Another way to keep trams in the 1960's is putting them underground, at least in the city centre, where they cannot have their own tracks and are thus stuck in the same congestions as cars and buses otherwise and thus offer no speed advantage to commuters. It was done in some cities as a cheaper alternative to classical underground / metro systems, which cannot operate in the open and would thus require the construction of significantly more extant tunnels.

That is only possible for the richest cities of the richest nations, a country like Brazil or Argentina (that also had a tram culture) cannot spend money in that when the metro system is more attractive. However for Paris or Berlin that would be cool.
 
To preserve mass transit (e.g. electric trolleys) you need to compare the cost of housing with the cost of commuting.

That would have required high gasoline prices through the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. If middle class and working class people could not afford automobiles, they would remain dependent on mass transit.

Have you heard the expression "Drive until you can afford to buy a house?"

Last year, a Vancouver journalist compared housing prices with commuting prices. Assuming that two house-buyers work in downtown Vancouver, the wealthier one purchases a downtown condominium for more than a million dollars, then cannot afford a car, so walks or takes a bus/trolley/Skytrain to work.
OTOH the buyer with the smaller annual income is forced to buy a multi-hundred-thousand dollar house in Surrey or Langley and commute more than an hour every morning and evening. After 20 years, his combined mortgage and automobile costs equal the money spent by the first buyer.

Over the years, Vancouver has operated a variety of street cars, trolleys, trolley buses, gasoline buses, diesel buses, diesel-electric hybrid buses, natural gas buses, SkyTrain, Sea Bus, etc. The city street grid was laid out - during the 1880s - to facilitate street car routes. Consequently, construction flourished along streets served by electric street cars. Street car rails were buried or removed during the 1930s, when gasoline prices were at an all time low. But wheeled trolley buses still work the busiest routes along Broadway, etc. Sky Train mostly runs along elevated rails, but dives underground through downtown and under False Creek. Wealthy residents blocked Sky Train installation in Shaughnessy, so Sky Train was forced to tunnel under those mansions.
These days, construction still booms along the newest Evergreen Sky Train line, with dozens of tall apartment buildings growing near new Sky Train stations.

All forms of mass transit are heavily subsidized in Vancouver because they are less expensive than building enough roads for everyone to drive to work.

Yes, you still need regular roads for limousines, taxis, ambulances, fire trucks, delivery trucks, etc. but smart truck drivers quickly learn to time deliveries to avoid sitting in rush hour traffic. The busiest grocery stores only accept deliveries during off-peak hours and only restock shelves late at night. Similarly, big city garbage trucks do the bulk of their work after peak business hours.
 
Another way to keep trams in the 1960's is putting them underground, at least in the city centre, where they cannot have their own tracks and are thus stuck in the same congestions as cars and buses otherwise and thus offer no speed advantage to commuters. It was done in some cities as a cheaper alternative to classical underground / metro systems, which cannot operate in the open and would thus require the construction of significantly more extant tunnels.

HK still manage to do trams despite having one of the highest pop density in the world.

800
 
To preserve mass transit (e.g. electric trolleys) you need to compare the cost of housing with the cost of commuting.

That would have required high gasoline prices through the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. If middle class and working class people could not afford automobiles, they would remain dependent on mass transit.

Have you heard the expression "Drive until you can afford to buy a house?"

Last year, a Vancouver journalist compared housing prices with commuting prices. Assuming that two house-buyers work in downtown Vancouver, the wealthier one purchases a downtown condominium for more than a million dollars, then cannot afford a car, so walks or takes a bus/trolley/Skytrain to work.
OTOH the buyer with the smaller annual income is forced to buy a multi-hundred-thousand dollar house in Surrey or Langley and commute more than an hour every morning and evening. After 20 years, his combined mortgage and automobile costs equal the money spent by the first buyer.

Over the years, Vancouver has operated a variety of street cars, trolleys, trolley buses, gasoline buses, diesel buses, diesel-electric hybrid buses, natural gas buses, SkyTrain, Sea Bus, etc. The city street grid was laid out - during the 1880s - to facilitate street car routes. Consequently, construction flourished along streets served by electric street cars. Street car rails were buried or removed during the 1930s, when gasoline prices were at an all time low. But wheeled trolley buses still work the busiest routes along Broadway, etc. Sky Train mostly runs along elevated rails, but dives underground through downtown and under False Creek. Wealthy residents blocked Sky Train installation in Shaughnessy, so Sky Train was forced to tunnel under those mansions.
These days, construction still booms along the newest Evergreen Sky Train line, with dozens of tall apartment buildings growing near new Sky Train stations.

All forms of mass transit are heavily subsidized in Vancouver because they are less expensive than building enough roads for everyone to drive to work.

Yes, you still need regular roads for limousines, taxis, ambulances, fire trucks, delivery trucks, etc. but smart truck drivers quickly learn to time deliveries to avoid sitting in rush hour traffic. The busiest grocery stores only accept deliveries during off-peak hours and only restock shelves late at night. Similarly, big city garbage trucks do the bulk of their work after peak business hours.

Isn't such phenomenon of a population size too small?
 
Another way to keep trams in the 1960's is putting them underground, at least in the city centre, where they cannot have their own tracks and are thus stuck in the same congestions as cars and buses otherwise and thus offer no speed advantage to commuters.

Or put them on elevated rails above the roads. Noisier, yes; unsightly, arguably; but not stuck in traffic and much cheaper than tunneling. Besides, once you don't need a section of track you can turn it into an awesome raised park and walkway/cycleway.
 
If @marathag is right about the growth rates of cars even before there were good roads, then we might need a PoD before 1933 for the prevention of US car culture.
OTOH, a No WW2 timeline might not feature quite as much US-centric global culture as OTL, so even if cars become a thing in the US, if public transport remains dominant in the UK, in France, in Germany etc., then this might remain the model for Eastern European and Middle Eastern development and the rest of Asia to a greater degree.
The dilemma appears to be that higher fuel prices would certainly help, but on the other hand they would also slow down mechanisation of agriculture which would fuel the second wave of rural exodus. Perhaps targeted fuel subsidies for farmers only (they do exist today...)?
 
You can't stop xars, and there is no need to on the most part. All that is needed is for previously existing tram networks to be seen as part of the transport mix instead being replaced by cars and buses.
 
Are there actually common or just for tourists like San Francisco cable cars?

https://hktramways.com/en/about-hong-kong-tramways/
Very well used by local commuters (carrying an average of 200,000 passengers every day, cheaper than local buses and subway systems), but also a well-loved icon for tourists. There is also a dedicated tourist service:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_Tramways
Sightseeing tours are available on antique-style tramcar No. 68, which has an open balcony and a historical exhibit on board. Sightseeing tram boarding and alighting take place at the sightseeing tour termini: Western Market and Causeway Bay.
 
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