1. Environmentally friendly
Trams emit no fumes whatever, they use electricity from remote power stations. The emissions from electrical power stations are more easily, cheaply and effectively controlled because the extra equipment does not need to be carried on a vehicle.
2. Convenient
The public perception of a tram is very different from that of a bus. A properly planned tram service is speedy, cheap, reliable and not disrupted by congestion. It does not carry a 'second-class' stigma, If the aim of a public transport system is to attract people away from car use, trams have been shown to succeed where buses fail. Tram routes are easily found by intending passengers and the presence of rails gives confidence that a tram will soon arrive.
3. Fast, safe and effective
Because tram routes must be planned to be free of obstructions, a faster and more attractive service results. A tram can collect passengers from residential areas with the same facility as a bus and can operate safely in pedestrian areas because it never deviates from the marked-out route. Elsewhere, high speeds can be attained, with no danger to other traffic, by segregating the express routes. One tram can do much more work than a similar sized bus. The proposed Bath trams would each carry the equivalent of sixty cars or a quarter of a mile of traffic jam.
4. Cheap to run
Although tramways were expensive to construct, prices of vehicles and track have recently fallen rapidly with the application of modern technology. Once constructed, a tramway is the cheapest public transport system to operate and it has a life expectancy of at least fifty years,
5. Occupy little space
Segregated or 'reserved' tracks need be only slightly wider than the tram body - for the proposed Bath trams about 8ft wide should suffice. They can run along disused railway lines, open sites, specially designated streets or the centres of dual-carriageways. They can by-pass traffic bottle-necks and be grassed-over to improve appearance and reduce the likelihood of unauthorised use by motorists.
6. Adaptable to future needs
External power gives a tram more range and higher speed than if it carried batteries. If batteries significantly improve in the future, it will then be relatively easy to fit them into existing trams. similarly, improvements in power generation such as the use of renewable energy from wind or wave power, can be utilised by a tram but not by combustion engined vehicles.
Modern trams are virtually silent when standing still and so quiet when moving that they need to sound a gong to warn pedestrians.
In a hilly district like Bath, substantial power savings can be made by Śregenerative braking', using the motors as brakes and feeding the electricity they generate back into the overhead line so as to power other trams.
The steel wheels on steel rails have one-fifth the rolling resistance of a pneumatic tyre, so less power is needed to drive a tram. When finally worn-out, the steel is melted down and re-used. There are no scrap rubber tyres to dispose of.
The track ensures that the tram always pulls up close to the pavement leaving no significant gap. A short section of ramped pavement is all that is needed to give level access for push-chairs, wheel-chairs and disabled passengers.
A large growth in public transport use would cause severe operational and environmental problems with a bus service, whereas trams would become more economical.