This does unfortunately happen multiple times per day. Sometimes it’s smaller incidents where the tram driver can get out and collapse the car’s mirror. Other times the owner of the car comes out of a nearby house after the tram used its bell extensively (like today) and moves the car. And then there are times when police needs to get involved to tow the car which often takes upwards of 1 hour.

The truly infuriating part is that if the tram damages a poorly parked car, the transportation company will have to pay the damages. Poorly parked vehicles never get fined and the owners will only need to pay if the car ends up getting towed.

Why do we accept that drivers sabotage a city’s public transport infrastructure like this?

    • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world
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      12 days ago

      It’s possible, but knowing modern city management, it’s very likely the tram was the newest addition as people requested public transit alternatives and the city failed to properly plan it out.

      There’s not enough room with the way the road is setup for parking, traffic, and the tram. It doesn’t really matter which was there first. Either the roadway needs to be widened to accommodate all of them, or the street parking should be removed. Especially if parked vehicles are regularly getting in the way.

      One car in the way is a fluke, an asshole driver, but cars being in the way regularly means the design is fucked.

      • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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        12 days ago

        Knowing modern city management, adding parking spaces is always more likely than adding public transit. I’m sure they already had a tram network but local shops wanted some street-side parking to increase business, so they just crammed it in there.

        • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world
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          12 days ago

          It was the opposite in my city. Street parking has always been there, but the light rail was retrofitted into the tiny streets all over downtown in the last 5 years.

          • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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            11 days ago

            Yeah I’ve never seen them increase public transport in my entire life. I guess it depends on the city/country.

            Either way, they shouldn’t widen the streets. They should just get rid of the parking.