The real blame for the APS should be put on the "urban visionary" Peter Newman, who relentlessly spruiked "wireless trams" to all and anyone who would listen, whether battery or otherwise, and the city council picked it up because this individual presented himself as an "expert". They saw it as a way of avoiding the usual claque of whiners who bitched about "ugly" overhead wires any time trams or LR were proposed. This was before the choice between CAF battery/supercapacitor or Alstom APS power was decided, and Alstom won for APS by emphasising range anxieties about battery power. No-one thought to consult the early adopters of these systems like Zaragoza or Bordeaux to see how it was working for them before buying APS for George street or the CAF storage supply for Newcastle and Parramatta.
When it comes to technology and energy efficiency Newman is clueless, as revealed by his present embrace of the oxymoron, "trackless trams".
BTW, if anyone has ever wondered why catenary on the L1 is only between Haymarket and Wentworth Park, it's because the anti-OHW cult made a lot of noise about how it would "spoil the appearance" of the Wentworth Park and Jubilee park viaducts, so instead direct suspended overhead was used for the rest of the line, resulting in about twice the number of poles needed to hold it up.
And yeah, the APS track on George St looks like it belongs on Gomez Addams' Lionel train set.
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