agreed , and..
Of course ,it will be self defeating to 'impose' a new tram system on an existing -and congested- road system. The tram will simply end up competing for road space- same as the cars and the buses- with the inevitable delays and unreliability resulting from this. So you can do one of two things: underground running [see Brussels and the Pro Metro] in the busiest in-town sections, or ensure exclusive use of roads- as was done in Jaffa Road in Jerusalem -by diverting the traffic to parallel roads[= transferring the congestion elsewhere]. [also see the Croydon tram in Croydon city centre] If someone wants to make comparisons, you need to bear in mind that in the case of Tel Aviv, you super-impose a new tram system onto the existing congestion road grid; so you need to look at what was done- in the UK for instance- in Croydon, Manchester Nottingham , Dublin/Ireland, towns in Spain and France, some metropolitan areas in USA, China and LRT in Hong Kong. Seoul is not a good example , as the city was re-built in the early 70s, and the tube system was an integral part of the infrastructure with included a new business district, new residential accommodation and new suburbs too. In all of those cases you will find that the modern tram system has it's own segregated tracks, and there is minimal interference from other road users [cars and buses]. this means that the system is reliable. If the system is as unreliable as the bus system[because of congestion], commuters would not be tempted to switch from cars to trams- and that's why new tram systems are built in the first place! Certainly, in Croydon, the tram system is the most reliable mode of public transport in the area- better than trains or the buses. so much so that ridership increased significantly enough to justify purchasing an extra 6 tram sets, increasing the number of trams available for service from 24 to 30. This will happen in April 2012. What about planning issues? maybe the Crossrail project can teach some lessons: the parliament act authorising Crossrail also referred to the planning issue; it allowed the minister to bypass the normal planning process, which can delay projects significantly, on the grounds that it is a project of national importance; It works- I know from personal experience [smile]. Planning permissions were only delayed if Crossrail got it wrong. The main issue is- and will remain- funding. If there is a will to fund the project, it will happen. if there is a will to fund properly- the tram line would go underground in the city centre. if you want to cut corners, and the hell with the consequences, the tram line would be imposed on the existing road grid- which would guarantee unreliability and delays to the services. in this regard, I am with full agreement with Parc de France.. regards Yoram