The System Today
A particular feature of the new Bordeaux tram network is its ground-level power supply system which is used in the city centre to avoid overhead wires spoiling the view of buildings. This was the source of many difficulties and breakdowns when first introduced. Improvements since then, however, have increased reliability and the network is now one of Bordeaux's principal plus points, valued not just for enabling the people of the city to get about easily but also for its contribution to the aesthetics of the city and its quality of life. The new trams are an essential part of Bordeaux's current tourist redynamization strategy. The three lines were extended in 2007 and 2008 to reach several housing estates as well as the suburb of Mérignac. The whole system is under video surveillance, with a camera installed inside each vehicle.
Read more about this topic: Bordeaux Tramway
Famous quotes containing the words system and/or today:
“Our system is the height of absurdity, since we treat the culprit both as a child, so as to have the right to punish him, and as an adult, in order to deny him consolation.”
—Claude Lévi-Strauss (b. 1908)
“We had to take the world as it was given:
The nursemaid sitting passive in the park
Was rarely by a changeling prince accosted,
The mornings happened similar and stark
In rooms of selfhood where we woke and lay
Watching today unfold like yesterday.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)