1–2 of 2
results
The Tramway Revival In France
April 5, 2013
More Resources:
Currently, eighteen French urban areas have at least one tramway line and by 2014, nine more towns will have opened their first lines. In France, the organisation of public transport is based on a decentralised administrative system established in the 1980s. For thirty years, land authorities have had great autonomy to develop their public transport networks in a context of very heavy car use. Today, the car is gradually making way for public transport systems and tramways have been experiencing a revival for several years now. Tramways have been making their mark over the years because they fit into the scheme of urban renewal, transport planning and environmental concerns. This is a political choice which is firmly rooted in the sustainable development ethos and enables planners to take a new approach to urban mobility and urbanisation projects. Trams have also become a tool for promoting a town, because building a tramway implies a desire to renew the image of the town where it is…
Light Rail Without Wires: A Dream Come True?
January 21, 2004|Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas
More Resources:
Since the dawn of electrification over a century ago, overhead wires have been used to convey electrical power and communications to offices, factories, and homes. Transportation, too, in the form of streetcars, and 0more recently, light rail vehicles, has commonly used overhead wires to transfer power to vehicles. Many people consider these wires to be unsightly and undesirable, but reluctantly accept them as a necessary evil because of a lack of practical alternatives. Only a few cities have managed to run significant streetcar systems without overhead wires for any length of time and all such systems are now defunct. In recent years, new technological developments in hybrid vehicles and ground level switched contact systems are at last showing signs of offering some practical alternative solutions. For light rail applications, the most promising development is the INNORAIL ground level switched contact system now being applied to the new light rail system in Bordeaux, France, which…
1–2 of 2
results
