Alternative & Renewable Energy Blog

There are many reasons why electric streetcar lines became so popular - and were built so quickly - in cities across the United States. According to one transportation historian, the first and foremost factor was that the electric streetcar "proved itself once to be effective, easy and inexpensive to rig up, and swiftly profitable" as proven by Frank J. Sprague's experiment. Frank Julian Sprague, the so-called "father of electric traction", had confounded his critics in 1888 by building an urban electric railway that was safe, convenient, and reliable.

An Available Infrastructure

Frank J. Sprague deserves great credit, of course, but other factors also played an role in the rise of the electric streetcar. Electrical wires already ran through the streets of American cities and the infrastructure for power distribution was becoming robust. By the 1890s, hydroelectric and coal-powered steam plants were already producing and delivering electricity throughout most major cities. In many of these same urban areas, electric wires hung above city streets.

Travel Times

Another important reason for the rise of the electric streetcar was the savings in travel time that it provided. In American cities, a horse-drawn streetcar averaged a speed of 4 miles an hour (mph). The cable car was limited to how fast the cable was running beneath the city street. Moreover, the cables that powered the cable cars of San Francisco and Chicago moved at a maximum speed of 8 mph.

An electrified streetcar could travel more quickly. A trolley could run at 10, 20 or 30 mph throughout the city and up to 60 mph outside of the city center. For workers and their families, this was significant. Businessmen could see more clients, doctors could make more house calls, and families could do more things together, such as gathering provisions for the home or going to the park. The design of the electric streetcar also allowed it to maneuver through the turns of tight streets in early industrial cities.

Push and Pull

As congested cities expanded farther away from their centers, the demand for mass transit exploded. Typically, American cities expanded horizontally to accommodate the massive influx of people looking for work in manufacturing centers. Because of this horizontal expansion, housing was built away from the city's urban manufacturing core.

Eventually, it became difficult for employees to walk to work when their homes and apartments were located so far from urban factories. The massive number of people who needed to commute to work became a political and economic issue, and both city leaders and factory owners supported the development of electric streetcar lines.

Editor's Note: Part 8 of this multi-part series will run in one week.

Previous Blog Entries in This Series

The American Streetcar (Part 1)

From Stagecoach to Streetcar (Part 2)

From Horse-Drawn Streetcars to Cable Cars (Part 3)

The Birth of the Electric Streetcar (Part 4)

Electric Streetcars and Trolley Technology (Part 5)

Electric Streetcars: Private Lines and Public Roads (Part 6)