[andrewliebchen]

Streetcar lines don't change like bus routes do. Their funding is harder to cut, and indeed their operating expenses are less than busses.

Businesses can count on their presence into the future, as can riders who try to plan their car-less lives in their community.

[huxley]

Wish it was that certain.

The US and Canada once had almost 100 municipalities with streetcar lines in the first half of the 20th century, there may be a dozen or so left now. One could blame GM [1] but many municipalities abandoned their systems without much pressure.

Toronto --which I believe has the largest streetcar system in North America-- has had to employ a blacksmith for the last 3 decades to forge parts for the aging streetcars [2], though they apparently expect to retire him as the fleet is modernized.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspi...

[2] http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/meet-pat-maietta-the-t...

[andrewliebchen]

They certainly tend to stick around longer than bus routes. Streetcars represent significant infrastructure spending, while a bus route can be changed by a bureaucrat.