admired on the street, and in 1902 the street was finally asphalted, the first street in New Zealand. The same year the first electric trams also arrived, to provide services until 1956. The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw a large number of imposing buildings constructed, such as the Smith & Caughey's building, the Auckland Town Hall and the General Post Office at the waterfront, later to become the Britomart Transport Centre. By that time, the street was popular for events such as parades and festivities, as well as for political activities such as the strike demonstrations of 1913. The Queen Street riots broke out in the adjacent Aotea Square in late 1984. During the second half of the 20th century, many of the older buildings on Queen Street were demolished to make space for larger office buildings. Character Queen Street is known by reputation all over the country, even by people who have never seen it. It gives its name to the most expensive square in the New Zealand version of Monopoly and to a somewhat disrespectful description of business people with rural investment interests (but lacking farming expertise): 'Queen Street farmers'. The street was immortalised by The Front Lawn with their song (It started on) Queen Street. The street has been the site of numerous parades, marches and other events of political, cultural or sporting nature. Together with adjacent High Street, it is the main retail precinct of the central city, with most national store, bank and restaurant franchises having a branch on the street. Several important other local businesses, such as the Smith & Caughey's department store, have flagship branches here. The street sees very high pedestrian numbers, estimated by some as up to 10 times as high as on Broadway in Newmarket, seen as Queen Street's closest shopping street rival in Auckland. Transport and foot traffic Prior to a 2006–2008 street upgrade (see below), Council figures showed that over 50,000 pedestrians, 40,000 public transport users and 20,000 people in private vehicles used Queen Street daily. The Council anticipated that the private car share would drop by around 15%. An editorial of The New Zealand Herald accused Council of using overestimated public transport user numbers for political purposes to support its bus lane plans. Former tram network Until December 1956, trams provided public transport along Queen Street, and it was the only street in New Zealand