Among the stories we tell about ourselves in Calgary is a tale of desperate love — for our cars. Calgarians are having a mass “affaire de coeur” with their four-fendered darlings. Our automotive passions run so deep, we believe that life without cars is utterly inconceivable.

Funnily, it’s a story repeated worldwide, from Paris to Portland. Everyone everywhere, apparently, loves their cars more than anyone else. But it’s a myth.

We know because wherever high-quality, convenient and speedy alternatives have been built, people readily abandon their clunkers and take to the rails, to bikes and to their feet. Some places have actually ripped out highways only to discover they are not missed.

But myths persist because they contain elements of truth. So far, no comprehensive transit alternatives exist for most Calgarians and until they do, myth and fact are hard to separate. As it is, our system discourages more transit use.

At first glance, Calgary’s LRT system seems to be one of the most successful on the continent. In the fourth quarter of 2009, for example, 269,000 Calgarians rode the C-Train each working day. Of the 34 cities in the sample, only Toronto and Monterrey, Mexico had more riders. This is not a one-time thing; Calgary has topped ridership lists for years.

But this success is not because we love our transit system. It is, at least in part, because city policy limits downtown parking but has not made the offsetting investment to increase access and usability for those needing alternatives. Many feel herded to the LRT.

Even if downtown parking was unlimited and cheap, the road network already runs at capacity and there are no plans — and no room — for new expressways into downtown. Think what it would be like if tens of thousands more people drove each day.

On the other hand, what if tens of thousands of new people had to (or wanted to) choose public transportation as their first choice? This scenario was briefly foreshadowed when gas prices spiked in 2008. It was bad. So much so that in the morning rush, people travelling north would first board southbound trains to stations closer to the end of the line, just to get a spot on a northbound train.

Despite its apparent success, our transit system lacks diversity. We’ve streamlined the city for convenient driving, making more sustainable transit forms difficult to effectively implement.

Calgary isn’t alone. Planners everywhere are contending with the same issues and battling the same myths. Many cities have responded by introducing, or reintroducing, the humble tram. All over the world trams are being recognized as an essential ingredient of resilient urban transit networks.

Why trams? In their ongoing research into the effectiveness of different transportation modes, University of British Columbia planning professor Patrick Condon and his colleagues have concluded that trams have multiple benefits for cities interested in planning for resilience and sustainability.

Because trams and LRT cars are electric, they produce no carbon emissions or smog: They are better for the environment. Lifetime maintenance and repair costs for trams ranks lowest among the alternatives. Although the initial capital investment is higher than for busses, trams have lower lifetime operating costs. Trams have lower capacity than LRT, but many more miles of track can be built for the same cost because trams don’t require special, segregated infrastructure — you can step right from the curb to the tram.

Overall, compared to other transit modes, trams and LRT are greener, leaner and cheaper.

The key point, however, is that trams, unlike LRT or buses, play a significant role in fostering community and social resilience. Think of Calgary’s best streets, such as Ninth Avenue S.E. in Inglewood, and ask how they got that way? Would it be a surprise to find out all of them evolved as tram streets? It’s because trams evoke a sense of permanence and confidence. In turn, this encourages social and financial investment along tramlines in a way that other forms of transit do not. Wherever trams have been built, commerce and social vitality has blossomed.

Trams also add versatility. During rush hours they service inner-city commuters — decreasing the load on the rest of the system. The rest of the day, trams link neighbourhoods and communities in a predictable and trustworthy way, which inspires confidence and boosts ridership. Trams play a role in a complete transit network that neither LRT nor buses can.

In the next instalment, we extol some of the innumerable virtues of trams by considering the experience of Portland, Ore., where more than $3 billion of investment in trams has revitalized the inner city. Chapel Street in Melbourne, Australia also illustrates how walkable, compact streetscapes emerge along tramlines.

Trams provide new options and ways to think about urban resilience and sustainability. Calgary was a tram city once. It needs to be one again. That’s no myth.

Geoff Ghitter teaches urban studies at the University of Calgary. Links to the research used in this article can be found on his blog: geeessgee.blogspot.com. Noel Keough is an assistant professor in the faculty of environmental design at the University of Calgary and is co-founder of Sustainable Calgary Society.