Canada and the US actually build a lot of tram systems, but compared to those in Europe, we have a long way to go.
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Ever wondered why your city’s transit just doesn’t seem quite up to snuff? RMTransit is here to answer that, and help you open your eyes to all of the different public transportation systems around the world!
Reece (the RM in RMTransit) is an urbanist and public transport critic residing in Toronto, Canada, with the goal of helping the world become more connected through metros, trams, buses, high-speed trains, and all other transport modes.
24 Comments
I lived in Amsterdam for six years. Great walking city with great public transportation. Getting bigger, but still small. Los Angeles is a different beast. Way too big. Way too populated. It stopped being fun to drive around in way back in 1975 and has been a burden ever since. Metrolink is a welcome change, but it'll never be enough.
I thought there was actually a point where tram ends and LRT starts. My city has both (although we call our trams streetcars) and they are VERY different.
you need to do a video on swiss transport systems and specifically geneva. They have a well versed system from buses to trains i never see you talking about it
While the vehicle may be referred to as a "Tram"
It is where this vehicle RUN"S should not be a debate
i.e. A tram that run along its own bit of land separate from cars, Thus is a "light-rail" network/system
A tram that runs on the road WITH other vehicles such as cars & trucks is a "Tram" network/system
I wish Queen Street West allowed only the streetcar, bikes and delivery traffic, or at least did a streetcar priority project like they did on King. Wouldn't it be lovely if the sidewalks were widened and there were more street merchants or musicians or just space for restaurant seating and less road?
What I don’t understand is why we don’t have European or Japanese engineers just design our systems in North America. In Seattle, our “toy train” is cold, noisy, and has hard uncomfortable seats. The new extensions take YEARS to build because of stupid and costly engineering mistakes. The stations are all cold and foreboding places lacking any kind of amenities like restrooms, coffee shops or restaurants which would make them more safe and inviting.
@10:12 – Auckland, New Zealand… Talked about.. Yes… 50 years of talk… alas.. I'll be dead before it happens
Wish you had been at InnoTrans in Berlin this year. I learned so much about trams and why they are designed in which way. Maybe you have a chance to go there one day. You'd really like it.
Croydon in South London wants more new trams and the existing ones could go to another city such as Edinburgh that needs more trams or to be cascaded to another city in another country or to be scrapped.
1:20 Wellllll… I use the tram to get from the outer city to the center (~13km). I think that's not walkable
Your research and presentation is A+. Very impressive. I do like how you embrace the best systems and not spin America is the greatest. Clearly with Public Transport, the US is way behind Europe. Melbourne ( me😁) which has had trams >100 years should be among the world's best but are nowhere as good as it could be. Its length and access is however excellent in inner Melbourne.
Gold Coast trams are really useful at night, I agree.
When Auckland is the butt of any tram joke….
stop wiggling xD
Not particularly germane to your excellent video, but one thing that drives my absolutely NUTS about the Ottawa Light Rail Transit System are the signs at the stations warning us to stay off the tracks. . . because of HIGH VOLTAGE.
9:00
In many parts of Europe trams also have signal priority. They always get a green light except for some highly specific circumstances.
3:20 It hurts your cause of advancing public transportation by bringing up irrelevant unimportant subject aesthetics.
I think NJ Transit light rail is beautiful. You need to stick to practical important variables. Not nonsensical non-objective garbage like beauty.
The unimportant irrelevant non-quantifiable subjective opinion of aesthetics/beauty is exactly what hurts the cause of advancing public transportation. RMTransit needs to stick to quantifiable variables: e.g. the injustice/disparity between how much money is spent on public transportation versus spent on roadways, and countless other quantifiable physical variables. Talking about subjective beauty, especially as if one's opinion about what is pretty or not is some sort of "objective facts", makes one look arrogant and self-righteous and trivializes the real hardships and injustices forced upon pedestrians and public transit users from forced-car-dependency.
I think we need a new definition of 'Light Rail' and 'Tram.' In my mind, trams have a large network inside the city center and outlying areas, and travel within traffic or on roads with a protected median. Something like the Dallas Streetcar, Houston MetroRAIL, MUNI (debatable) and a couple others could be classified as 'trams.' Light Rail, in my mind, is a higher-speed (60-70 mph/100-112 kmh) transit system that runs on dedicated right of way or with limited, protected street running, uses larger and more capable vehicles and has a much larger network serving the city center and the suburbs. Systems like Dallas Area Rapid Transit or the LA Metro are good examples of Light Rail. It really all comes down to the size and capability of the trainsets, the kind of ROW they operate on and the speeds they run at. Let me know what you think.
in other videos you reference more on the core part. trams are one part in an integrated transit system.
and they are visible in public space, easy and fast accessible. subways are hidden, less accessible, so viable for longer rides.
In Australia, specifically Melbourne, there's this unique intersection turn called a 'hook turn' which is designed to give way to trams and avoid accidents. The reason why it's called a hook turn is because you have 'turn left to turn right' (we drive on the left hand side), which makes the shape of a hook.
My old city had exactly one tram line, well “light rail”. Allegedly three, but two are just spurs and alternate routing. Elderly high floor CAF cars. It’s not great, but….I don’t know how to finish this sentence.
I'm just excited that Croydon's trams are in the thumbnail that is all.
3:16 Denver RTD light rail: “Oh, that’s ugly“ 😉