On: Buses Need Our Love More Than Ever

[munk-a]

Light rail is... well terrible. Build a real rail system separated from car traffic to avoid slowing down public transit to match the speed of private transit.

[Reason077 → munk-a]

Proper light rail systems are fully separated from traffic.

You're probably thinking of trams ("streetcars" in North America), which don't have a fully segregated right of way.

[lmm → Reason077]

If it's fully separated from traffic why/how isn't it just regular ("heavy") rail?

[Reason077 → lmm]

The "light" refers to the weight and capacity of the rail vehicles themselves. Light rail vehicles are typically smaller and carry less passengers per car than heavy rail.

Light rail systems don't share track with heavy rail (which can include freight services, etc), so the regulatory requirements for things like crash safety are often reduced.

All of this reduces the cost of the light rail systems compared to heavy rail.