Urban Transportation The development of urban transportation has not changed
with the cities; cities have changed with transportation. In the early years of
transportation it was the mass transit of horse and buggies or electric rail
cars that shaped cities. Then as the automobile became affordable to the
public, personal transportation redefined the city as it was known. It is the
automobile and the movement to the suburbs that has public transportation
struggling to make money today. The very first transportation was with the
horse. Then someone came up with the idea to pair a horse up with a buggy. Now
four to six people could be carried at one time. These horse and buggies began
to be common sight in cities and public transportation was born. Before the
horse and buggy people were confined to the distance they could walk, so cities
could not grow much. People lived in the central business district because that
is where they worked. Now with the simple horse and buggy, people that can
afford the transportation can move a mile or two out of the central city
(Guathier 174). The big explosion of growth and increased ridership came at the
turn of the century. The cause of this explosion was the electric streetcars
that were installed in many cities. Whichever direction the rail lines were
laid down and the streetcar moved, people began building their homes in that
direction. The automobile was just getting its beginning and people were
depending on public transportation to get them to work. As the streetcar's
tracks expanded east and west, the city's population shifted that way as well.
People did not need to be in walking distance of their workplace anymore, but
in walking distance of the nearest pickup point of the streetcars (Guathier 175).
As streetcars increased their length of lines and service, the public increased
their choices of residential locations. People with higher incomes were able to
move out of the central part of cities and into outer areas (Guathier 174).
This also fostered the concentration of different ethnic groups within separate
neighborhoods (Guathier 175). This separation reversed the intermingling that
had been taking place during the late 1800's between various economic groups
and the different ethnic groups in the cities. Social stratification and
sorting of different groups throughout the city was rapidly increased thanks to
the streetcar spreading out the cities (Guathier 175). As cities spread out in
the early 1900's, railroads developed interurban and suburban railroad to
connect the outlying areas of the city. As the electric streetcars continued to
move the people around the cities, the railroads opened up the first suburbs on
the outlying areas. Large industrial industries were the first businesses to
relocate around the peripheral area of the old city thanks to rail easing the
transport of goods (Gauthier 175). Suburbs that were railroad dependent created
a beads-on-a-string look. People still had to be close to the train station and
small communities began developing around each station (Guathier 175). The
Automobile After the Great Depression the automobile began to be more
affordable to the public. Just as the middle-class seemed to go car crazy, the
United States found themselves in World War II. The American love for the
automobile was put on hold until the 1950's. After the war people were ready
for the changes that were to come, however public transportation was not ready
for the changes. During the 50's the automobile became common sight in
everyone's driveway. Even the television explosion had an impact on public
transportation. The thing that finally put public transportation in the back of
everyone's mind was the development of the expressway and the interstate
system. The big wigs in Detroit looked to be poised to deliver an affordable
product to the U.S. citizens and make automobiles common sight to even middle
class driveways, but the Great Depression and then World War II delayed the
idea two decades. Throughout the 90's public transportation has continued to
build. A couple of projects that were supposed to be newer and better however
turned out to be worse than older transit designs. The project in Los Angeles
for example has been an eye sore to public transportation. There were budget
delays, then construction delays. Part of the subway section collapsed during
construction, leaving a large whole in a downtown street. Once the transit
opened it was filled with delays and rider complaints. The Los Angeles transit
system did nothing to help the image of public transportation. Public
transportation shaped the way we lived during the beginning of the century.
Transit made suburbs the place to be. Then as automobiles grabbed the hearts of
Americans, public transportation fell out of the public light. Government
killed public transportation with the aid toward the federal highways. Then
government never helped out public transportation in the way it pushed along
highways. Public transportation will continue but it needs the help of federal
aid to improve and expand.
