In the US we had a relatively small town which was able to keep its streetcars until 1960, very late in the game. That was Johnstown Traction Co. which had a very cool system with PCC's and backyard ROW's like Muni's J line.

Too bad it went but nobody wants to pay for the physical plant - they want the cheapest alternative. Now I am afraid it's getting even worse with public transit becoming tainted with the ghetto association. In the case of SMART it may be very hard to come up with the public funding for expansion now that MTC-ABAG-Weiner want to use transit stations as a club to coerce section 8 and homeless tenements adjacent and the towns cannot do anything about it.

The local homeowners will be effectively following the policy and advice of the Tejon Ranch Co., the prescient ultra-NIMBY. They're smart; they must have anticipated Weiner & Co. on a State level.