Ex-Phoenician, but one of the coolest aspects in my opinion of the Phoenix Valley Metro Light Rail is there is art at most of the stations. Even if it's simply mosaic tile floors at one. At first glance all the stations look the same, but there's small unique differences at each one. Even the bridges are artwork; the light rail bridge over the Tempe Town Lake has cool color changing LED lights. Finally, the new silver with purple livery is gonna keep it modern looking despite it being over a decade old already. Ultimately, I think public transit needs to look "sexy", it needs to have an aesthetic. We are in the age of influencers, where a convenient mode of transport that isn't covered in ads, and might even have a few amenities and more people will start making the switch.

To the list I would add El Paso, Tucson, Denver, Atlanta, Charlotte, Milwaukee, Portland, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Kichener, Ontario and Ottawa.

There's something about light rail that I just love. It seems so... inoffensive. Friendly. Carefree. The kind of train that would engage in some friendly, light-hearted conversation, as it stops by my place on the way to the grocery store. I need friends.

Boston Green Line and New Orleans are great systems-very cool. I enjoy seeing the use of heritage trams- after all, why scrap an attractive useful vehicle. P.S. I noticed the "Stargate" near the tram stop at 3:00- useful if you miss the tram.

I agree with your #1 ranking of Boston, but you left out the coolest of all trolley's in Boston, which is the Mattapan high speed trolley on the Red Line. As far as I know, it's the only trolley line in the world that crosses through a cemetery. Also, Memphis has a very lovely trolley in the downtown part of the city that goes along the bluffs overlooking the mighty Mississippi River.

My 'coolest' is San Francisco because of the F Market St line using restored PCCs. The others are cool also because they keep many cars off the streets Thanx Tim👍👍😄😄

One of the cool things about the NOLA lines is they run on greenways apart from the roadways

I really like the Dallas DART light rail because of its speed. It’s almost a combination of commuter and light rail, as the trains run completely grade-separated for most of the system, and regularly travel at 45 mph or more, with a max speed of 65 mph! It’s really incredible how fast the trains move, and it’s also the longest light rail system in the country!

Philadelphia, PA has been missed!

Very interesting video! Buffalo is certainly very interesting. It is worth noting that one very extensive tram system in Europe, Gothenburg, is entirely on street in the down-town area but has some tunnels in the suburbs! (Zurich is almost entirely on street, but there is one tunnel section in the suburbs.)

For me it’s New Orleans and Tampa in my home state. Tampa uses streetcars similar to the ones in Little Rock. It’s especially fun to see the vintage style cars go past the aquarium

I find all streetcars very fine ❗👌And the PCCs are so beautiful 😍❗

Thanks for a fun look at trolleys. Having grown up riding Boston's trains and trolleys back in the 50s and 60s, I think you saved the best for last. ;)

The buffalo system is light metro as it is high floor and it has characteristics of both subway and light rail.

Awesome video

I really hope more systems become completely free to ride. Currently (to my knowledge) Cincinnati is the only one that is going to stay free for the foreseeable future after the city council vetoed the mayor’s decision to end free transit rides on the streetcar. Milwaukee is currently free to ride, and until the city does something about fare integration, it’s going to stay free.

San Diego's trolly is the oldest modern light rail system in America And it goes through some beautiful scenery plus it's got nice trolleys.

Correction the F Market & Wharves line in San Francisco was introduced in the mid 90's. Not 1983 as mentioned here. Matter of fact when introduced the F line only went as far as the now demolished Transbay Transit Terminal. It was much later that the route was extended to Fisherman's Wharf.

Excellent video my friend 💪😉

Tank you!!!! 👍👍👍👍🖐️🖐️🖐️🖐️

Would have liked to have seen the TECO Line Streetcar in Tampa FL.

I think that the LA light rail system is pretty good, at least in terms of US LRT services. Its high floor loading, has lengthy sections of private running, and has a nice paint scheme. In many ways it's like the old PE system it is meant to replace/replicate, with all of the same downfalls the former system had.

I'm really surprised Portland, Oregon isn't in your top 10.

By the way San Francisco's light rail system operates likewise as a subway & on the surface like Buffalo. Seattle & Portland I believe do as well.

The Philadelphia Subway-Surface Lines are like Buffalo in reverse, running in a subway tunnel under Center City and as streetcars in the outer neighborhoods. My experience is more with the suburban trolleys; maybe not the coolest but they work well. I like Seattle's system, especially now that it's being extended north and east across the lake. It has gotten me between downtown and the airport on more than one occasion. Here in Atlanta we have a nice streetcar similar to some in this video, but so far it hardly goes anywhere.

Grrr, electronics. Couldn't finish my post before it got sent prematurely.. You did leave out a very historically important LRT in the US, San Diego. It was the Momma of the rest of the new systems in America and Canada and now that it has a heritage PCC aspect it brings it to being one of the most interesting systems in the United States. Too, the fact that one of its first Seimens cars is a museum piece at Railways to Yesterday, speaks to how long San Diego's routes have been an important factor in LRT history and development. I might have thought that among newbies Seattle could have been up in the ten due to the thoughtful and measured way it was instituted, having been trolley coach and now LRT. Quite novel. And too, one of my favourites in the LRT field is Philly. With its interesting streetcar subway, regular street routes and the former Philly Suburban, it affords an exceptionally fun ride, and quite varied scenery. In the nostalgia field, nothing beats my memory of riding a PCC in the subway, sitting by an open left hand window enjoying the PCC sounds reverberating back off the columns, and then, noise! Being passed by a high platform Market Frankford subway train less than five feet away. Ahh, traction at its best. Maybe Philly could even be tied with New Orleans and the city by the Bay. One last thought occurred and that is Pittsburgh. Now a shadow of its former self, but oh so fascinating still. The huge PCC fleet made it superlative. The rest of your choices, well OK if you say so. Interesting but awfully contemporary vanilla. Thank you for posting.

Boston #1 definitely. Buffalo #2? I do question. Although I had ridden it before it opened, that bit of nostalgia can't me tobring to support your choice. #2 should be either N'Orleans or SanFrancisco hands down tied.

Nice train video.

Innsbruck, Austria has 4 very interesting lines plus a really Unique (for us) interurban like line the Stubaitalbahn which goes Up to the beautiful Stubai valley. Well worth a post COVID visit!!

I'd add Calagary, Toronto, Ottawa, Edmonton, Montreal and Waterloo Area.

Nice to see that there are still some places where Trollys are still rolling.

Portland MAX light rail and Portland Streetcar (with the Willamette Shore Trolley thrown in to boot).

I like the RTD Light Rail because it’s where I live.

Would definitely add Portland and Seattle

YO!!! I did NOT know Phoenix had a Stargate. Ima slide over to Arizona and hop galaxies and visit Atlantis. Also: BOSTON FTW!

Back in the late 1960's, I liked the Cleveland Ohio Rapid Transit System. It can't be done today, but back then we would walk on the railroad tracks next to the Rapid Transit stations run over and jump up on the platform to avoid paying to ride the trains.

Интересное видео. Спасибо.

Interesting that one would build a tram for a 2 mile stretch. It is easy enough to walk 2 miles.

Do you have a compilation of streetcars in Canada other than Toronto? Like Edmonton?

What about the San Francisco cable car?

My comments on the 10 best: 1. Why did you not include the light metro inside Terminal A of Detroit's international airport? 2. When you did San Francisco why didn't you include the Muni Metro and the cable cars? 3. You forgot the Riverfront Streetcar line in New Orleans. I think you can see the river from it. Way cool! 4. Your excursus on Boston didn't include the Riverside 'D' Branch, one of the first grade separated light railways in North America. Also the Mattapan High Speed Line. 5. And you forgot Sound Transit in Seattle. It puts some of the systems you did feature to shame!

You should have shown Boston's PCC car operation on the Mattapan line. The cars are from 1944 and still use trolley poles.

I went on the hop mke for the first time in downtown Milwaukee yesterday.

San Diego Trolley should be on this list

Κατ' αρχάς όλα τα συστήματα light rails τα οποία διαθέτετε στις Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες είναι εξαιρετικά και σας αξίζουν πολλά συγχαρητήρια! Λόγω "συμπάθειας", αλλά και αντικειμενικά (σε μήκος γραμμής, σε καθαριότητα συρμών, σε εξωτερικά - εσωτερικά χρώματα, σε εξυπηρέτηση επιβατικού κοινού κ.λπ.), θεωρώ ότι το καλύτερο σύστημα light rail είναι εκείνου του Salt Lake. Τώρα πολλά συγχαρητήρια αξίζουν στα "αρχαία" δίκτυα laght rails όπως λ.χ. της Βοστώνης, αλλά και εκείνα τα οποία διατηρούν την ρετρό εμφάνιση στα οχήματά τους! Εύγε!

Honestly, In the title where it said America I tought you said the whole American continent but all the light rail systems are so cool, never expected the US to have a bunch of these

Consider Toronto Ontario

Seattle, Washington streetcar Portland, Oregon streetcar

Can we also point that Boston uses a train that consists of a Type 7 and Type 8, two COMPLETELY different trolley cars and they can still run together.

Pittsburgh deserves to be here. Their system runs on a logic similar to Buffalo's: Free ride in the downtown part to relieve the congestion. But their downtown part is underground, just the opposite to Buffalo's system. For the Buffalo trolleys my favorite point is on the automatically released stairs at the doors when using the low platforms downtown. They look very very funny, and practical!

I really like trimet max in Portland

My favorite one is the streetcar in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Philadelphia pa has a unique light rail system that serves above and underground. With Kawasaki cars built in the 80s

These look pretty ordinary to me. What's your criterion for measuring Top 10 Coolness?

How about Canada's lrt, subway and streetcars etc.

If you love Boston’s trams so much, how come you left out the Mattapan Line?

9:23 loll

How about Ticket Tram price per day , and per month?

One city with streetcars in my state is Dallas Texas

dude how is the route 15 in philadelphia not even on the list?? i know its down currently but it will be back before the end of the year. its 8 miles long and actually used as genuine public transit not just a tourist attraction and most importantly it runs restored pccs as u know. to make boston number 1 is also a slap in the face to philadelphia as the trolley systems are nearly identical in structure even down to the mostly 80s rolling stock

Kenosha and its PCC'S .

You missed the street cars in Memphis Tennessee

Where’s Toronto? We have the biggest streetcar network in North America

The Boston green line also uses type 9 cars.

El Paso Texas. Has new PCC cars.

Transportation should be efficient, fast and comfortable. This is so uncool.

It's odd that some of the cities run light rail cars with no doors at the ends, thus, slowing down entering and exiting?

Once in a blue moon, San Francisco runs a "boat tram" on the F line. I made a video about the experience here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/m95iibJ2nsqliIE.html

It's a Tram. The word "Street Car" means a car on a street. A Tram is a city/county/region route passenger train on rails that runs on cable electricity or wireless. Why does USA call Trams "Street Cars?" Weird.

You forgot Philadelphia!

Please consider changing from the white font; often hard to read.

I would like to have seen Washington DC and Baltimore MD

I would but in my city the lightrail is terrible.

But Philly...?

"No fare to ride the KC streetcar"? Baloney. There's no such thing as a "free lunch". Taxpayers are footing the bill. Interesting for Cincinnati, there is an abandoned subway tunnel that was supposed to have service. Building started in the 'teens, stopped then restarted, then stopped again and is still abandoned. Instead of the trolley cars, the city might have explored ways to finish that rapid transit line.

Buffalo?... Their LRT is unique and nothing against the service but why them Buffalo?... Philly or Pittsburgh is deserving of #2 spot. Bit of a headscratcher

Wow, no mention of Cleveland...shame.

SEPTA DOESNT MAKE THIS LIST????🤨🤨🤨

How about the lightrail in Israel?

Kansas City and Cincy are doing it right. I don’t get the LRT craze in the US when 99% of the systems don’t have the need for it. If your trains don’t need to run over 25mph or on FRA lines, get trams, not LRT. They’re cheaper, easier to maintain, make tighter turns and are more comfortable for passengers. You also solve your accessibility issues. Almost all of these run at grade, in traffic, at low speeds and with low ridership. In New Orleans I’d like to see the current St Charles St cars retired except for 1-2 for tv, and special event use, replaced by the cars from the Canal St line, painted green. They have air conditioning, are quieter and wheelchair accessible. I’d like to see modern trams run on Canal Street, and Riverside, plus a third line between Dillard Univ, down Broad St to Carrolton.

Funny to see all the alcohol ads on the SLC trams. Guess the love of money Trumps any religious mythology.

KC and Cincinnati makes the list Milwaukee does not.