| Comment | The problem was that the rise of vehicle traffic in the 1940s through to 1960s made trams completely economically unviable. Not just in Glasgow but in cities across the world.
Trams would get stuck in traffic, taking ages to reach their destination. Unlike buses they can't manoeuvre around obstacles and are extremely vulnerable to congestion. The US was probably the worst hit. Most US cities, even small ones, had tram or "street car" networks to rival modern European ones. So did many UK cities, like Glasgow.
Those cities that retained their trams on mainland Europe did so either by limiting the presence of vehicle traffic, or by giving trams their own dedicated road space (usually only possible on wider boulevard roads). Glasgow does have wider boulevard style roads which accommodated trams, but in our case traffic was so bad in the city centre (where the majority of tram lines congregated) that the reliability and speed of the entire tram network was severely affected.
The city moved to trolleybuses in the late 50s in an effort to get past this problem. But the viability of these and the bus system which replaced them in turn have always been hindered by traffic congestion. Even to this day. |
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