Evolution of U'S' IntraUrban Transport

1
Evolution of U.S. Intra-Urban Transport

• Eras of Change

2
Four Eras of Intra-Metro Growth and Transport
Development

• I Walking-Horsecar Era (1800-1890)
• II Electric Street Car Era (1890-1920)
• III Recreational Auto Era (1920-1945)
• IV Freeway Era (1945-present)

3
(No Transcript)
4
I Walking-Horse Car Era (1800-1890)

• 1. Highly agglomerated urban form
• 2. Travel largely on foot
• 3. People and activities required to cluster in
  close proximity
• 4. Arrival of railways in 1830s provided
  opportunity for daily travel to and from
  trackside commuting is born
• 5. 1850s-light street rail drawn by horses
  emerges
• 6. Narrow band of land at citys edge opens and
  horse car suburbs appear

5
II Electric Street Car Era (1890-1920)

• 1. Invention of electric traction motor
  stimulated growth of electric trolleys
• 2. Most dramatic impact was swift development of
  urban fringes-radial trolley corridors
• 3. Quality of housing and prosperity of streetcar
  suburbs increased with distance from the central
  city line
• 4. Ubiquity of low fare trolley now provided all
  residents access to intra-city mass transit is
  born
• 5. Specialized land use districts emerge- CBD
  goes up with invention of elevator!
• 6. Widest impact on social geography-congregation
  of ethnic groups in neighborhoods
• 7. Faster electric commuter trains superceded
  steam locomotives in wealthiest suburbs

6
III Recreational Auto Era (1920-1945)

• 1. Electric trolleys, trains and subways begins
  to transform many cities into metropoli
• 2. Suburbs and mill-town intercity corridors
  become spatially integrated
• 3. Second urban transport revolution- auto enters
  the scene with total freedom to travel
• 4.1916- gt 2mil 1920 gt 8 mil 1930s gt 28 mil
• 5. Main impact- weekend outings auto dependency
  commences!

7
(No Transcript)
8
III Recreational Auto Era (1920-1945)continued

• 6. Suburban home building industry no longer
  subsidizes private street cars
• 7. Modern urban transit crisis begins
• 8. During Depression local governments forced to
  intervene with subsidies from public funds
• 9. Expansion of residential development of auto
  suburbia continues as large packages of cheap
  land are gobbled up and transformed into suburbs,
  e.g. Levittown (Philadelphia)

9
IV Freeway Era (1945 to Present )

• 1. Coming of age of the auto culture
• 2. 1956 Interstate Highway Act-massive
  acceleration of deconcentration process
• 3. Economic activities discovered
  footlooseness- no longer tied to central
  cities-emergence of beltway corridors
• 4. Structural changes occur in urban form
• 5. Outlying metro coresedge cities become
  suburban downtowns
• 6. By 1993, 189 of these new urban
  agglomerations, e.g. King of Prussia, Tysons
  Corners , South Coast Metro, Schaumburg, Bellevue

10
(No Transcript)
11
(No Transcript)
12
Urban Transport in Post Industrial Metropolis

• Quaternary (info related) and quinary (management
  and decision-making based) activities will
  dominate U.S. employment
• With intra-urban location costs fairly well
  equalized across nation non-economic forces now
  shape distribution of high technology
• Silicon Valley, CA-major university, large pool
  of skilled and semi-skilled labor, 300 days of
  sunshine, recreational water, high quality
  business environment

13
Urban Transport Challenges of 2010 Decade

• Efficiencies of moving people about the
  dispersed, polycentric city
• Few new freeways-why?
• 1. - too expensive
• 2. Environmental regulations
• 3. Disruption of existing neighborhoods and land
  use activities
• 4. Evidence that such freeways do not improve
  traffic flow

14
Urban Transport Challenges of the 2010 Decade

• New public mass transit systems are being pursued
• Since 1960s heavy rail San Francisco, Atlanta,
  Washington DC, Miami, Baltimore
• Light rail systems Portland, Dallas, San Diego,
  Buffalo, Louisville
• But ridership levels have declinedcannot serve
  low density suburbs

15
Transport Problems and New City Forms

• Too many new transit systems fail to recognize
  that traditional CBD focused, hub and spoke
  network has become irrelevant
• Raid proliferation of suburban downtown- edge
  cities- magnifies two problems
• 1. Local level infrastructure usually lags well
  behind growth in mushrooming coresgt congestion
  results
• 2. Reshaping of the metro space-economy produces
  growing geographical mismatch between job
  opportunities and housing
• Edge cities surrounded by upper income
  residential areasso most people who work in edge
  cities must commute considerable distances from
  affordable housing