Ten years of Portland streetcars (actually, more like 63)

Some were skeptical of the streetcar from the start.  Factoring in platform stops and minor delays associated with mixed traffic operations, the average speed from one end of to the other is between seven and 12 miles per hour. The average speed of a person walking is three miles per hour. So if you pick up the walking pace just a bit, chances are you can be faster than the streetcar. What's more, streetcars usually go where buses already went, and bus lines are much cheaper than streetcars. What's more, although Portland has branded itself America's streetcar capitol, it's not as if people have given up their automobiles in droves. The streetcar seems to symbolize for some how Portland's central city is a kind of urban boutique while its outer neighborhoods and suburbs are more or less as automobile dominated as Anywheresville, USA.

http://chatterbox.typepad.com/portlandarchitecture/2011/08/ten-years-of-portland-streetcars-actually-more-like-63.html