No you’re 100% right. There is literally no reason for trams to replace buses outside of liking train aesthetics. They’re vastly more expensive and completely inflexible in their service routes, and suffer from the same issues buses do with getting stuck in traffic. Reddit has convinced itself that the disappearance of trams was some vast conspiracy by Big Auto, but the truth is that most tram companies were already financially struggling or entering bankruptcy and companies like GM only slightly sped up the inevitable. New Yorkers hated how loud and uncomfortable they were, so much so that Fiorello LaGuardia promised to get rid of trams during his mayoral campaign.

We should focus on heavy rail, light rail and BRT/protected bus lanes if we want to improve public transit, not spending 20x the money for a service that reduces the comprehensiveness of NYC’s transportation needs