"Maybe you could point out which reasons are not obviously beneath consideration?"
As a conversation starter I have enclosed my personal comments and question in italics between questions. They are worth just exactly what you paid to read them...
1) Streetcars are not as flexible as buses - of course not, they run on rails.
Hard to argue with this, but I don't know that it is too important..
This is also part of what makes them better at attracting development than buses, because the transit agency is then committed to that route.
Streetcar proponents also make crazy statements. There is nothing at all to suggest that streetcar rails force commitments like this. There may be an illogical elitist preference by "choice" riders for streetcars but a bad rail route would be as much of a failure as a bus route.
For what it's worth: The last FW streetcar plan ran its major routes (downtown, 7th Street, Medical District) to already well developed and thriving areas that would not have benefited much from streetcars as a development tool, if in fact they actually could do that at all.
2) Streetcars can't pass one another - so what? Buses don't do this even though they could.
Probably not a factor. However, since the "modern" streetcars run along at curbside, a catastrophic back-up is conceivable if a streetcar was disabled in a morning or evening rush hour period on the busiest streets if any appreciable ridership ever developed. Of course buses could then be called to show up to haul away those stranded.. .
Historically in Fort Worth and other cities, the major routes were double track in the center of the street and had periodic crossover switches partially for this reason. The modern day and very successful New Orleans streetcar system which has been steadily expanding in the last few years still uses a lot of center double-track and operation in the center medians.
3) Streetcar rails are "dangerous" for bikers - not a problem on a well-designed road;
To clarify, the link specifies bicycles. Maybe someone could explain this better. But if both the streetcar rails and the bike paths are more or less at curbside then isn't there the potential for skinny bike tires to get involved with the rail grooves and cause problems? Or are we going to narrow the streets even more with bike lanes away from the curb outside the rail lines?
Again, part of the FW revolt against streetcars in the middle 1930's were complaints about pedestrians including women in heels trying to negotiate the rails. But by that time the hysteria to dump streetcars was at a pitch that the proponents felt like they could use anything even slightly negative as ammunition.
4) Some streetcars are not as energy efficient as SUV's on a per-passenger basis..
Apples vs Oranges of course. However, I do wonder about the relative efficiency and environmental effect if you compare electric streetcars and FW buses. The "T" has been running its buses on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) for a long time. This is the same natural gas fuel that more and more power plants in Texas are using. If the FW streetcar system bought any significant amount of power that was generated by coal, then there might be some environmental considerations that would excite ardent conservationists. Personally, I don't think it's a factor..
5) Streetcars operating in American cities cost more per passenger miles in operating costs than buses..
If you count in amortizing the enormous cost per mile of streetcar line construction, then I don't think there is any doubt that this is true. It would probably be bad public accounting not to do this.
Both bus and streetcar systems are publicly owned and highly subsidized as are almost most all kinds of transit in these days, I'm not sure whether the added taxpayer burden, either direct ore indirect, would make much difference to those that want a system. I realize that FW streetcar proponents claim that the costs would be born by those who directly benefit from them, but realistically things don't work that way.
There were several more interesting points in the link that I would like to list further down the line...
