Tram systems are common throughout Europe and were common throughout the Western world in the early 20th century. In Australia trams are in use in several cities, most extensively in Melbourne with its W-class tram.
In the United States, most trams were removed by the 1950s. Often tram operators were bought out by large car manufacturers who replaced the trams with fleets of buses. Not all trams were removed; the San Francisco cable cars are the most famous example of trams in the United States. More recently some American cities have built light-rail systems which operate partially in the right-of-way of city streets. These systems could be called trams by Europeans and Australians but are generally not known by that name within the US.
In some countries, the word "tram" also refers to small localized transportation systems that do not run on rails. These can be small linked vehicles used to shuttle visitors around a tourist attraction or from a large parking lot into a building such as a shopping center. These trams run on regular paved road with rubber tires. Suspended cable cars, such as those found in ski resorts, may also be called trams, see Aerial tramway.
The name "tram" is from Low German traam, meaning the "beam (of a wheelbarrow)".