Whether it's hydrogen trains, hyperloops, or pods, there's always some huckster promoting shiny new tech to distract gullible politicians from solving transportation problems. On the other hand, one of those mundane and boring techs that's been around forever that actually works well is already deployed throughout San Francisco—and that's the true-and-tried electric trolley bus. With the addition of small battery packs, trolley buses are even able to travel off-wire for stretches when the route is diverted for construction or a street event. Then the batteries are recharged when the bus returns to its normal route under wire. Alan Fisher, The Armchair Urbanist, just dropped a great video explainer that lays out why San Francisco already has a leg-up on most cities because of its use of trolley buses.
Fisher also talks about AM/FM machines (real solutions versus bullsh*t). And why trolley buses are far more scalable than battery buses. Politicians and other transportation decision makers throughout the U.S. need to watch the video and stop trying to reinvent the proverbial wheel.
