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Light rail is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology while also having some features from heavy rapid transit.
The Portland Streetcar is a streetcar system in Portland, Oregon, that opened in 2001 and serves areas surrounding downtown Portland. The 3.9-mile (6.3 km) NS Line runs from Northwest Portland to the South Waterfront via Downtown and the Pearl District. The Loop Service, which opened in September 2012 as the Central Loop, runs from Downtown to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry via the Pearl District, the Broadway Bridge across Willamette River, the Lloyd District, and the Central Eastside Industrial District and added 3.3 miles (5.3 km) of route. In September 2015 the line was renamed as the Loop Service, with the A Loop traveling clockwise, and the B Loop traveling counterclockwise. The two-route system serves some 20,000 daily riders.
The San Francisco Municipal Railway ( MEW-nee; SF Muni or Muni), is the primary public transit system within San Francisco, California. It operates a system of bus routes, the Muni Metro light rail system, three historic cable car lines, and two historic streetcar lines. Previously an independent agency, the San Francisco Municipal Railway merged with two other agencies in 1999 to become the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA). In 2018, Muni served 46.7 square miles (121 km2) with an operating budget of about $1.2 billion. Muni is the seventh-highest-ridership transit system in the United States, with 142,168,200 rides in 2023, and the second-highest in California after the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
The Newark Light Rail (NLR) is a light rail system serving Newark, New Jersey, and surrounding areas, owned by New Jersey Transit and operated by its bus operations division. The service consists of two segments, the original Newark City Subway (NCS), and the extension to Broad Street station. The City Subway opened on May 26,1935, while the combined Newark Light Rail service was officially inaugurated on July 17, 2006.
Muni Metro is a semi-metro system serving San Francisco, California, United States. Operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni), a part of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), Muni's light rail lines saw an average of 91,000 boardings per day as of the second quarter of 2024 and a total of 24,324,600 boardings in 2023, making it the sixth-busiest light rail system in the United States.
The F Market & Wharves line is one of several light rail lines in San Francisco, California. Unlike most other lines in the system, the F line runs as a heritage streetcar service, almost exclusively using historic equipment from San Francisco's retired fleet and from cities around the world. While the F line is operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni), its operation is supported by Market Street Railway, a nonprofit organization of streetcar enthusiasts which raises funds and helps to restore vintage streetcars.
The San Diego Trolley is a light rail system serving San Diego County, California, United States. The trolley's operator, San Diego Trolley, Inc., is a subsidiary of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS). The trolley operates as a critical component of MTS, with connections to and integrated travel tickets with the local bus systems.
Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas:
The M-Line Trolley is a heritage streetcar line in the Uptown neighborhood of Dallas, Texas. The trolley line, which has been in service since 1989, is notable for its use of restored historic streetcar vehicles, as opposed to modern replicas.
The US Standard Light Rail Vehicle (SLRV) was a light rail vehicle (LRV) built by Boeing Vertol in the 1970s. The Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA) of the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) promoted it as a standardized vehicle for U.S. cities. Part of a series of defense conversion projects in the waning days of the Vietnam War, the SLRV was seen as both a replacement for older PCC streetcars in many cities and as a catalyst for cities to construct new light rail systems. The US SLRV was marketed as and is popularly known as the Boeing LRV or SLRV, and should not be confused with their prior lunar roving vehicles for NASA.
Light rail is a commonly used mode of public transit in North America. The term light rail was coined in 1972 by the Urban Mass Transportation Administration to describe new streetcar transformations which were taking place in Europe and the United States. The Germans used the term Stadtbahn, which is the predecessor to North American light rail, to describe the concept, and many in UMTA wanted to adopt the direct translation, which is city rail. However, in its reports, UMTA finally adopted the term light rail instead.
Streetcars or trolley(car)s were once the chief mode of public transit in hundreds of North American cities and towns. Most of the original urban streetcar systems were either dismantled in the mid-20th century or converted to other modes of operation, such as light rail. Today, only Toronto still operates a streetcar network essentially unchanged in layout and mode of operation.
The Galveston Island Trolley is a heritage streetcar network in Galveston, Texas, United States. As of late 2006, the total network length was 6.8 miles (10.9 km) with 22 stations. The Galveston Island Trolley is operated by Island Transit. The rail system reopened in 2021, after having been out of service for 13 years following severe damage caused by Hurricane Ike in 2008. Subsequent to the 2008 closure, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Transit Administration agreed to fund repairs. In January 2017, a contract was approved to restore three of the trolleys at a cost of $3.8 million. At that time, the trolleys were expected to be ready to return to service in 2018, but the date was later postponed to 2019 and later to 2021. By November 2020, two reconditioned trolleys had returned to Galveston. The line reopened for service in October 2021, limited to three days a week for now.
The MATA Trolley is a heritage streetcar transit system in Memphis, Tennessee. It began operating on April 29, 1993. Service was suspended in June 2014, following fires on two cars. After nearly four years and repeated postponements, the reopening of the Main Street Line took place on April 30, 2018, while the system's two other lines remained suspended, but with reopening of both planned. However, all service was suspended again in August 2024 in response to a recommendation by the state department of transportation after an issue arose with braking of the trolley cars. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 365,400.
Light rail is a mode of rail-based transport, usually urban in nature. When compared to heavy rail systems like commuter rail or rapid transit (subway), light rail systems are typically designed to carry fewer passengers and are capable of operating in mixed traffic or on routes that are not entirely grade-separated. Systems typically take one of four forms: the "first-generation" legacy systems, the "second-generation" modern light rail systems, streetcars, and hybrid rail systems. All of the systems use similar technologies, and some systems blur the lines between the different forms.
Streetcars operated by the Cincinnati Street Railway were the main form of public transportation in Cincinnati, Ohio, at the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century. The first electric streetcars began operation in 1889, and at its maximum, the streetcar system had 222 miles (357 km) of track and carried more than 100 million passengers per year. A very unusual feature of the system was that cars on some of its routes traveled via inclined railways to serve areas on hills near downtown. With the advent of inexpensive automobiles and improved roads, transit ridership declined in the 20th century and the streetcar system closed in 1951. Construction of a new streetcar system, now known as the Connector, began in 2012. Consisting initially of a single route, the new system opened on September 9, 2016.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 Federal Transit Administration, FTA Assisted New Starts and Extensions Archived September 27, 2006, at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved April 17, 2007.
- 1 2 3 Federal Transit Administration, Region 19: Boston-Worcester-Manchester, MA-NH CSA Archived July 12, 2007, at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved April 17, 2007.
- ↑ Federal Transit Administration, Appendix B: Additional Studies and Projects as of November 2004 Archived September 28, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- 1 2 "Galveston Island Trolley | History". Galveston Island Trolley. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
- ↑ "Island Transit - Galveston Transportation Services | Galveston, TX - Official Website". City of Galveston. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
- ↑ Pang, Gordon Y.K. (July 2, 2018). "Honolulu rail's price tag now estimated at $8.3 billion, up $100 million". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
- ↑ Bogonovich, Mike (2013). "Automated Light Metro for Honolulu". Automated People Movers and Transit Systems 2013. American Society of Civil Engineers. pp. 182–203. doi:10.1061/9780784412862.014. ISBN 9780784412862 . Retrieved September 25, 2019– via ascelibrary.org/.
- ↑ Smith, Sandy. "Honolulu Negotiates With Feds Over Light Metro Line". Next City. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
- ↑ "Light rail? Heavy rail? Subway? Rail transit modes fall on a continuum". Greater Greater Washington. April 4, 2019. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
- ↑ "Transit Automation Case Study - Jacksonville Transportation Authority" (PDF). Federal Transit Administration. December 20, 2019.
- ↑ "North County Transit District - SPRINTER". www.gonctd.com. Archived from the original on October 19, 2007.
- 1 2 3 Federal Transit Administration, Title VI Compliance Review of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, February 2006
- 1 2 3 4 5 Federal Transit Administration, Region 2: San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA CSA Archived March 20, 2007, at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved April 17, 2007.
