No need to build and maintain the infrastructure (rail and overhead power lines.)
The ability to navigate the road freely -- trolley buses often have trouble circumnavigating badly parked cars in their way, sometimes causing the driver to get out to reattach the "prongs" to the wires.
Also, trams are somewhat prone to "tram jams" caused by one faulty streetcar blocking the railway. And they simply cannot get around a badly parked car.
Other than the need to maintain rail + power lines, I think these issues are overblown. The badly parked car scenario sounds pretty horrendous in theory - one careless actor causes chaos for an entire city center! In my experience it simply doesn't happen - I think people just know how damaging it could be (and possibly how much trouble they would be in) that they pretty much have to be considerate and self-aware.
However I have seen trams broken down temporarily (a couple of times in the last 7 years of taking 2 trips daily) but these get resolved surprisingly quickly with minimal fuss. Additionally I've only seen a Trolley lose its connection a couple of times, and the resolution took about 1 minute.
This is of course heavily based on personal experience, if you have experience to the contrary I'd be curious where this is. A friend complained a bit about Trolleys in Wellington needing frequently reconnected, but I don't know how common that is or whether they just had some bad luck
>In my experience it simply doesn't happen - I think people just know how damaging it could be (and possibly how much trouble they would be in) that they pretty much have to be considerate and self-aware.
That's not really the why, at least not here. The shortcomings of trams (including derailing and the inability to maneuver past stuck or badly parked cars) are handled by a 24h emergency crew dedicated for just that. I think they move on average less than one car per day, but those missions are much more frequent during wintertime.
Still seems like a trolley bus at least could get out of such a bind with a very small battery that lasts like 3-5 minutes. It could then recharge said battery when it reconnects. That way it won't have to haul ten tons of flammable batteries everywhere it goes.
you way overestimate people - it happens fairly frequently in philadelphia that the trolleys are blocked by illegally parked cars. Cars also try to beat the trolleys at intersections and cause accidents all the time - which when the trolleys are old 50s/60s solid steel beasts - a modern car does not win that fight.
The ability to navigate the road freely -- trolley buses often have trouble circumnavigating badly parked cars in their way, sometimes causing the driver to get out to reattach the "prongs" to the wires.
Also, trams are somewhat prone to "tram jams" caused by one faulty streetcar blocking the railway. And they simply cannot get around a badly parked car.