Comments on: Riding the TTC: Toronto’s Streetcars

By: D.J.

D.J. — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 06:35:51 +0000

Actually, route 100 (aka the purple line, or Norristown High-speed Line) is a combination of light rail and high-speed rail, being that it operates on a 3rd rail. Also, there are routes 10, 11, 13, 34 and 36 which are labeled “Green Line”, which runs underground from 40th Street portal (11, 13, 34 and 36) and 36th Street Portal (rte 10) to City Hall. And there are 3 ETB lines in Philly (routes 59, 66 and 75) with a possibility of two more being restored (routes 29 and 79). SEPTA is my hometown system

By: Marcelo Benoit

Marcelo Benoit — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 20:40:55 +0000

I donÂ´t agree with: “Many of those have over the years been removed, in a few cases because the streetcars added to the difficult traffic conditions in the cities.”
That is not true, as streetcars were there before cars! The streetcars were removed because of “fashion” and “business”. In Los Angeles they gave great service and were competitive with cars… so they were withdrawn (with trolley buses) on March 31th, 1963. In Baltimore, streetcars were operated by a private enterprise and the town hall fight against them and at end, in 1963, they purchased buses to replace them! Now, streetcars (or trolleys or trams) are coming back – nearly all the “LRT” lines in fact are streetcars, despite they mostly donÂ´t run on streets. In 1978 there were only six streetcar systems in the USA (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Boston, New Orleans, Forth Worth -Tandy subway- and San Francisco). The first new generation one was San Diego, that opened in 1981. And after that, there are new systems every year.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:18:22 +0000

Boston is a another option. The Green Line is technically a streetcar, though it runs LRVs and most of the surface line is on a dedicated ROW in the median, though a short stretch of the E Line is street running.

Also the Mattapan High Speed Line runs PCCs, but it also runs on a dedicated ROW.

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 17:59:25 +0000

Sounds like your ready for a trip to Philly, to ride the 101/102, which use cars like the TTC, and route 15 which runs PCC cars. And Route 100, the norristown high speed line. There are also one or 2 trolley bus routes in philly still.

And while in Philly, ride the subway and Patco lines as well.