[jyl]

I don't know if you ride either one regularly? Streetcars are a lot nicer than buses. They are roomy, have low floors, usually have wide doors, and are very smooth and silent, modern ones are anyway. Buses lurch and bump, not surprising as they're not running on rails, and are noisier. The rider's experience is nicer on a streetcar, and as a result they have higher ridership.

Streetcar routes are permanent, which means that they can attract development. Bus lines don't.

Streetcars tend to have more reliable schedules. I am not sure why. When I go from my office to my doctor's appt, I take the streetcar because I know when it will be at such and such stop. The buses don't hold to their schedule. Again, I don't know why this is. Maybe the streetcar gets traffic signal priority or something.

Streetcars are expensive. $25MM per mile for our system in Portland. But they do last more or less forever. Buses are not all that cheap. A long (60 foot) articulated bus costs like $700,000.

I think that in a dense urban area, with short distances and high ridership, streetcars are great. I like riding the Portland ones. Once you need to cover a longer distance, buses make more sense.

Then there are longer-distance light rail systems that run on surface streets for part of the way. Our MAX does that. I think that is a seriously compromised arrangement. The trains cannot be very long, and fare collection is difficult. I prefer light rail that runs on dedicated track, like the NYC subway, London Underground, Paris Metro, SF Bay BART.