Bustitution
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The term "bustitution" is a neologism sometimes used to describe the practice of replacing train service, whether street railways (light rail or tram/streetcar systems) or full-size railway systems, with a bus service, either on a temporary or permanent basis. The word is a play on the word "substitution".
It has sometimes been used to describe the dismantling of the street railway systems of many cities in North America in the mid-20th century. The term is usually used in a somewhat derogatory sense and, when used, it usually means that a full conversion (rather than just a reduction) has taken place. Those who use this term tend to oppose the conversion and believe in the General Motors Streetcar Conspiracy — that powerful corporations with an interest in the ascendancy of the bus and automobile were largely responsible, rather than the change being made for economic reasons. Others believe that regardless of any conspiracy, the change was inevitable anyway. However, many cities that took apart streetcar lines have built new light rail lines in the succeeding decades.
The term is in use in the United Kingdom to describe the replacement of full-sized train service by buses. Sometimes, in this case, the replacement is temporary and is caused by maintenance work or train failure. It is also used to describe the closing of lightly-used services and replacement by a bus service.
A similar concept in some ways is motorization, though that more broadly refers to the rise of the automobile as well as bus transportation.
