A Streetcar full of Myths

From Energy Efficiency & Technology:

Streetcars seem to be the latest fad among urban planners. But the only goal that this form of mass transit promotes is livability, a euphemism for living without a car. And the only folks who really benefit from street car projects are the engineers in well-connected firms that earn millions of dollars planning, designing, and building street car lines. Those are some of the conclusions of Randal O’Toole, a senior fellow with the Cato Institute and author who recently took a look at streetcars and mass-transit policy in a policy analysis paper titled The Great Streetcar Conspiracy. (Read the entire report atwww.cato.org/pubs/pas/PA699.pdf) Here are more of his findings that debunk some myths and misconceptions surrounding streetcars.

Read the rest here.