Some of the hard facts behind the use of trams

Trams don’t take up a lot of road space but they do carry a lot of people. As Edinburgh continues to grow, trams will be the most efficient way for people to travel about our city.

It is forecast that there will be 30,000 new jobs in the city and 50,000 more people living in the Lothians by 2015.

The tram system will be integrated with the Lothian Buses network which, alone, would struggle to manage all the transport demands that our expanding city faces as more people and more jobs come here. There is not enough road space to allow the number of buses we would need without long queues and delays developing on some of our key roads.

Trams help create a cleaner environment for the future as they are electrically powered, so there are no emissions.

They also give a smooth comfortable ride for passengers and are a great option for those with disabilities.

Trams will transform the way you live with quick and reliable travel. Whether you want an extra ten minutes in bed or make sure you pick the kids up from school on time, trams will make it happen because they run on schedule and are quick.

Trams encourage people, especially car drivers, to use public transport in a way that buses never can.

This will help congestion on our roads. It’s a small, but hugely important, fact that we human beings see trams as modern, sleek and attractive in a way that we will never view the most modern of buses.

Trams show that a city is a modern and well-connected place to do business, which can lead to more investment, new jobs, regeneration and more prosperity for us all.

Princes Street and other shopping streets will be reborn as trams help to transform our city by creating a more pleasant shopping environment and new opportunities for shopping.

...and the facts

• Trams can carry up to 350 people compared to 120 in a bus.

• Trams are an attractive option for motorists: 20 per cent of peak hour and 50 per cent of weekend UK tram passengers previously travelled by car.
• Montpelier saw an increase of 36 per cent in public transport journeys between 1999-2002, following the trams opening in 2000.

• Trams can improve accessibility and mobility for people with disabilities. The Croydon tramlink is becoming more popular with those with impaired mobility than the “dial-a-ride” service because the system is fully accessible for people in wheelchairs and is highly reliable.

• Trams allow more people to travel to city centres and retail areas. For example, Dublin has seen a 35 per cent increase in footfall at an end-of-line shopping mall.
• In Strasbourg, the number of shoppers in the city centre on an average Saturday rose from 88,000 in 1992 to 163,000 in 1997 after the opening of two tram lines.

• Property values and rental prices tend to increase along tram lines, both commercial and residential. Dublin reports an increase in property prices of up to 15 per cent along Luas lines. Estate agents in Strasbourg say 50 per cent of customers wishing to rent want access to the tram.

• Trams are electrically run so there are no emissions at source.

• Edinburgh construction phase – minimum of 500 jobs.
• As an economic result of route 1a alone – an additional 930 jobs to the region.

• Trams are proving to be a success throughout Europe. 8.5 million passengers used the Nottingham tram Line 1 in its first full year, way surpassing the prediction of between 7.5 to 8 million. In the second year, there were 9.7m trips – above the predicted 9m trips.
• One year after its opening in June 2004, the Luas tram system in Dublin had carried nearly 16.5m passengers.