Why choose a rail-based system over a rubber-tired system?
A rail-based system provides numerous advantages that help outweigh its higher capital cost: A sense of government commitment and permanence that reassures potential riders, neighbors, and businesses that service will continue. People overwhelmingly prefer riding rail vehicles to buses, so rail solutions attract more passengers (see Transportation Research Record 1221 for a detailed treatment of rail vs. bus ridership). For the above reasons, rail systems typically inspire business development. Heritage trolley systems provide a sense of historical authenticity that blends very well with an urban environment, especially older, redeveloping neighborhoods. Heritage trolleys with proper maintenance last essentially indefinitely (New Orleans operates cars built in the mid-1920s in daily, heavy service) while buses seldom have a life of more than 20 years.
