Urban Transportation Essay Research Paper Urban TransportationThe

Urban Transportation Essay, Research Paper

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. The Great Depression would actually lay the foundation for the automobile explosion that was to come. However, during the years of the depression public transportation began to soar as the transit mode of choice. Most people could not afford the automobile and those who had a car were unable to maintain it during the tough times (Smerk 37). Unemployment continued to soar and ridership began to drop off. As the depression came to an end, public transportation found itself severely hurt. The government had to help pull the nation out of the depression so federal work programs were developed. Many of the work programs that the government developed to pull the U.S. out of the depression were centered on transportation, but not on public transit (Smerk 43). Development of new roads and improving existing ones would get the nation ready to fight a war then be ready to transport millions of Americans. During the war public transportation was once again depended upon greatly. This was due to the rationing of gas, rubber, and the metal need to make cars (Smerk 38).

It was after the war that Americans fell in love with the suburb and the automobile. As the soldiers returned from the war, suburban communities looked the most lucrative and affordable. The one thing about all of the suburbs was they did not develop on the existi