Why Do People Like Streetcars?

A Marginal Revolution reader asks Tyler Cowen the question, saying:

In several places in the U.S., most notably Portland, Oregon that's built the most extensive streetcar system in the U.S. to date, they report "people simply like streetcars more than buses", but nobody seems to be able to really point their finger at hard data why that is.

Well, for one thing, streetcars in Portland look like this, so I don't know why it's hard to understand the preference. Tyler's answer seems to elide the difference between legacy streetcar systems and new ones. He says:

Natasha believes that street car lovers wish to "affiliate themselves with the past." (When I heard this phrasing I realized we are no longer newlyweds.) I believe that streetcars help you avoid that "low class feeling" which all too often comes from riding on the bus. The whole point of a streetcar is to avoid creating an ambience separate from the urban trappings which surround you. Which is precisely why they are charming yet not always so comfortable.

With old systems, like San Francisco's trolley cars, there is clearly an aesthetic attraction involved; people like them for the same reason they like old buildings and neighborhoods -- they're charming. But I think Tyler is on to something; associations are difficult to shake. Still, with new systems, there's no question that comfort is a major advantage. Fixed guideway systems offer a much smoother ride. Perhaps this is too much information, but I can read on trains and on streetcars but not on buses or personal automobiles -- I get carsick. Too much shaking and so forth.

The other thing to take into account, and this relates especially to tourist preferences, is the relative simplicity of fixed guideway systems. They're on rails, so you know they're not going to go off on some unexpected course. Because initial capital costs for streetcars are higher, there will be fewer lines, and they'll go to more heavily trafficked areas. It's much harder, in other words, to get lost. Find a transit agency site for basically any major city and compare the fixed guideway route map to the bus map. It's like going from a Mondrian to a Pollaock.