Nottingham's new tramway

Ah yes, if we were to believe TransLink and the Mayor’s Council on Transit, Vancouver’s unprogressive mayor, Vancouver is the envy of the transit world with our SkyTrain rapid transit system.

A recent news item listed the top fifteen city transportation systems and twelve of the cities have trams or LRT or both, with some with very extensive networks!

Reality hurts, doesn’t it TransLink or the CoV, not even a honorable mention.

In order, from fifteenth to number 1,  the list goes like this:

15 ) Berlin –  22 tram lines serving 377 tram stops and measuring 294 km.

14 )  Stockholm – 35 km tram network.

13 ) Beijing – 13.5 km tram line, more building.

12 ) Prague – 142.5 km of tram line.

11 )  New York – 0 tram lines, 1 tram line in planning stage.

10 ) Zurich – 118 km of tram line.

9 ) Shanghai – 13.9 km of tram line, more being planned.

8 ) Dubai – 10.6 km of tram line, extending.

7 ) Tokyo – 24.4 km of tram/LRT lines.

6 ) Chicago – 0 tram lines LRT in planning stages.

5 )  Madrid – 27.8 km of tram line with one under construction.

4 ) Paris – 107.4 km of tram line

3 ) Hong Kong  – 13 km heritage tramway and  36.2 km of LRT

2 ) London – 28 km of tram line

1 )  Singapore – 0

Of the fifteen top transit cities,  only three,  New York, Chicago and Singapore do not have trams, but both have extensive metro style service.

What is apparent, cities with good public transport have trams in one form or another, something that Vancouver City politicians and its bureaucrats ignore.

Despite the hype and hoopla about SkyTrain, Vancouver’s public transit system, with its penchant for driverless light metro is ignored internationally; yet we plan and build more.

Cities with the Best Public Transportation, Ranked

By Briana Hansen on May 24, 2019

It goes without saying that it’s much easier to enjoy a city when you can easily get around it. That’s why the best tourism cities boast superb public transit systems — publicly-subsidized networks of trains, subways, buses and boats that can quickly and cheaply get you where you want to go.

According to John Fairfield, professor of history and urban development at Xavier University, public transit systems have other benefits too, including a reduced energy footprint and improved safety, since cars are a far more dangerous way to get around. And the best systems have charm and character to boot.

So, which metropolises offer the best public transit systems in the world? It’s a somewhat relative question, since some people value affordability over efficiency or sustainability over ease. But experts agree that the following 15 city systems are among the finest you’ll have the pleasure of using.

Spoiler alert: If you want great public transit, Asia and Europe are the places to go!

Now, for the rest of the story, please click here!

 

A French tram fits perfectly in the environment.