Because streetcars run in the flow of traffic, there is often great concern about how a streetcar can safely interact with pedestrians and automobiles. Many of these fears are due to experience with light rail vehicles, which travel at high rates of speed and on their own right-of-way. This is not the case for streetcars. Streetcars operate much like buses, in that they travel at or below the speed of cars, are roughly the same size of currently active buses, and must obey very specific traffic laws.
Designers of the Portland streetcar were so confident in the safety aspect of the streetcar that it actually runs through a pedestrian plaza at Portland University.
Images of Safe Streetcar Operation
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- Streetcar running with traffic in Portland (Source: LASI)
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- Pedestrians crossing after streetcar cleared intersection (Source: LASI)
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- Streetcar safety notice installed along route in Portland (Source: LASI)
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- Streetcar running through Portland State University Campus
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