Business Logistics 420 Urban Transportation Fall 2000

1. Business Logistics 420Urban TransportationFall 2000 Lectures 3 & 4 : The Historical Context for Public Transportation and US Urban Structure

2. Lecture Objectives • To understand the relationship between the development of transit technology, the transit enterprise, and U.S. urban development • To appreciate the role that transit and then the private auto had in shaping U.S. cities • To understand the positive and negative impacts of the dramatic change in urban travel method and patterns over the past 80 years

3. History of Transit Technology • 1827 Omnibus (New York City) 12 psgr • 1832 Street Railway (Horse Car) (7 mph) • 1873 Cable Car - San Francisco (also 29 other cities) (Chicago largest) • 1888 Electric Street Railway (Trolley) • 1890s Interurbans • 1897 Subway - Boston • 1910 Buses (Jitney)* Underline indicates key (testable) date

4. History of the Transit Enterprise • Pre 1890s Individual entrepreneurs, small firms, single routes • 1890s-WWII Mergers into one or few large private corps in each city • WWII-1960s Declining profitability, abandon- ment of service in small towns • 1960s-1970s Conversion from private owner- ship to pubic agency ownership

5. Relationship of Technology to Enterprise Form • Few economies of scale for horse car systems therefore small firms, individual routes feasible • Electric streetcars required large investments in rolling stock, power generation and distribution so large enterprise desirable • Monopoly or duopoly structure continues today

6. Notes on Transit as a Private Enterprise Activity • Though organized as for-profit firms, transit operations did not always result in profits for the owners • Transit systems made money on: • Real Estate Development -- trolley lines extended into suburbs, profit made on newly accessible lots • Auxiliary enterprises such as power generation, amusement parks • Questionable business practices also involved -- “watered stock”

7. Relationship of Transit and Urban Development • The industrial revolution led to a migration from rural to urban areas • To absorb increasing populations, urban areas needed to spread out • Improved public transportation allowed for larger urban areas to be efficiently connected

8. Evolution of Urban Transportation Policy • Early History • Pre 1830 Small Cities - walking • 1830s--1890s Urban expansion-horse car • 1890s - 1920s Electric Trolley • 1920s - Present Automobile era

9. Evolution of Urban Transportation Policy (Cont.) • Modern Era • 1920s -- WW II Rapid introduction of auto decline of transit • WW II -- 1960s Expansion of highway system - Interstate Era • 1960s-- 1980s “Balanced” transportation concern for energy, air quality • 1990s - Present Congestion, air quality, ADA, energy

10. Transit Ridership Trends • Transit Ridership grew steadily from the 1890s through the 1920s • Ridership began to decline with Great Depression due to increased unemployment, bankruptcy of transit systems and introduction of automobile • Ridership reached all-time high during World War II (about 28 billion one-way passenger trips) due to gas rationing, full employment

11. Transit Ridership Trends (Continued) • Ridership dropped to about 6 billion one-way passenger trips in mid 1960s before rising due to energy crises, new systems • Ridership hit post WW II high in 1999 at slightly over 9 billion one-way passenger trips

12. The Decline of Transit • THE AUTOMOBILE • Inflation • Fare controls • Other detrimental public regulatory actions • Over capitalization of private transit firms

13. Study Questions 1. Trace the evolution of transit technology from the 1830s to the present. What were the major driving forces for the development of each technology. 2. What were some of the barriers to the introduction and commercial success of each technology?

14. Study Questions (Continued) 3. Trace the relationship between the technology used to provide transit and the form of ownership/organization of the transit enterprises operating transit services. 4.What were three or four causes of the decline of transit usage in the U.S. that began in the 1920s?

15. Study Questions with No Wrong Answer 1. Had the automobile been commercialized 30 years sooner, before the electric trolley, our cities would have been developed in a totally different form more like our “modern” western and sun belt cities. Do you agree or disagree? 2. Substitution of the auto for public transit was due in large part to a conspiracy by the oil, tire, and auto manufacturers. Agree or disagree? Explain.

16. Study Questions with No Wrong Answer 3. Do you agree with the theme of the video that “trolleys were the cars that built our cities;” without trolleys our cities would not have developed and our country would not have prospered? 4. The “Divided Highways” video seems to imply that our auto dominated urban areas grew because of intentional, but misguided public policy that encouraged suburbanization and replacement of transit with autos. Can this assertion be defended? What do you think?