The Case for Trams

[Nemra]

I think that cars are overrated. They make the city/town ugly and problematic.

Cities/Towns shouldn't be car-centric.

Once you use trams and metros that are well integrated, you will forget about using cars for all purposes.

Edited 9 minutes ago by Nemra

[Schizophonia]

Car is sometimes quicker, It's more comfortable and you can carry stuff

[Elliott]

Car infrastructure in cities wastes so much real estate and money. E bikes are even more efficient than trams.

Edited yesterday at 05:00 AM by Elliott

[Nemra]

On 12/1/2025 at 0:46 AM, Schizophonia said:

Car is sometimes quicker, It's more comfortable and you can carry stuff

If they aren't well integrated, of course only cars will be the option.

[Natasha Tori Maru]

Melbourne (where I am located, Australia) has a huge tram network.

Massive boon for the city.

I love them!

The biggest issue is the lightrails are situated on the inside of the road adjacent to white lines. Cars drive by between the pavement and where passengers disembark from the tram. New motorists pose a huge risk. If you do not pay attention to the tram and where it stops, you can make a meat crayon out of a pedestrian... 

[Basman]

Cars have some significant deliterious effects on society. When everyone drives you have build cities to accomodate cars, which then caused distances between A and B to increases, which further necessitates cars. Cars are like mycelium in how they alter their environment to suit their spread.

For what is collectively a highly inneficient form of transport. You need so much space, create so much pollution, just to transport on average 1-2 people. A line of cars at a stop-light is a fraction of the amount of people one buss can carry. All while congesting traffick, eating up real estate, making cities noisy and making society less social, unhealthier, more stressed and more isolated.

Car centrism is like an addiction to us. A quiet city where everything is within walking distance is a dream. Increases to foot traffick is also good for local economies, like mom and pop stores. 

[Basman]

On 11/30/2025 at 9:46 PM, Schizophonia said:

Car is sometimes quicker, It's more comfortable and you can carry stuff

Have you ever been to Belgium?

When everyone drives, no one drives, since roads are completely congested. No exaggeration, in a city like Gent it takes literally half an hour to get from a location to the grocery store, which takes you on bike maybe 10 minutes. 

[Nemra]

@Natasha Tori Maru, you'll love trams even more when you visit the Netherlands. Their tram stops next to their designated waiting area.

If you're not careful, you probably would get injured from bikes more than cars. 

[Natasha Tori Maru]

2 minutes ago, Nemra said:

@Natasha Tori Maru, you'll love trams even more when you visit the Netherlands. Their tram stops next to their designated waiting area.

If you're not careful, you probably would get injured from bikes more than cars. 

Target acquired - destination lock

Love cycling too!

[Nemra]

3 hours ago, Basman said:

Car centrism is like an addiction to us. A quiet city where everything is within walking distance is a dream. Increases to foot traffick is also good for local economies, like mom and pop stores. 

@Basman, yeah.

Plus the architecture of a city and its buildings. I love the mixture of modern and medieval styles. It's so welcoming.

Edited 1 hour ago by Nemra

[Elliott]

It's not just road infrastructure either, roads and parking lots require a lot more storm drainage, which exacerbates water pollution. More traffic police, car accidents, auto insurance, ....... They're anti-social too.

[OmniNaut]

@Nemra Dude, don't show that here. Americans can't handle this stuff. They will shout communism and claim victory with their pick-up with the American flag on it. 😆

I met an city council planner from the US once. She was somewhere from the (mid-)west. Washington state somewhere, or something, not sure. But we started talking about urban planning because it's one of my interests and she told me that there was a vote once to put in bike lanes, and it was completely shut down by the locals and labelled as communist propaganda. I think this was about 6 years ago.

I like Not Just Bikes, but this year he is becoming a little bit to preachy for me. A little bit to much toxic SD Green coming through, I hope he finds his way back and produce more Green-Yellow content

[Nemra]

Not only integrating other modes of transportation is important, but having a reasonable car speed limit is also important.

[Nemra]

12 minutes ago, OmniNaut said:

Dude, don't show that here. Americans can't handle this stuff. They will shout communism and claim victory with their pick-up with the American flag on it. 😆

13 minutes ago, OmniNaut said:

I met an city council planner from the US once. She was somewhere from the (mid-)west. Washington state somewhere, or something, not sure. But we started talking about urban planning because it's one of my interests and she told me that there was a vote once to put in bike lanes, and it was completely shut down by the locals and labelled as communist propaganda. I think this was about 6 years ago.

Gosh.