In "Beware the streetcar" (Forum, Oct. 29), George Chapman wishes to make the forthcoming Sugar House streetcar into a loud and obtrusive bogeyman, but several premises in his letter are based on incorrect assumptions.

At the end of the public involvement process in 2007, residents chose streetcars. This technology was picked in lieu of more polluting, noisier and lower capacity options such as rapid-transit bus or TRAX.

Chapman is concerned about the few moments of idling caused by added signal lights at rail crossings. This ignores the number of drivers who are riding on the electric streetcar and not polluting the air by driving automobiles.

I recently traveled to Berlin, Germany, and rode its version of the proposed Sugar House streetcar. I marveled at how quietly and efficiently these streetcars slid between stations.

Reintroducing streetcars to Salt Lake City will help create a more sustainable, quiet and metropolitan city.

Michael Baker

Salt Lake City