Streetcars are a popular mode of public transport which is gaining popularity. It is a method of running small electric trains on tracks along the road. Some are operated by connecting an overhead electric cable. Although popular in the early 1900s across the US however, the popularity of streetcars waned by midcentury. However, after 2000, streetcars saw an emergence in the US, with dozens of cities building and planning new streetcar infrastructures.

Streetcars can be hard to define, particularly when compared to light rail. The American Public Transportation Association, an international trade association, calls streetcars a form of light rail. But, it's not always as simple. You can mix and match the ones you're building in cities. When you prefer a useful reference on streetcar, check here.

But generally speaking the term streetcar refers to a train that is a train that is set into streets, meaning it drives alongside automobiles for much of its journey. This is a photo of the Portland streetcar system.

Streetcars are different than light rail trains in that they run on their own tracks that are separated from the roadways. Below is a photograph of the Minneapolis lightrail, which runs on tracks that are isolated from the road.

Some light rail systems however, combine both tracks that are run on roads and tracks that run separately from cars.

Streetcars have more stops and cover a shorter distance, and stop more often. In addition, streetcars tend to be shorter, single-vehicle trains. Light rail trains are often many cars long and travel a greater distance with smaller stops than streetcars.

Streetcars and light rail have different objectives. Streetcars are shorter and can be used to transport people from the suburbs. Light rail is generally larger, while streetcars can move people around busy areas in a city.

Light rail is, in fact not more heavy than dark. It's lighter than heavy. Heavy rail systems have a higher passenger capacity than light rail and tend to be the subways that most urban commuters have come to know. One of the subways in New York City is an example.

What's the history of streetcars?

Numerous cities had streetcars pulled by horses in the mid-1800s. New York City claims the first car drawn by horses that was able to run along rails on the road, with the line beginning in 1832. South Bend, Indiana, is the home of the first electric streetcar in the United States, with a line that was inaugurated in 1882. Based on Smithsonian Institution records, streetcars were popular in America during the early 1900s. They traveled over 45,000 miles and carried millions of passengers in 1917.

However, popularity has declined and is now the topic of numerous debates.

There are some who claim that electric mass transportation was destroyed by auto companies. In 1974 the Senate held hearings about this issue. Senate counsel Bradford Snell testified that GM was responsible for the destruction of electric public transit in 45 cities. This tale is commonly called the "streetcar conspiracy."

That conspiracy is said to have inspired a plot in the film "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" The antagonist of the film, aptly named Judge Doom (played by Christopher Lloyd) purchases the Los Angeles streetcar system in attempt to dismantle it and allow cars to take over. The story of the conspiracy has been repeated in many reports, as well as in an 1996 PBS documentary.