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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 existing public transportation lines. These new suburbs were building on the new roads that were being developed. With so many suburbs being developed in so many places around cities, public transportation could not possibly establish affordable transit to all of them. With the everyday use of the automobile now possible, public transportation would no longer be needed commute and travel. With more people using their personal cars to enter the cities, the city streetcars were becoming less of a staple for cities (Smerk 37). People were driving right to where they want to go instead of using public transit.
After the war many cities could for see the decline in the streetcar, however a handful of cities including Cleveland held on to the streetcar. All the cities that held on to streetcar service were dropping the service by the mid 1950 's. Cleveland ended 94 years of streetcar service on January 24, 1954 by offering a free farewell ride (Than, Hays 248). Even the people who still depended on public transportation did not need to go to the city as much. With the television providing entertainment in the comfort of a family's living room, an evening trip to the movies or to a play downtown was not needed anymore. The television and other home conveniences also contributed to the downfall of public transportation.
The suburbs also began to build their own businesses and entertainment centers (Gauthier 176). With the development of these opportunities for work and play near the home, public transportation took another knock on the chin. There is still a chance for public transportation, right? Public transportation could develop to provide transportation to and from these suburbs.
The key would be connecting the suburbs with public transit. Once again however, the personal automobile would prevail over public transportation. The final blow to public transportation was the development of the expressways and the interstate system. Limited access expressways made it even quicker and easier for people in the suburbs to travel into the city. As these expressways developed, so did the suburbs along the roads. The government had a plan on the table since the 1930 's to build a system of highways connecting major cities across the nation and make travel within cities easier.
In 1956 this dream became a reality with the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956. This dream to most people was a nightmare to those that owned or had interest in public transportation. The Act of 1956 set 90 percent federal aid assistance with just 10 percent of funds coming from the local government (Praeger 15). This system of roads was pushed along thanks to the cold war. The money was set aside sighting the need for a "National System of Interstate and Defense Highways" (Praeger 14). With the possibility of a war being fought on American soil, the public could not hold an argument to the building of a system of highways designed to move troops quickly across the nation.
All in all the plan was put into motion with the Act of 1956 to build 41, 000 miles of limited access highways with the highest construction standards to date (Praeger 14). About 20 percent of the mileage was designed to develop service into, through, and around urban areas (Praeger 15). At the time of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, federal funds were not available for mass transportation. The Act of 1956 was financed through user charges such as taxes on rubber and gasoline (Praeger 14 - 15). This was not the only time federal money was set aside for roads and construction. Remember during the depression, entire work programs were designated for road construction.
It was not until 1961 that government assistance was handed down to public transportation in the form of the Housing Act of 1961. The act only provided a low-interest loan program for capital improvements and allowed federal planning assistance however (Praeger 15 - 16). It was not until the transit...
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Research essay sample on World War Ii Public Transportation
