BY WILLIAM CRUM, Staff WriterThe MAPS 3 streetcars would rely on proven technologies — with an eye toward staying on time and on budget while ensuring reliability — under technical specifications approved Wednesday by an advisory panel. If the MAPS 3 Citizens Advisory Board endorses the recommendation on Thursday, it will go to the city council for final approval. Known as a “request for proposals,” the 257-page document includes a wide range of specifications, listing such things as an acceptable range of streetcar widths and lengths, parameters for stopping distance in emergencies, and requirements for electrical power. It emphasizes the city’s preference that streetcars run without needing overhead wires on some portion of the 4.6-mile route, while recognizing the state of the art falls short of enabling the vehicles to go totally “off-wire.” Streetcars share the road with cars, and generally are powered by electricity from overhead wires, though some hybrids can run part of their routes on batteries.Read more on NewsOK.com