2007-05-28 09:33:48 · 10 answers · asked by yyzcygnus 2 in Travel ➔ United States ➔ Other - United States
Back when the car companies were first getting powerful there was mass transit, but the car companies kept buying the transit systems of the cities and shutting them down saying that they were too expensive to operate. Many of the local dealerships even gave the local city board members money and cars so they would vote to shut the transit systems down.
2007-05-28 10:26:35 · answer #1 · answered by melzie3 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mass transit is a given commodity in Europe and East Asia. The density of the populations of those areas makes it necessary to build and maintain the mass transit systems. As well, many of those older cities are constructed in a fashion that automobile traffic cannot be accomodated - since the car wasn't invented until later than most of those cities were built.
The US, on the other hand, has had considerable construction of cities and suburbs based upon the automobile. As a result, the mass transit system has been placed upon the back burner. No one wants to give up their car in the US, and they want the freedom to drive where ever and when ever they want.
Rising gas prices should push more mass transit in the US. I am on a regional planning commission, which has been studying the possibility of extending some sort of mass transit to Kankakee from Chicago. The transit currently stops about 10 miles north of the Kankakee County line. The cost of transit is incredibly expensive, and usually supported by either a gas tax or a sales tax. This is a big reason that mass transit does not get pushed enough; most people don't realize how much money is spent on roads which could be spent on transit if they wanted to push transit instead.
2007-05-28 16:48:55 · answer #2 · answered by David B 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ah, there is a decent mass transit system ... it's just fairly expensive to use. Buses, trains, aircraft ... all exist and you can get from anywhere to virtually anywhere else without having to own a vehicle ... if you can pay for it.
The big problem is that the US gave up trains except for freight hauling with the boom in personal automobile ownership after WWII. With everyone able to drive where they want to go, cheaply and conveniently, the rail system languished: stations closed, lines deteriorated, and rolling stock aged into obsolescence.
Locally, many communities (D.C., L.A., San Francisco, among others) have retrofitted modern, clean efficient subways, but the costs are enormous, and with a "conservative" federal government more interested in cutting taxes that maintaining the existing infrastructure, the communities that do have public transit systems have seen them fail to keep up with demand. (Ask a traffic engineer about the condition of highway bridges if you want to lose some sleep).
That said, the tide may be turning as the skyrocketing cost of fuel is making alternatives to the privately owned vehicle more attractive.
We'll see.
2007-05-28 16:42:16 · answer #3 · answered by Grendle 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Many cities have exactly that. But this is a big country and since the interstate railway's demise, the only practical way to get around is by car. Americans have been in love with the auto since it was invented. The national interstate highway system (thank you President Eisenhowever), was the thing that eploded the US economy after World War II and has been nutured ever since, especially by the politically powerful trucking and labor interests. Rail is expensive to build, even if you own the right of way. Buses are slow and not that cheap. Air travel is a real hassle for anything under 1,000 miles. So car is the way to go. It's freedom - the great American dream, open to all.
2007-05-31 08:54:54 · answer #4 · answered by squeezie_1999 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A lot of American towns and cities had them... Los Angeles, St. Louis, Kansas City, Dallas, NYC... etc... then the oil companies bought them out and closed them down... TRUE.!
2007-05-28 16:41:46 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
because mass transit is not affordable
it really costs - look at the billions spent just making
Wash DC's work
2007-05-28 16:37:43 · answer #6 · answered by tom4bucs 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I believe D.C. Maryland and Virginia does.
2007-05-28 16:36:18 · answer #7 · answered by That one 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I agree with you greatly!
Buses and trains are old, noisy and never come on time!
2007-05-28 16:38:26 · answer #8 · answered by judy06 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Because the US has a car culture.
For that matter, why doesn't the UK ?
2007-05-28 16:37:45 · answer #9 · answered by Infamous 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
you dont like our transportation go home.
2007-05-28 17:05:00 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋