Not one person has ever stated this 2 mile line alone is some sort of transit savior.
I'm not saying it has to be a transit savior. I'm saying that the streetcar, along with whatever other city-wide line (that may or may not happen), seems completely superfluous from a transportation perspective.
I'm not going to agree with terms like gimmicky and superfluous when it comes to building out a city wide fixed line that could include commuter rail from the east and Southwest along with streetcar lines South and over the river to the north.
Right. But your post makes several assumptions, namely:
1. That the broader city lines will be built;
2. That enough people will use them so that it can be considered actually useful; and if 1 and 2 are true
3. That a similar bus system, if implemented, would fail (for whatever reason)
I don't think any one of those things are true, and all three of them must be true for this thing to be anything other than superfluous, imho.
Now, if it is superfluous, and it's mainly aimed at increasing development around the line or lines, then fine. I get that. But if that's the case, then I think the streetcar is less about transportation, and more about having a fun (albeit risky) gimmick to spur business.