessors.
Surviving systems
Not all streetcars systems were removed; the San Francisco cable car systemSan Francisco cable car system
The San Francisco cable car system is the world's last permanently operational manually operated cable car system, in the US sense of a tramway whose cars are pulled along by cables embedded in the street. It is an icon of San Francisco, California...
and New Orleans' streetcars are the most famous examples in the United States. San Francisco's conventional electric streetcar system also avoided abandonment, as did portions of the streetcar systems in Boston, Newark
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, together with those of Toronto in Canada and Mexico City in Mexico. The Newark, Philadelphia, and Boston systems ran into subways downtown, while the Pittsburgh and San Francisco systems had tunnels under large hills that had no acceptable road alternatives for bus replacements. The St. Charles Avenue line in New Orleans runs down the park-like "neutral ground" in the centre of St. Charles Avenue. The only system without these alternatives to street-running to survive was Toronto's. All of these systems have received new equipment. Some of these cities have also rehabilitated lines, and Newark, New Orleans, and San Francisco have added trackage in recent years. In Philadelphia, a former trolley line that was "bustituted
Bustitution
The word bustitution is a neologism sometimes used to describe the practice of replacing a passenger train service with a bus service either on a temporary or permanent basis. The word is a portmanteau of the words "bus" and "substitution"...
" recently resumed trolley service using rebuilt historic cars. Two other former trolley lines are planned to resume trolley service in the 2010s.
In Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, most cities once had a streetcar system, but today the Toronto Transit Commission
Toronto Transit Commission
-Island Ferry:The ferry service to the Toronto Islands was operated by the TTC from 1927 until 1962, when it was transferred to the Metro Parks and Culture department. Since 1998, the ferry service is run by Toronto Parks and Recreation.-Gray Coach:...
(TTC) is the only traditional operator of streetcars, and maintains the Western Hemisphere's most extensive system in terms of track length, number of cars, and ridership. The city added two lines in recent years, and is upgrading its other lines. Expansion is planned in combination with the city's plans for the rejuvenation of its waterfront.
New systems
Light rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
systems, some of which operate partially in the right-of-way of city streets. Other new systems are genuine tramways, with smaller vehicles and mixed-traffic street running (no separation from other vehicles), similar to those in New Orleans and San Francisco, although the term streetcar—rather than the European term, tramway—is the name used by the residents there. The pioneering light rail system in Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
, which used mostly European technology, does not use street running, and tunneling in the central area accounted for much of the high expense of building that system. It was soon followed by installations in San Diego and Calgary that used similar vehicles but which avoided the expense of tunnels by using surface alignments and, on a few sections, even partial street running, in reserved lanes (restricted to transit vehicles only).
Prior to 2001, the new streetcar systems opened in North America were heritage
Heritage streetcar
Heritage streetcars or heritage trams are a development of the heritage railways that are becoming popular across the world. As with modern streetcar systems, the vehicles are referred to as trams or tramcars in the United Kingdom, Australasia and certain other places , but as streetcars or...
lines, alternatively known as vintage trolley or ‘historic’ trolley lines. Several cities built new heritage streetcar lines in the 1980s and 1990s, some served only on weekends while others operate daily, year-round and all day, providing true public transit service as opposed to being a tourist- or history-oriented excursion service. New streetcar systems providing daily, year-round service included ones opened in Seattle (the Waterfront Streetcar
Waterfront Streetcar
The Waterfront Streetcar, officially the George Benson Waterfront Streetcar Line, was a -long streetcar line run by Metro Transit in Seattle, Washington, so named because much of its route was along Alaskan Way on the Elliott Bay waterfront...
) (1982), Galveston
Galveston Island Trolley
The Galveston Island Trolley is a heritage streetcar in Galveston, Texas, United States. As of late 2006, the total network length was 6.8 miles with 22 stations. The Galveston Island Trolley is operated by Island Transit...
(1988), Dallas (McKinney Avenue Transit Authority
McKinney Avenue Transit Authority
The McKinney Avenue Transit Authority , a non-profit organization, operates the M-line Streetcar line in Dallas, Texas . The offices and car barn are located at 3153 Oak Grove, Dallas, TX 75204. It is an example of a heritage streetcar running historic cars...
) (1989), Memphis
MATA Trolley
The MATA Trolley is a heritage streetcar system operating in Memphis in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It has operated since April 29, 1993.As of 2008, the system consists of three lines: the Main Street Trolley, the Madison Avenue Loop and the Riverfront Loop...
(1993) and Kenosha, Wisconsin
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Kenosha is a city and the county seat of Kenosha County in the State of Wisconsin in United States. With a population of 99,218 as of May 2011, Kenosha is the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Kenosha is also the fourth-largest city on the western shore of Lake Michigan, following Chicago,...
(2000). All of these were newly constructed systems, but all are served by historic streetcars or replicas of historic streetcars (although the Seattle Waterfront line has since closed). Others have since opened in Tampa
TECO Line Streetcar System
The TECO Line Streetcar System is a streetcar line in Tampa, Florida, run by the Hillsborough Area Regional Transportation Authority and managed by Tampa Historic Streetcar, Inc.. It connects Downtown and Channelside to the historic Ybor City district. There is also an "In-Town" trolley-replica bus...
and Little Rock
River Rail Streetcar
The River Rail Streetcar is a heritage streetcar system operating in Little Rock and North Little Rock in the U.S. state of Arkansas. It has operated since November 1, 2004. As of February 17, 2007, the system is long after its first extension was put into service...
; see Heritage streetcar systems, below.
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, which already boasted a successful light rail system (MAX), became the first city in North America in more than 50 years to open a new streetcar system served by modern vehicles, with the opening of the Portland Streetcar
Portland Streetcar
The Portland Streetcar is a streetcar system in Portland, Oregon, that opened in 2001 and serves areas surrounding downtown Portland. It is currently a single line that is almost long and serves some 12,000 daily riders, but a second line is expected to open in 2012.As with the heavier-duty MAX...
. It uses low-floor
Low-floor tram
A low-floor tram is a tram that has no stair steps between one or more entrances and part or all of the passenger cabin. The low-floor design improves the accessibility of the tram for the public, and also may provide larger windows and more airspace....
cars built in the Czech Republic, but the system's first US-built streetcar was delivered in 2009. The line serves as a downtown circulator between the central city core, the Pearl District
Pearl District, Portland, Oregon
The Pearl District is an area of Portland, Oregon, formerly occupied by warehouses, light industry and railroad classification yards and now noted for its art galleries, upscale businesses and residences. The area has been undergoing significant urban renewal since the late 1990s, including the...
and Northwest Portland, Portland State University
Portland State University
Portland State University is a public state urban university located in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1946, it has the largest overall enrollment of any university in the state of Oregon, including undergraduate and graduate students. It is also the only public university in...
, and in 2005 was extended to the South Waterfront
South Waterfront
The South Waterfront is a high-rise district under construction on former brownfield industrial land in the South Portland neighborhood south of downtown Portland, Oregon, U.S. It is one of the largest urban redevelopment projects in the United States...
district, a new mixed-use development along the Willamette River
Willamette River
The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States...
shoreline. Running almost entirely on streets and without any separation from other traffic on most sections, it complements the MAX light rail system, which covers much longer distances and serves as a regional, higher-capacity rail system for the metropolitan area
Portland metropolitan area
The Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metropolitan Statistical Area , also known as the Portland metropolitan area or Greater Portland, is an urban area in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington centered around the city of Portland, Oregon. The U.S...
. The MAX system also runs along streets in central Portland, but is separated from traffic (other than buses) even in those areas, via reserved light-rail-only lanes. Construction of a second streetcar line, to the city's east side, began in August 2009.
The new Portland system and several of the new heritage streetcar systems have been intended, in part, as a way of influencing property development in the corridors served, in such a way as to increase density while attracting residents interested in relatively car-free
Car-free movement
The car-free movement is a broad, informal, emergent network of individuals and organizations including social activists, urban planners and others brought together by a shared belief that cars are too dominant in most modern cities...
living. The Portland Streetcar
Portland Streetcar
The Portland Streetcar is a streetcar system in Portland, Oregon, that opened in 2001 and serves areas surrounding downtown Portland. It is currently a single line that is almost long and serves some 12,000 daily riders, but a second line is expected to open in 2012.As with the heavier-duty MAX...
is considered to have been very successful in this regard.
North America's second modern streetcar system opened in 2007 in Seattle, where the city's transportation department led the project to construct the South Lake Union Streetcar
South Lake Union Streetcar
The Seattle Streetcar—South Lake Union Line is a streetcar line connecting the South Lake Union neighborhood to Downtown Seattle, United States. Service began on December 12, 2007...
, but has contracted with local transit authority King County Metro to operate the service. Connecting the neighborhood south of Lake Union
Lake Union
Lake Union is a freshwater lake entirely within the Seattle, Washington city limits.-Origins:A glacial lake, its basin was dug 12,000 years ago by the Vashon glacier, which also created Lake Washington and Seattle's Green, Bitter, and Haller Lakes.-Name:...
with the transit core of downtown Seattle, it operates every 15 minutes and is served by three low-floor streetcars of the same type as some of those in Portland. Residents of the area began referring to the system as the "South Lake Union Trolley" giving it the amusing but unfortunate acronym of "SLUT". Subsequently (in 2009), Seattle has also opened a light rail system (Central Link). Expansion of the streetcar system is planned, with a line serving First Hill
First Hill Streetcar
The Seattle Streetcar—First Hill Line, commonly called the First Hill Streetcar, is a proposed streetcar line connecting the Capitol Hill, First Hill, and the International District neighborhoods in central Seattle...
.
A new rail line which opened in Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
in 2003, Tacoma Link, is sometimes referred to as a streetcar line because of its short length and use of single vehicles (rather than trains) of the same type as the low-floor streetcars used in Portland. However, the line is separated from other traffic over nearly its entire length, making it less a streetcar than light rail
Light rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
, which is what its operator (Sound Transit
Sound Transit
Sound Transit has been the popular name of Washington state's Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority since September 19, 1999. It was formed in 1996 by the Snohomish, King, and Pierce County Councils...
) considers it to be.
New tram systems have now opened in many other cities, starting with the ground-breaking system in Edmonton in 1978, and now including Baltimore, Buffalo
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
, Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, Charlotte
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
, Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
(DART
Dallas Area Rapid Transit
The Dallas Area Rapid Transit authority is a transit agency based in Dallas, Texas . It operates buses, light rail, commuter rail, and high-occupancy vehicle lanes in Dallas and 12 of its suburbs...
), Denver
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
, Edmonton, Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, Greater Jersey City
Hudson County, New Jersey
Hudson County is the smallest county in New Jersey and one of the most densely populated in United States. It takes its name from the Hudson River, which creates part of its eastern border. Part of the New York metropolitan area, its county seat and largest city is Jersey City.- Municipalities...
(HBLR), Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, Minneapolis
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
, Ottawa
Ottawa O-Train
The O-Train is a light-rail transit service in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada operated by OC Transpo. The present line runs north-south on a railway line, from Bayview to Greenboro, a distance of approximately...
, Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
, Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, Sacramento
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
, St Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
, San Diego
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
and San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
.
Additionally, all of the surviving PCC
PCC streetcar
The PCC streetcar design was first built in the United States in the 1930s. The design proved successful in its native country, and after World War II was licensed for use elsewhere in the world...
operators have replaced their PCC cars with light rail vehicles, although restored vintage PCC cars are still in regular operation on Boston's MBTA Red line
Red Line (MBTA)
The Red Line is a rapid transit line operated by the MBTA running roughly north-south through Boston, Massachusetts into neighboring communities. The line begins west of Boston, in Cambridge, Massachusetts at Alewife station, near the intersection of Alewife Brook Parkway and Route 2...
Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line
Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line
The Ashmont–Mattapan High Speed Line or also known as the "M-Line" in Boston and Milton, Massachusetts is considered to be part of the MBTA's Red Line, even though it uses different equipment and passengers have to change at Ashmont. The only MBTA line to run through a cemetery, the line opened on...
, and on San Francisco's F Market line, a line popular among tourists. This line was extended to the Fisherman's Wharf area in 2000, and a second line along the Embarcadero to the east is in the planning stages.
In development
Some 70 US cities have studied the idea of bringing back streetcars as transit, although to date the number that have come to fruition has been small. In the 2000s, one factor in this was opposition from the Federal Transit AdministrationFederal Transit Administration
The Federal Transit Administration is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transit systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administrations within the DOT...
(FTA) under the Bush Administration. However, under the Obama Administration
Presidency of Barack Obama
The Presidency of Barack Obama began at noon EST on January 20, 2009 when he became the 44th President of the United States. Obama was a United States Senator from Illinois at the time of his victory over Arizona Senator John McCain in the 2008 presidential election...
the FTA has indicated it supports cities interested in building new streetcar systems.
Construction of a new streetcar line in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, the DC Streetcar
DC Streetcar
The DC Streetcar is a surface light rail and streetcar network under construction in Washington, D.C. The streetcars will be the first to run in the District of Columbia since the dismantling of the previous streetcar system in 1962...
, got under way in 2009 following several delays.
In Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
, where the Old Pueblo Trolley
Old Pueblo Trolley
The Old Pueblo Trolley is a heritage streetcar system operating in Tucson in the U.S. state of Arizona.Service is provided Friday evenings, Saturday afternoons and evenings, and Sunday afternoons on over a mile of line recovered from Tucson's original street railway...
heritage streetcar line has been in operation since 1993, the city government is planning construction of a modern streetcar line. In September 2009, the FTA gave its approval for the City of Tucson to proceed with the final design phase of the project, and the city signed a contract with United Streetcar
United Streetcar
United Streetcar, LLC, is a manufacturer of streetcars, located in the Clackamas area in the southeastern suburbs of Portland, Oregon, United States. It is the only U.S. company building modern streetcars, as distinct from light rail cars or new replicas of historic streetcars. United Streetcar is...
for the provision of seven low-floor streetcars
Low-floor tram
A low-floor tram is a tram that has no stair steps between one or more entrances and part or all of the passenger cabin. The low-floor design improves the accessibility of the tram for the public, and also may provide larger windows and more airspace....
in June 2010. Project design work was 90% complete as of January 2011, and construction of the 5.8 kilometres (3.6 mi) line is expected to begin in 2011, for opening in mid-2013.
A new system is proposed for Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, B.C.
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, and for a period of two months centred around the 2010 Winter Olympics
2010 Winter Olympics
The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...
a temporary streetcar service was operated, along a modified section of an existing heritage streetcar line (the Vancouver Downtown Historic Railway
Vancouver Downtown Historic Railway
The Vancouver Downtown Historic Railway is a heritage streetcar line that operates between Granville Island and the Cambie Station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It operates only on weekends and holidays, usually from May to mid-October, and is aimed primarily at tourists...
), connecting the Granville Island
Granville Island
Granville Island is a peninsula and shopping district in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is located in False Creek directly across from Downtown Vancouver's peninsula, under the south end of the Granville Street Bridge....
district to the Olympic Village Station
Olympic Village Station
Olympic Village Station is a SkyTrain station on the Canada Line in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The use of the term "Olympic" has been licensed for use by the International Olympic Committee.-Location:...
on the SkyTrain
SkyTrain (Vancouver)
SkyTrain is a light rapid transit system in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. SkyTrain has of track and uses fully automated trains on grade-separated tracks, running mostly on elevated guideways, which helps SkyTrain to hold consistently high on-time reliability...
rapid-transit system. Named the Olympic Line, the 1.8 kilometres (1.1 mi) route was served by two Bombardier
Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....
Flexity Outlook
Flexity Outlook
The Flexity Outlook is a family of 100% low-floor articulated light-rail trams manufactured by Bombardier Transportation. Part of the larger Flexity product line , Flexity Outlook cars fall into two distinct sub-categories with dramatically different appearances...
low-floor tram
Low-floor tram
A low-floor tram is a tram that has no stair steps between one or more entrances and part or all of the passenger cabin. The low-floor design improves the accessibility of the tram for the public, and also may provide larger windows and more airspace....
s on loan from Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, and was operated for a period of two months, starting on January 21, 2010.
The First Hill Streetcar
First Hill Streetcar
The Seattle Streetcar—First Hill Line, commonly called the First Hill Streetcar, is a proposed streetcar line connecting the Capitol Hill, First Hill, and the International District neighborhoods in central Seattle...
is a proposal to build a new streetcar line in Seattle, Washington.
The Atlanta Streetcar organization in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, is involved in developing plans for a modern streetcar to connect the downtown tourist attractions with the King Center area just east of Downtown (see also the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site
Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site
Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site established on October 10, 1980, consists of several buildings surrounding Martin Luther King, Jr.'s boyhood home on Auburn Avenue in the Sweet Auburn historic district of Atlanta, Georgia. The original Ebenezer Baptist Church, the church where King...
).
The Delmar Loop Trolley
Delmar Loop Trolley
The Delmar Loop Trolley is a planned heritage trolley line that will serve the Delmar Loop district in St. Louis, Missouri and University City, Missouri. The line will have about 9 stations and serve the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park, Washington University in St...
is a proposal to restore a heritage style service to St. Louis, Missouri with replica streetcars.
The Cincinnati Streetcar is a proposal to build a new circulator route in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
, with plans to expand new routes running north to Uptown neighborhoods and the University of Cincinnati
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati is a comprehensive public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a part of the University System of Ohio....
. The loop will be four miles long with stops every couple blocks to provide easy mobility around the downtown area. The loop will be serviced by five modern style streetcars, running 7 days a week.
Recently closed systems
A heritage trolley in Detroit, Michigan operated from 1976 until 2003. The Detroit trolley faced a steep decline in ridership after the Detroit People MoverDetroit People Mover
The Detroit People Mover is a automated people mover system which operates on a single set of tracks, and encircles downtown Detroit, Michigan....
system was installed and the tracks and carbarn for the former narrow gauge
Narrow gauge
A narrow gauge railway is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of between and .- Overview :...
trolley have been removed.
The Waterfront Streetcar
Waterfront Streetcar
The Waterfront Streetcar, officially the George Benson Waterfront Streetcar Line, was a -long streetcar line run by Metro Transit in Seattle, Washington, so named because much of its route was along Alaskan Way on the Elliott Bay waterfront...
in Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
operated from 1982 until 2005 when the line's carbarn was demolished to make room for the Olympic Sculpture Park
Olympic Sculpture Park
The Olympic Sculpture Park is a public park in Seattle, Washington that opened on January 20, 2007.The park consists of a outdoor sculpture museum and beach. The park was designed by Weiss/Manfredi Architects, along with Charles Anderson Landscape Architecture and other consultants. It is...
.
Heritage streetcar systems
Heritage streetcar systemsHeritage streetcar
Heritage streetcars or heritage trams are a development of the heritage railways that are becoming popular across the world. As with modern streetcar systems, the vehicles are referred to as trams or tramcars in the United Kingdom, Australasia and certain other places , but as streetcars or...
are used in public transit service, combining light rail efficiency with tourist's nostalgia
Nostalgia
The term nostalgia describes a yearning for the past, often in idealized form.The word is a learned formation of a Greek compound, consisting of , meaning "returning home", a Homeric word, and , meaning "pain, ache"...
interests. Proponents claim that using a simple, reliable form of transit from 50 or 100 years ago can bring history to life for 21st century visitors. Systems are operating successfully in over 30 U.S. cities, and are in planning or construction stages in 40 more. Heritage systems currently operate in Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte Trolley
The Charlotte Trolley is a heritage streetcar which operates in Charlotte in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The line runs along the former Norfolk Southern right of way between Tremont Avenue in the Historic South End in a northerly direction to its terminus at 9th Street Uptown...
; Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
; Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
; Dallas, Texas
McKinney Avenue Transit Authority
The McKinney Avenue Transit Authority , a non-profit organization, operates the M-line Streetcar line in Dallas, Texas . The offices and car barn are located at 3153 Oak Grove, Dallas, TX 75204. It is an example of a heritage streetcar running historic cars...
; Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
; Kenosha, Wisconsin
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Kenosha is a city and the county seat of Kenosha County in the State of Wisconsin in United States. With a population of 99,218 as of May 2011, Kenosha is the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Kenosha is also the fourth-largest city on the western shore of Lake Michigan, following Chicago,...
; and New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
are among the larger.
In the province of British Columbia, Vancouver has the Vancouver Downtown Historic Railway
Vancouver Downtown Historic Railway
The Vancouver Downtown Historic Railway is a heritage streetcar line that operates between Granville Island and the Cambie Station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It operates only on weekends and holidays, usually from May to mid-October, and is aimed primarily at tourists...
system that will be expanded to cover the south downtown area. In Nelson, British Columbia
Nelson, British Columbia
Nelson is a city located in the Selkirk Mountains on the extreme West Arm of Kootenay Lake in the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Known as "The Queen City", and acknowledged for its impressive collection of restored heritage buildings from its glory days in a regional silver rush,...
, a small town to the north of Spokane, Washington
Spokane, Washington
Spokane is a city located in the Northwestern United States in the state of Washington. It is the largest city of Spokane County of which it is also the county seat, and the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest region...
, the Nelson Electric Tramway Society has rebuilt and runs a restored Streetcar 23 along the lakeside and Baker Street. In Whitehorse, Yukon
Whitehorse, Yukon
Whitehorse is Yukon's capital and largest city . It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1476 on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas occupy both shores of the Yukon River, which originates in British Columbia and meets the Bering Sea in...
the Miles Canyon Historic Railway Society has operated the Whitehorse trolley
Whitehorse trolley
The Whitehorse trolley is a heritage streetcar service in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada.It uses a single reconditioned trolley which carries tourists along Whitehorse's waterfront along the Yukon River. It runs from the Rotary Peace Park, located on the south end of the city centre, up to the north...
along the Yukon River
Yukon River
The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. The source of the river is located in British Columbia, Canada. The next portion lies in, and gives its name to Yukon Territory. The lower half of the river lies in the U.S. state of Alaska. The river is long and empties into...
since 2000.
The new streetcar system which opened in 2000 in Kenosha
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Kenosha is a city and the county seat of Kenosha County in the State of Wisconsin in United States. With a population of 99,218 as of May 2011, Kenosha is the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Kenosha is also the fourth-largest city on the western shore of Lake Michigan, following Chicago,...
is a downtown circulator also serving government offices; the upscale HarborPark recreational, cultural, and residential district; and public bus and Metra
Metra
Metra is the commuter rail division of the Illinois Regional Transportation Authority. The system serves Chicago and its metropolitan area through 240 stations on 11 different rail lines. Throughout the 21st century, Metra has been the second busiest commuter rail system in the United States by...
rail service. It is served exclusively by restored 1940s-vintage PCC streetcar
PCC streetcar
The PCC streetcar design was first built in the United States in the 1930s. The design proved successful in its native country, and after World War II was licensed for use elsewhere in the world...
s acquired secondhand from Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
.
Over 50 years after the Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
play A Streetcar Named Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire (play)
A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948. The play opened on Broadway on December 3, 1947, and closed on December 17, 1949, in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The Broadway production was...
opened on Broadway, the revival of streetcar operations in New Orleans is credited by many to the worldwide fame gained by the streetcars made by the Perley A. Thomas Car Works
Perley A. Thomas Car Works
Perley A. Thomas Car Works, Inc. was a 20th century builder of wooden and steel streetcars, based in High Point, North Carolina in the United States.It was named for its founder, Perley A. Thomas...
. These cars were operating on the system's Desire
Desire Street
Desire Street is a famous street in New Orleans, Louisiana in the United States. According to Jed Horne, the name is a misspelled homage to a lover of Napoleon named "Desiree". The famous play A Streetcar Named Desire refers to the former transportation line to this street. It is also the title of...
route in the 1947 play and later movie of the same name. Some of the original cars have been carefully restored locally and continue to operate in the 21st century.
Examples in North America include San Pedro
San Pedro, Los Angeles, California
San Pedro is a port district of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. It was annexed in 1909 and is a major seaport of the area...
, Little Rock
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
, Dallas
McKinney Avenue Transit Authority
The McKinney Avenue Transit Authority , a non-profit organization, operates the M-line Streetcar line in Dallas, Texas . The offices and car barn are located at 3153 Oak Grove, Dallas, TX 75204. It is an example of a heritage streetcar running historic cars...
, Denver
Platte Valley Trolley
The Platte Valley Trolley is a heritage streetcar line in Denver, Colorado. It began service on July 4, 1989.-Route and operation:The trolley line begins where the REI has its Denver flagship store at Confluence Park, the historic location of the city of Denver at the confluence of the South...
, Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, Tampa
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
, Seattle
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, Charlotte
CHARLOTTE
- CHARLOTTE :CHARLOTTE is an American blues-based hard rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1986. Currently, they are signed to indie label, Eonian Records, under which they released their debut cd, Medusa Groove, in 2010. Notable Charlotte songs include 'Siren', 'Little Devils',...
, the new Canal Street line
Streetcars in New Orleans
Streetcars in New Orleans have been an integral part of the city's public transportation network since the first half of the 19th century. The longest of New Orleans' streetcar lines, the St. Charles Avenue Streetcar, is the oldest continuously operating street railway system in the world,...
in New Orleans, and the reintroduction of the historic Girard Street line in Philadelphia.
Other individual heritage streetcar lines include:
- Charlotte TrolleyCharlotte TrolleyThe Charlotte Trolley is a heritage streetcar which operates in Charlotte in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The line runs along the former Norfolk Southern right of way between Tremont Avenue in the Historic South End in a northerly direction to its terminus at 9th Street Uptown...
in Charlotte, North Carolina - Chattanooga Choo ChooTerminal Station (Chattanooga)Terminal Station in Chattanooga, Tennessee is a former railroad station, once owned and operated by the Southern Railway, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The station was opened in 1909 and was the latest and largest station in Chattanooga's history...
complex in Chattanooga, Tennessee - Como-Harriet Streetcar LineComo-Harriet Streetcar LineThe Como-Harriet Streetcar Line is a heritage streetcar line in Minneapolis, Minnesota which follows original streetcar right-of-way between Lake Harriet and Lake Calhoun and is operated by the Minnesota Streetcar Museum...
in Minneapolis, Minnesota - Fort Collins Municipal RailwayFort Collins Municipal RailwayThe Fort Collins Municipal Railway operated streetcars in Fort Collins, Colorado, from 1919 until 1951. Since 1984, a section of one of the former routes has been in operation as a seasonal heritage streetcar service, under the same name, running mainly on spring and summer weekends...
in Fort Collins, Colorado operates seasonally - Galveston Island TrolleyGalveston Island TrolleyThe Galveston Island Trolley is a heritage streetcar in Galveston, Texas, United States. As of late 2006, the total network length was 6.8 miles with 22 stations. The Galveston Island Trolley is operated by Island Transit...
in Galveston, Texas - Heritage Express Trolley in El Reno, OklahomaEl Reno, OklahomaEl Reno is a city in Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States, in the central part of the state. A part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area, El Reno is west of downtown Oklahoma City...
- High Level Bridge StreetcarHigh Level Bridge StreetcarThe High Level Bridge Streetcar is a historic streetcar ride over the High Level Bridge in Edmonton, Alberta. It travels from the Strathcona Streetcar Barn & Museum, just north of the Strathcona Farmers Market, in Old Strathcona, to Jasper Plaza south of Jasper Avenue, between 109 Street and 110...
in Edmonton, Alberta
- MATA TrolleyMATA TrolleyThe MATA Trolley is a heritage streetcar system operating in Memphis in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It has operated since April 29, 1993.As of 2008, the system consists of three lines: the Main Street Trolley, the Madison Avenue Loop and the Riverfront Loop...
in Memphis, Tennessee - Port of LA Waterfront Red CarPort of LA Waterfront Red CarThe Port of Los Angeles Waterfront Red Cars are a 1.5-mile heritage streetcar line in San Pedro, Los Angeles, home of the city's port. Their route runs south over a former Pacific Electric right-of-way from the World Cruise Center cruise ship terminal under the Vincent Thomas Bridge to the...
in San Pedro, California - River Rail StreetcarRiver Rail StreetcarThe River Rail Streetcar is a heritage streetcar system operating in Little Rock and North Little Rock in the U.S. state of Arkansas. It has operated since November 1, 2004. As of February 17, 2007, the system is long after its first extension was put into service...
in Little Rock, Arkansas - River Street StreetcarRiver Street streetcarThe River Street Streetcar is a heritage streetcar line in Savannah, Georgia in the United States. It began regular operation on February 11, 2009 and shuttles between 7 stops along River Street, next to the Savannah River.- History :...
in Savannah, Georgia - Platte Valley TrolleyPlatte Valley TrolleyThe Platte Valley Trolley is a heritage streetcar line in Denver, Colorado. It began service on July 4, 1989.-Route and operation:The trolley line begins where the REI has its Denver flagship store at Confluence Park, the historic location of the city of Denver at the confluence of the South...
in Denver, Colorado - TECO Line Streetcar SystemTECO Line Streetcar SystemThe TECO Line Streetcar System is a streetcar line in Tampa, Florida, run by the Hillsborough Area Regional Transportation Authority and managed by Tampa Historic Streetcar, Inc.. It connects Downtown and Channelside to the historic Ybor City district. There is also an "In-Town" trolley-replica bus...
in Tampa, Florida - Willamette Shore TrolleyWillamette Shore TrolleyThe Willamette Shore Trolley is a heritage railroad or heritage streetcar which operates along the west bank of the Willamette River between Portland and Lake Oswego in Oregon. The right-of-way is owned by group of local-area governments who purchased it in 1988 in order to preserve it intact for...
in Portland, Oregon
Museums
Unlike a heritage system a streetcar museum may offer little or no transport service. If there are working streetcars in a museum's collection any service provided may be seasonal, not follow a schedule, offer limited stops, service only remote areas, or otherwise differ from a regularly scheduled heritage line. Some North American streetcar museums include:- Arizona Street Railway MuseumArizona Street Railway MuseumThe Arizona Street Railway Museum has since 1975 been working toward the preservation and operation of street cars in Phoenix as a living example of a traditional trolley service.-Museum features:* Restored Phoenix Streetcar #116 may be seen in the carbarn...
in Phoenix, Arizona - Baltimore Streetcar MuseumBaltimore Streetcar MuseumThe Baltimore Streetcar Museum is a non-profit museum located at 1901 Falls Road in Baltimore, Maryland. The museum is dedicated to preserving Baltimore's public transportation history, especially the streetcar era. The museum is open Noon to 5 P.M. every Sunday of the year and Noon to 5 P.M...
in Baltimore, Maryland - Canadian Railway MuseumCanadian Railway MuseumThe Canadian Railway Museum Musée Ferrovaire Canadien) is a rail transport museum in Delson/Saint-Constant, Quebec south of Montreal.-Collection:...
between Delson and Saint-Constant, Quebec - Connecticut Trolley MuseumConnecticut Trolley MuseumFounded in 1940, the Connecticut Trolley Museum is the oldest incorporated museum dedicated to electric railroading in the United States.The museum is located in East Windsor, Connecticut, and is open to the public most of the year, featuring static displays and self-guided tours of the state's...
in East Windsor, Connecticut - East Troy Electric Railroad Museum in East Troy, Wisconsin
- Electric City Trolley MuseumElectric City Trolley MuseumThe Electric City Trolley Museum is located in downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania, next to the Steamtown National Historic Site.The museum displays and operates restored trolleys and interurbans on former lines of the Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley Railroad, now owned by the government of Lackawanna...
in Scranton, Pennsylvania - Fort Edmonton ParkFort Edmonton ParkFort Edmonton Park is an attraction in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Named for the first enduring European post in the area of modern-day Edmonton, the park is the largest living history museum in Canada by area...
in Edmonton, Alberta - Fort Smith Trolley MuseumFort Smith Trolley MuseumThe Fort Smith Trolley Museum is a railroad museum in Fort Smith, Arkansas.Located at 100 South 4th Street, the museum collection includes four streetcars which operated in municipal service in Fort Smith, an open streetcar, as well as a Frisco steam locomotive.The museum also operates a heritage...
in Fort Smith, Arkansas - Fox River Trolley MuseumFox River Trolley MuseumThe Fox River Trolley Museum is a railroad museum in South Elgin, Illinois.-Location:The museum grounds are located at 361 South LaFox Street , approximately two blocks south of the intersection of LaFox and State Streets.-Collection:...
in South Elgin, Illinois - Halton County Radial RailwayHalton County Radial RailwayThe Halton County Radial Railway is a working museum of electric streetcars, other railway vehicles, trolleybusses and buses. It is operated by the Ontario Electric Railway Historical Association...
in Rockwood, Ontario - Hesston Steam Museum in Heston, Indiana
- Historic Pensacola's Museum of CommerceHistoric Pensacola's Museum of CommerceThe Museum of Commerce is a reconstruction of a Pensacola, Florida streetscene using businesses that operated in Pensacola between 1880 and 1910. It is part of the Historic Pensacola Village in the Pensacola Historic District....
in Pensacola, Florida - History Park at Kelley ParkHistory Park at Kelley ParkHistory Park at Kelley Park in San Jose, California, USA is designed as an indoor/outdoor museum, arranged to appear as a small US town might have in the early 1900s...
in San Jose, California - Illinois Railway MuseumIllinois Railway MuseumThe Illinois Railway Museum is the largest railroad museum in the United States and is located in Union, Illinois, northwest of Chicago...
in Union, Illinois - collection now includes general railroad equipment as well as streetcars - Issaquah Valley TrolleyIssaquah Valley TrolleyThe Issaquah Valley Trolley car barn is just north of the Issaquah Depot Museum located at 50 Rainier Blvd. North, Issaquah, Washington, USA, and is operated by the Issaquah Historical Society. In 2001 and 2002 a demonstration trolley borrowed from Yakima Valley Trolleys was operated to prove the...
in Issaquah, Washington - Lowell National Historical ParkLowell National Historical ParkLowell National Historical Park is a National Historical Park of the United States located in Lowell, Massachusetts. Established in 1978 a few years after Lowell Heritage State Park, it is operated by the National Park Service and comprises a group of different sites in and around the city of...
in Lowell, Massachusetts - Minnesota Streetcar MuseumMinnesota Streetcar MuseumThe Minnesota Streetcar Museum is a transport museum that operates two heritage streetcar lines in Minneapolis, Minnesota and the western suburb of Excelsior....
in Minneapolis, Minnesota operates heritage lines such as the Como-Harriet Streetcar LineComo-Harriet Streetcar LineThe Como-Harriet Streetcar Line is a heritage streetcar line in Minneapolis, Minnesota which follows original streetcar right-of-way between Lake Harriet and Lake Calhoun and is operated by the Minnesota Streetcar Museum... - Museo de Transportes Eléctricos del D.F. in Mexico City
- Museum of TransportationMuseum of TransportationThe Museum of Transportation of the St. Louis County, Missouri, United States Parks Department is a museum located in the Greater St. Louis area. It was first founded in 1944 by a group of individuals dedicated to preserving the past and has a wide variety of vehicles from American history...
in St. Louis, Missouri
- National Capital Trolley MuseumNational Capital Trolley MuseumThe National Capital Trolley Museum is a non-profit organization that operates historic trolleys for the public on a regular schedule. It is located at 1313 Bonifant Road,Colesville, Maryland USA.-History:...
in Colesville, Maryland - New York Museum of TransportationNew York Museum of TransportationThe New York Museum of Transportation is a non-profit organization located at 6393 East River Road, in the Rochester suburb of Rush. The museum is open all year, on Sundays only, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m....
in Rush, New York - Northern Ohio Railway MuseumNorthern Ohio Railway MuseumNorthern Ohio Railway Museum is a railroad museum located in Chippewa Lake, Ohio. The Museum is a non-profit, educational organization. It was established in 1965, granted 501 status by the Internal Revenue Service in 1966 and incorporated under the laws of the State of Ohio in 1976...
in Chippewa Lake, Ohio - North Texas Historic TransportationNorth Texas Historic TransportationNorth Texas Historic Transportation is an American non-profit volunteer organization focusing on the history of trolleys in the Fort Worth, Texas, area.The business address of NTHT is Post Office Box 861, Fort Worth, Texas 76101...
in Fort Worth, Texas - Old Pueblo TrolleyOld Pueblo TrolleyThe Old Pueblo Trolley is a heritage streetcar system operating in Tucson in the U.S. state of Arizona.Service is provided Friday evenings, Saturday afternoons and evenings, and Sunday afternoons on over a mile of line recovered from Tucson's original street railway...
in Tucson, Arizona - Orange Empire Railway MuseumOrange Empire Railway MuseumThe Orange Empire Railway Museum , 2201 South "A" Street, Perris, California, is a railroad museum founded in 1956 at the Pinacate Station as the "Orange Empire Trolley Museum." The museum also operates a heritage railroad on the museum grounds.-Background:The collection focuses on Southern...
in Perris, California - collection now includes general railroad equipment as well as streetcars - Oregon Electric Railway MuseumOregon Electric Railway MuseumThe Oregon Electric Railway Museum is the largest streetcar/trolley museum in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. It is owned and operated by the Oregon Electric Railway Historical Society and is located in Brooks, Oregon, on the grounds of Antique Powerland.The original museum opened in...
in Brooks, Oregon - Pennsylvania Trolley MuseumPennsylvania Trolley MuseumThe Pennsylvania Trolley Museum, located at 1 Museum Road, Washington, Pennsylvania, is a museum dedicated to trolleys and includes several restored examples.-History:...
in Washington, Pennsylvania - Rockhill Trolley MuseumRockhill Trolley MuseumThe Rockhill Trolley Museum is located at 430 Meadow Street, Rockhill Furnace, Pennsylvania, north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and south of US 22, the William Penn Highway....
in Rockhill Furnace, Pennsylvania - Roundhouse Railroad MuseumRoundhouse Railroad MuseumThe Roundhouse Railroad Museum is located at the Savannah Shops Complex of the Central of Georgia Railway in Savannah, Georgia. The complex is considered one of the most complete antebellum railroad complexes in the southern United States...
in Savannah, Georgia - San Francisco Cable Car Museum in San Francisco, California
- San Francisco Railway MuseumSan Francisco Railway MuseumThe San Francisco Railway Museum is a local railway museum located in the South of Market area of San Francisco.This small museum features exhibits on the antique streetcars of the F Market & Wharves and national landmark cable cars that continue to run along the city's major arteries. The museum...
in San Francisco, California - Seashore Trolley MuseumSeashore Trolley MuseumThe Seashore Trolley Museum, located in Kennebunkport, Maine, United States, is the world's oldest and largest museum of mass transit vehicles....
in Kennebunkport, Maine - Shelburne Falls Trolley MuseumShelburne Falls Trolley MuseumThe Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum is a small railroad museum in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, United States.The museum is dedicated to preserving and operating car number 10 of the former Shelburne Falls and Colrain Street Railway...
in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts - Shore Line Trolley MuseumShore Line Trolley MuseumThe Shore Line Trolley Museum, located in East Haven, Connecticut, is the oldest operating trolley museum in the United States. It was founded to preserve the heritage of the trolley car. The museum includes exhibits on trolley history in the visitors' center and offers rides on restored trolleys...
in East Haven, Connecticut - Trolley Museum of New York in Kingston, New York
- Western Railway MuseumWestern Railway MuseumThe Western Railway Museum, in Solano County, California is located on Highway 12 between Rio Vista and Suisun. The museum is built along the former mainline of theSacramento Northern Railway...
in Suisun, California - Yakima Electric Railway MuseumYakima Electric Railway MuseumYakima Electric Railway Museum is located at the corner of South Third Avenue and Pine Street in Yakima, Washington.The museum is operated by Yakima Valley Trolleys, a non-profit organization. Vintage trolleys operate on a seasonal schedule on some of the original tracks of the Yakima Valley...
in Yakima, Washington
General articles
- InterurbanInterurbanAn interurban, also called a radial railway in parts of Canada, is a type of electric passenger railroad; in short a hybrid between tram and train. Interurbans enjoyed widespread popularity in the first three decades of the twentieth century in North America. Until the early 1920s, most roads were...
- Light rail in North AmericaLight rail in North AmericaLight rail is a commonly used mode of rapid transit in North America. The term light rail was coined in 1972 by the U.S. Urban Mass Transportation Administration to describe new streetcar transformations which were taking place in Europe and the United States...
- Streetcar suburbStreetcar suburbA streetcar suburb is a residential community whose growth and development was strongly shaped by the use of streetcar lines as a primary means of transportation. Early suburbs were served by horsecars, but by the late 19th century cable cars and electric streetcars, or trams, were used, allowing...
- Streetcar Railway Post OfficeStreetcar Railway Post OfficeStreetcar Railway Post Office routes operated in several major USA cities between the 1890s and 1920s. The final route was in Baltimore, Maryland. The Mobile Post Office Society, Affiliate 64 of the American Philatelic Society, has published monographs detailing the operational history of each...
System lists
- List of town tramway systems in Canada (all-time)
- List of town tramway systems in Central America (all-time)
- List of town tramway systems in North America (all-time)
- List of town tramway systems in the United States (all-time)
- List of rail transit systems in the United States (current systems only; list is not limited to streetcar/tram systems)
Operating
- Blue and Green Lines (Cleveland)Blue and Green Lines (Cleveland)The Blue Line, Green Line, and Waterfront Line are the interurban/light rail component of the RTA Rapid Transit, a rapid transit rail system in greater Cleveland and Shaker Heights, Cuyahoga County, Ohio...
is composed in part of streetcar lines upgraded to light-rail - Streetcars in Boston
- Streetcars in Kenosha, WisconsinStreetcars in Kenosha, WisconsinStreetcars have been running in Kenosha, Wisconsin for more than 100 years through a variety of companies and routes.-Kenosha Electric Railway:...
- Streetcars in New OrleansStreetcars in New OrleansStreetcars in New Orleans have been an integral part of the city's public transportation network since the first half of the 19th century. The longest of New Orleans' streetcar lines, the St. Charles Avenue Streetcar, is the oldest continuously operating street railway system in the world,...
- Portland StreetcarPortland StreetcarThe Portland Streetcar is a streetcar system in Portland, Oregon, that opened in 2001 and serves areas surrounding downtown Portland. It is currently a single line that is almost long and serves some 12,000 daily riders, but a second line is expected to open in 2012.As with the heavier-duty MAX...
- South Lake Union StreetcarSouth Lake Union StreetcarThe Seattle Streetcar—South Lake Union Line is a streetcar line connecting the South Lake Union neighborhood to Downtown Seattle, United States. Service began on December 12, 2007...
(Seattle) - Toronto streetcar systemToronto streetcar systemThe Toronto streetcar system comprises eleven streetcar routes in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission , and is the largest such system in the Americas in terms of ridership, number of cars, and track length. The network is concentrated primarily in downtown and in...
- Xochimilco Light RailXochimilco Light RailThe Xochimilco Light Rail is a light rail line that serves the southern part of Mexico City. It connects to, but is not considered a part of, the Mexico City Metro...
an old streetcar line started in 1908 south of Mexico CityMexico CityMexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
that upgraded to light-rail in the 1980s but still ran PCC streetcarPCC streetcarThe PCC streetcar design was first built in the United States in the 1930s. The design proved successful in its native country, and after World War II was licensed for use elsewhere in the world...
s into the 1990s. - SEPTA Subway-Surface Trolley LinesSEPTA Subway-Surface Trolley LinesThe Subway–Surface Trolley Lines or Green Lines are five SEPTA trolley lines that operate on street-level tracks in West Philadelphia and Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and in a shared subway with rapid transit trains in Philadelphia's Center City....
, SEPTA Route 15, SEPTA Routes 101 and 102 (Philadelphia)
Not operating
- Albuquerque Traction Company
- Cincinnati streetcarsCincinnati streetcarsCincinnati streetcars were the main form of public transportation in Cincinnati, Ohio at the turn of the twentieth century. The original streetcar system was dismantled in 1951....
- El Paso Electric Railway Company
- Johnstown Traction CompanyJohnstown Traction CompanyJohnstown Traction Company was a public transit system in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States. For most of its existence it was primarily a street-railway system, but in later years also operated rubber-tired vehicles. JTC operated trolley service in Johnstown from February 23, 1910 to June...
- Key SystemKey SystemThe Key System was a privately owned company which provided mass transit in the cities of Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Emeryville, Piedmont, San Leandro, Richmond, Albany and El Cerrito in the eastern San Francisco Bay Area from 1903 until 1960, when the system was sold to a newly formed public...
- Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley RailroadLackawanna and Wyoming Valley RailroadThe Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley Railroad, more commonly known as the Laurel Line, was a Pennsylvania third rail electric interurban streetcar line which operated commuter train service from 1903 to 1952, and freight service until 1976.-History:...
- Los Angeles RailwayLos Angeles RailwayThe Los Angeles Railway was a system of streetcars that operated in central Los Angeles, California and the immediate surrounding neighborhoods between from 1901 and 1963. Except for two short funicular railways it operated on tracks...
- Lehigh Valley TransitLehigh Valley TransitThe Lehigh Valley Transit Company was a Pennsylvania interurban rail transport company that operated a network of city and interurban trolley lines. In poor financial condition, LVT abruptly abandoned operation of its Philadelphia Division in September 1951...
- Ottawa Electric RailwayOttawa Electric RailwayOttawa Electric Railway Company was a streetcar public transit system in the city of Ottawa, Canada, part of the electric railway streetcars which operated between 1891 and 1959...
- Pacific Electric RailwayPacific Electric RailwayThe Pacific Electric Railway , also known as the Red Car system, was a mass transit system in Southern California using streetcars, light rail, and buses...
- Streetcars in Washington, D.C. history of the older streetcar system in Washington, D.C.
- Toledo, Port Clinton and Lakeside RailwayToledo, Port Clinton and Lakeside RailwayThe Toledo, Port Clinton and Lakeside Railway was an interurban electrified railway system serving northwestern Ohio's Marblehead Peninsula.It was incorporated in 1902, began operating in 1905 and only ceased operations in 1958, much later than most other interurbans...
- Twin City Rapid TransitTwin City Rapid TransitThe Twin City Rapid Transit Company , also known as Twin City Lines , was a transportation company that operated streetcars, and buses in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Minnesota...
- Waterfront StreetcarWaterfront StreetcarThe Waterfront Streetcar, officially the George Benson Waterfront Streetcar Line, was a -long streetcar line run by Metro Transit in Seattle, Washington, so named because much of its route was along Alaskan Way on the Elliott Bay waterfront...
in Seattle
Car builders and types
Standing
- Beardsley ZooBeardsley Zoo- The park :In 1878, James W. Beardsley, a wealthy farmer, donated over of hilly, rural land bordering on the Pequonnock River with a distant view of Long Island Sound to the city of Bridgeport on condition that "the city shall accept and keep the same forever as a public park...." In 1881, the...
- Callowhill DepotCallowhill DepotCallowhill Depot is a bus and trolley barn operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority , located in West Philadelphia, near the Delaware County border. It was built in 1913 by the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company and was later operated by the Philadelphia Transportation...
- College Park Trolley TrailCollege Park Trolley TrailThe College Park Trolley Trail is a long rail trail within the city of College Park Maryland.The trail runs on the abandoned right-of-way of the Washington, Berwyn and Laurel Electric Railway...
- Comfort StationComfort StationComfort Station is a historic "sanitary" on Blue Hill Avenue in Milton, Massachusetts.Although finely detailed in Swiss Chalet style, this is a very simple building, built in 1904 for a single purpose which it still performs today...
- East New York Yard bus depot is a former trolley depot
- East Side Trolley TunnelEast Side Trolley TunnelThe East Side Trolley Tunnel is a tunnel in Providence, Rhode Island, originally built for trolley use in 1914. In 1948 the tracks were removed and the tunnel was paved for use by buses and trackless trolleys. The trackless trolley system in Providence was dismantled in the mid-1950s...
- Georgetown Steam PlantGeorgetown Steam PlantThe Georgetown Steam Plant, now the Georgetown PowerPlant Museum, located in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, constructed in 1906 for the Seattle Electric Company, provided power for Seattle, notably for streetcars.-History:...
- Guelph TransitGuelph TransitThe Guelph Transit Commission is a small public transportation agency that operates transit bus services in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Established in 1929 after the closure of the Guelph Radial Railway Company streetcar lines, Guelph Transit has grown to comprise over 70 buses serving 28 transit...
stone carbarn at 371 Waterloo Avenue - Hagerstown and Frederick Railway#Surviving landmarks
- Harvard (MBTA station)Harvard (MBTA station)Harvard is a station on the Red Line of the MBTA subway system in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The third-busiest MBTA subway station, Harvard saw 21,868 entries each weekday in 2010, with only Downtown Crossing and South Station being busier...
- Inman ParkInman ParkInman Park was planned in the late 1880s by Joel Hurt, a civil engineer and real-estate developer who intended to create a rural oasis connected to the city by the first of Atlanta's electric streetcar lines. The East Atlanta Land Company acquired and developed more than 130 acres east of the city...
- Little York PavilionLittle York PavilionLittle York Pavilion, also known as Dwyer Memorial County Park, Main Pavilion, is an historic trolley park pavilion located at Preble in Cortland County, New York. It was built about 1906, with later additions and modifications, and is a two story Stick/Eastlake style structure, rectangular at the...
- Newton Street Railway CarbarnNewton Street Railway CarbarnNewton Street Railway Carbarn is a historic building at 1121 Washington Street in Newton, Massachusetts.It was built in 1890 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986....
- Pacific Electric BuildingPacific Electric BuildingThe Pacific Electric Building opened in 1905 as the terminal for the Pacific Electric Red Car Lines running east and south of downtown Los Angeles, as well as the company's main headquarters building. It was designed by architect Thornton Fitzhugh...
- Pacific Electric Railroad BridgePacific Electric Railroad BridgeThe Pacific Electric Railroad Bridge or Southern Pacific Railroad Bridge is a historic double-tracked arch bridge located in Torrance, California USA, spanning Torrance Boulevard at Bow Street, a short distance west of Western Avenue...
- Park Avenue Tunnel (roadway) 1834 cut was used by NY&H streetcars
- Streetcar Depot, West Los AngelesStreetcar Depot, West Los AngelesThe Streetcar Depot on the grounds of the Veterans Administration Center in West Los Angeles, California was built in 1900. According to the book Los Angeles: An Architectural Guide, architect J. Lee Burton designed both the Streecar Depot and the Wadsworth Chapel, both of which were built in 1900...
- South Decatur Trolley TrailSouth Decatur Trolley TrailSouth Decatur Trolley Trail is a hiking and biking trail built by PATH.The right-of-way was originally a part of the South Atlanta's Metropolitan Street Railroad Company and the section of the trail was separated from public roadways....
- Terminal ArcadeTerminal ArcadeThe Terminal Arcade, located on Wabash Avenue in downtown Terre Haute, Indiana, is a Beaux-Arts building on the National Register of Historic Places since June 30, 1983....
- Trolley SquareTrolley SquareTrolley Square is a partially enclosed shopping center located in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It is considered to be a trendy high-end center and is the second-most-visited tourist destination within Salt Lake City proper, with 30% of its customers being from out of state...
- Union Street Railway Carbarn, Repair ShopUnion Street Railway Carbarn, Repair ShopUnion Street Railway Carbarn, Repair Shop is a historic building at 1959 Purchase Street in New Bedford, Massachusetts.The shop was built in 1897 and added to the National Historic Register in 1978....
- Watts StationWatts StationWatts Station is a train station built in 1904 in Watts, Los Angeles, California. It was one of the first buildings in Watts and, for many years, it was a major stop for the Pacific Electric Railway's "Red Car" service between Los Angeles and Long Beach. It was the only structure that remained...
- West Philadelphia Streetcar Suburb Historic DistrictWest Philadelphia Streetcar Suburb Historic DistrictThe West Philadelphia Streetcar Suburb Historic District is an area of West Philadelphia listed on the National Register of Historic Places because it represents the transformation of Philadelphia's rural farmland into urban residential development, made possible by the streetcar, which provided...
Not standing
- Culver DepotCulver DepotCulver Depot or Culver Terminal was a railroad terminal on Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, United States, located on the northern side of Surf Avenue near West 5th Street....
formerly stood on Coney Island - Duquesne GardensDuquesne GardensDuquesne Gardens was the main sports arena located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA during the first half of the 20th century. It opened 3 years after a fire destroyed the city's prior sports arena, the Schenley Park Casino, in 1896. The arena was the first hockey rink to use glass above the dasher...
- Newark Public Service TerminalNewark Public Service TerminalThe Public Service Terminal was a two-level streetcar station in Newark, New Jersey, owned and operated by the Public Service Corporation. It served as the terminus for streetcar lines from as far as Trenton, New Jersey, and the six office stories above became company headquarters...
- Silk CentreSilk CentreThe Silk Centre was an area of business property, composed of buildings and lofts, which opened in Manhattan , in 1924. It was adjacent to a car-barn site, numerous clothing firms, and advertising agents located within a block or two of this corner...
- Temescal, Oakland, California#History