Streetcars in North America Streetcars in North America Electric streetcars or trolley(car)s (North American English for the European word "tram") were once the chief mode of public transit in hundreds of North American cities and towns. Most of the original urban streetcar systems were either dismantled in the mid-20th century or converted to other modes of operation, such as light rail. Today, only Toronto still operates a streetcar network essentially unchanged in layout and mode of operation. Older surviving lines and systems in Boston, Cleveland, Mexico City, Newark, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco were often infrastructure-heavy systems with tunnels, dedicated right-of-way, and long travel
Streetcars in North America order of opening): In addition, the CityLynx Gold Line, which opened in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2015 using replica-vintage streetcars (see table of heritage streetcar systems, below), is planned to be converted to modern streetcars in 2020. In 2001, Portland, Oregon, which already had a successful light rail system (MAX), became the first city in North America in more than 50 years to open a new streetcar system served by modern vehicles, with the opening of the Portland Streetcar. It uses low-floor cars built in the Czech Republic, but the system's first U.S.-assembled streetcar was delivered in 2009. The line