Quoted By:
>Why were trolleybuses so popular only for such a very short time?
In my reading about historic Australian tram systems like Brisbane's, it seems to be that the trolleybuses were a replacement for trams and a step towards buses. Before some of the lines were closed they were converted to trolleybus operation. The conversion must have had something to do with not wanting to take down the overhead power but wanting to move towards a bus-only system (Brisbane in particular has a massive fetish for buses and their mayor really wanted to get rid of the trams). In any ex-tram and ex-trolleybus city, at some point, it was probably decided to commit fully to diesel buses and that further maintaining the power infrastructure wasn't worth it any more. The only place I know of in Australasia that held onto the trolleybuses for a longer period was Wellington, where they were removed last year.
