the life of a Strasbourgeois tram

"From time to time a strange vehicle drew near to the place where they stood - such a vehicle as the lady at the window, in spite of a considerable acquaintance with human inventions, had never seen before: a huge, low, omnibus, painted in brilliant colours, and decorated apparently with jingling bells, attached to a species of groove in the pavement, through which it was dragged, with a great deal of rumbling, bouncing, and scratching, by a couple of remarkably small horses". ("The Europeans", by Henry James)

Upon arrival in Strasbourg, one cannot help but notice the addition made to the everyday traffic by the trams. At first it seems cute, clean, and friendly, a welcome break from the stuffy London Underground. But after spending some time here, I have come to view the tram system as a complete waste of time, money and space. Firstly, Strasbourg isn't all that big, one can easily walk/cycle/rollerblade anywhere. Secondly, if they must insist upon creating a more international, cosmopolitan vibe by the insertion of the tramways, surely it isn't entirely necessary to have the tram stops spaced a mere stone's throw away from each other. Recently, my boyfriend and I took the tram, and when it pulled away with only me onboard, he was able to run to the next stop, only metres down the road, to catch it. This is meant, of course, to be a compromise between speed and frequency of stops, but in my experience the tram drivers are often careless and drive at a dangerously high speed. It is surprising that the French, keen cyclists as they are, have opted for the tram which is responsable for most of the cycling accidents in the city. These British-built trams may have broken with the previously held archaic conceptual image of Strasbourg, but to my mind they are only another example of unnecessary public transport killing the environment.