Sunday, March 2, 2014

USA went from streetcars to cars by force, not via the "free" market

Taken for a Ride: "Why does America have the worst public transit in the industrialized world, and the most freeways? Taken for a Ride reveals the tragic and little known story of an auto and oil industry campaign, led by General Motors, to buy and dismantle streetcar lines. Across the nation, tracks were torn up, sometimes overnight, and diesel buses placed on city streets. The highway lobby then pushed through Congress a vast network of urban freeways that doubled the cost of the Interstates, fueled suburban development, increased auto dependence, and elicited passionate opposition. "