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2015 APTA-TRB LIGHT RAIL & STREETCAR CONFERENCE |
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Blurred Lines: Light Rail, Streetcars Share Features
While there are clear differences between light rail and streetcars, the differences aren’t always clear-cut, especially for newly constructed systems.
Light Rail & Streetcar Systems: How They Differ; How They Overlap, a report co-developed by LTK Engineering Services and APTA’s Light Rail Technical Forum and Streetcar Subcommittee, identifies the similarities and differences between the two modes. As the following examples suggest, the boundaries can be blurry.
The operating environment is simply a function of the market, infrastructure and vehicle configuration variations.
So light rail, which is focused on radial/regional trips, can be described as having partially exclusive right-of-way, running in multiple-car trains at reasonably high speeds and serving purpose-built stations spaced somewhat far apart. Streetcars, which provide local circulation in urban areas, can be described as operating smaller, single vehicles in mixed traffic on city streets at street speeds and serving sidewalk stops that are several blocks apart. But consider the exceptions:
When Is ‘Light Rail’ Not ‘Light Rail’?
In Sacramento, Regional Transit operates trains as long as four cars, where they run in mixed traffic at slower speeds (35 mph or less). But outside downtown, they operate on largely dedicated rights-of-way at speeds reaching 55 mph and higher. Light rail or streetcar?
Other places where light rail systems act like streetcars, with some in-traffic street running, include a short segment in Salt Lake City and portions of varying lengths on legacy systems in Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and San Francisco. Light rail or streetcar?
When Is a ‘Streetcar’ Not a ‘Streetcar’?
A major portion of the New Orleans streetcar network, the oldest continuously operating system in the U.S., runs in dedicated right-of-way rather than in mixed traffic for much of its distance. Streetcar or light rail?
The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) recently opened its Sugar House Streetcar line (now called the S-Line) using vehicles nearly identical to those that operate on its extensive TRAX light rail network. The streetcars run on what was once a freight branch line situated behind homes and businesses, both commercial and industrial, running on dedicated right-of-way with no mixed traffic. Is it a streetcar or light rail?
The city of Atlanta has acquired some of these same vehicles, through UTA, that will run on its new streetcar system in the downtown. The system is planned to be extended to a corridor dubbed the BeltLine, a collection of former railroad freight lines which, when joined, form a ring around the city close to the downtown. While still in the planning stages, if the streetcars leave mixed traffic and turn onto the BeltLine right-of-way, do they lose their identity as streetcars and become light rail vehicles?
The city of Portland is well known for its regional light rail system operated by TriMet and its own downtown streetcar system. Light rail runs down its own lane on city streets, but at slow speeds and subject to the traffic signals that control roadway vehicles. The streetcars run in mixed traffic at similar slow speeds and are also subject to traffic signals. Which is which? Perhaps the best conclusion from this information? The authors say it’s less important for public transportation leaders to label a rail transit project than it is to understand the flexibility they have to make such systems work best in their communities.
The primary authors of this document, published in October 2014, are Thomas B. Furmaniak and John W. Schumann of LTK Engineering Services.
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