[PRCo] Fw: More primitive, old-fashioned trolleys!

[Jim Holland]

"Hans-Joachim Zierke"  wrote in message news:...
 >
 > Charlie schrieb:
 >
 >
 > > Very nice, but not what I think of as old-fashioned.
 >
 > You can always read here, posted by some participants, that it's
 > 19th century technology.
 >
 >
 > > I don't see any automobile traffic in those pictures. Are those
 > > dedicated rights of way, or just there isn't much traffic?
 >
 > France got rid of its streetcars almost completely, and with the
 > exception of Britain, modal share of the car has been higher than
 > anywhere else in Europe. In the 1980s, with most inner cities being a
 > stinking mess, public opinion shifted quite radically. If France would
 > be a direct democracy like Switzerland, most of the inner cities
 > wouldn't see many cars already.
 >
 > It's not like that, but under this pressure by public opinion, traffic
 > planners had to find solutions for radically reducing car traffic, while
 > at the same time, preserve or increase capacity and speed of the traffic
 > system. The citizens must get their city back, with public space and
 > space for pedestrians increased, but for the well-being of businesses,
 > access to the shops in the inner city should get improved, not hampered.
 >
 > The common setup for streetcar projects in France is therefore more
 > radical than in the rest of Europe. If there is a narrow street in
 > the mediaval city core, they will take out all the cars (with exceptions
 > for delivery traffic and people residing there), and make those narrow
 > streets "pedestrian plus streetcar". Looks like this:
 > 
http://www.viennaslide.com/p/0520-france/Montpellier/2007-05-25_1_Gare_St_Roch_2009_01.jpg 

 > 
http://www.viennaslide.com/p/0520-france/Montpellier/2007-05-25_1_Gare_St_Roch_2033.jpg 

 >
 > An important advantage of the streetcar for such attempts is, that it
 > mixes better with street life than the bus.
 > 
http://www.viennaslide.com/p/0520-france/Montpellier/2007-05-26_1_Comedie_2025.jpg 

 >
 > Outside of the inner cities, they will usually take out two car lanes,
 > make them grass track, and give the streetcar traffic light preemption
 > at 100% of the intersections en route.
 >
 >
 > By this radical approach, the French are the most successful streetcar
 > builders on this planet. Achieving 100 000 passengers / day on average
 > is now more the rule than the exception. Systems like Strasbourg also
 > nicely demonstrate, how much capacity can be squeezed out of the space
 > of two car lanes. If there is a special event in the inner city, or
 > christmas shopping plus christmas market, their line A transports
 > up to 180 000 passengers per day. By this practice, I would say that
 > you could squeeze a peak capacity of about 250 000 passengers per day
 > out of just two car lanes.
 >
 >
 > > I guess I'm not up on all the European nuances. Who is undesirable?
 >
 > AFAIK, none of the serious postings about undesirables originated in
 > Europe.
 >
 >
 > Hans-Joachim
 >
 >
 >
 > --
 > Großer FF-Gottesdienst jeden Sonntag 15 Uhr im Gemeindehaus am Roten
 > Fuchsstieg 2.0. Nächstes Predigtthema: "Ein Affe ist kein Fuchs. Oder:
 > Wie man gefährliche Sekten erkennt, die uns nicht zum Heil führen."
 > Thorsten Weisert

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Jim  Holland
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Studying Pittsburgh Railways Company (PRCo)
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..............................From 1930 -- 1950
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Pennsylvania  Trolley  Museum  (PTM)
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http://www.pa-trolley.org/
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N.M.R.A.
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http://www.nmra.org/