page_title: Low-floor tram
section_title: Historic examples
hierarchical_section_title: Low-floor tram / Historic examples
caption_attribution_description: English: Description: Brisbane stepless tram No 301, built by The J.G. Brill Company in Philadelphia, USA. Entered service in Brisbane in 1914. Date: c.1920
context_page_description: A low-floor tram is a tram that has no stairsteps between one or more entrances and part or all of the passenger cabin. The low-floor design improves the accessibility of the tram for the public, and also may provide larger windows and more airspace.
  An accessible platform-level floor in a tram can be achieved either by using a high-floor vehicle serving high-platform tram stops, or with a true low-floor vehicle interfacing with curb level stops.
  Currently both types are in use, depending on the station platform infrastructure in existing rail systems. Some systems may make use of former railway alignments where use of existing high platforms is desirable, while others, particularly new systems, may not have the space to site high-level stops in urban centres.
context_section_description: The idea of a low-floor tram dates back to the early 20th century when a number of trolley systems began experimenting with various "stepless" designs.  Perhaps the most notable is the Hedley-Doyle Stepless car introduced in 1912 for use on Broadway in Manhattan.  A number of other cities also purchased Hedley-Doyle Stepless trams after seeing their success in Manhattan.  Since these cars had a unique appearance compared to any other trams running at the time, they earned a number of nicknames, including hobble skirt cars, public welfare cars, and sow bellies.
caption: Brisbane Hedley-Doyle Stepless tram, No. 301
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "75", "Image YResolution": "75", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Pixelmator 3.6", "Image DateTime": "2018:09:10 11 pm:09:57", "Image ExifOffset": "154", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2018:09:07 16:17:45", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2018:09:07 16:17:45", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1171", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "598"}