Streetcar (disambiguation)

The term streetcar has several meanings:

Street railway

Generically, a streetcar is equivalent to a tram.
Historically, in the United States of America, Canada and some other countries, a streetcar is a passenger-carrying street railway vehicle, no matter what kind of motive power (electric, cable, animal, petroleum) the vehicle uses.
In modern usage in the U.S. and Canada, a streetcar is an electrically-powered street railway vehicle used for general transit purposes, of contemporary design, sometimes distinguished from light rail by the fact that it is designed to operate almost exclusively on public thoroughfares, with or without a restricted reservation, primarily providing a local transit function. In this context, streetcars are generally smaller vehicles than are typical for light-rail systems.
Heritage streetcar lines are contemporary streetcar lines that use old-fashioned streetcars, ranging from real or replica antique streetcars to more modern but still-vintage PCC streetcars. Many of these operations are tourist- or museum-oriented, while others, such as the New Orleans system, the 15-Girard Avenue Line in Philadelphia, and the F-Market Line in San Francisco, serve an important mass transportation function as well as being a tourist attraction.

Streetcar refers to a customized enthusiast’s automobile outfitted to be legal for usage on public streets, as opposed to a race car or other vehicle with modifications that are only legal on a private track.