streetcar

Awesome to see the streetcar on the GH blog!

Org/wiki/Who_Censored_Roger_Rabbit%3F , but the streetcar/ highway plot elements are invented for the movie completely absent in the book.

That line also plays host to freight at night - a streetcar line! The market is indeed open, but the trick agencies use to get around the requirement is a bigger question.

Org/wiki/Great_American_streetcar_scanda... We should always be skeptical of the motives of people who propose selling public services to private companies.

The big vanity streetcar Paul Allen wanted got built, and is still as useless as ever. He wanted "mass transit" in his neighborhood, but it's neither frequent enough, nor fast enough, to really make a difference.

These are historically known as "streetcar suburbs", as most cities had actual fixed transit networks throughout the city itself. Today these are close-in neighborhoods full of generally smaller homes with yards.

In 1950, most cities also still had functional streetcar/bus systems that would take people downtown, and schools within walking distance. People didn't have fancy sneakers but shoes were usually made with a Goodyear welt to be rebuildable and long-lasting, and such shoes usually cost hundreds of dollars today.

Suburbs as anything other than streetcar suburbs are basically only a thing due to the subsidization of the automobile infrastructure.

In the late 1940's, the voters passed an initiative to save the streetcars, but what happened was that Muni used revenue bonds to purchases buses in a sweetheart deal with the motorbus companies. As a result, the there was a voter backlash, and Muni lost the ability to issue revenue bonds. Since the agency was now cash strapped, without a modern way to raise money, it could only do so through the general fund and fares. Being a public agency, it also became under the whim of the political motivations of whoever was mayor or in the board of supervisors. To help modernize the system, Muni put a parcel bond measure on the 1967 ballot. It failed. In the 70's, Muni wanted to exit the streetcar business completely.

Streetcars can be given the same rights-of-way as buses and would perform similarly, except: the streetcar is a smoother ride. I can grab breakfast and eat it on a streetcar knowing there's only one direction of motion to worry about.