URBAN TRANSIT POLICY: AN ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL HISTORY

Abstract

This book examines transit policy in the U.S. from an historical perspective. The perspective is useful because policy is a changeable and changing contract created by negotiation among parties at interest. Transit policy is a social contract in which many parties have a stake--riders, transit workers, downtown employers, motorists and others. This contract has been renegotiated many times, steps both necessary and difficult. Renegotiation of policy is necessary because economic conditions, technology and social aspirations change. Policies good in the short and long term may differ. Large organizations rely on standardization to achieve efficiencies and economies of scale; this may harden into inertia, inflexibility and obsolescence. Transit policy in the U.S. has been characterized as erratic and volatile; the real problem may be inertia and deadlock. Change in transit has not paced change in economic conditions, technological opportunities and social goals. There are really two policies: (1) That imbedded in the routines of organizations and the technology they use; (2) That found in plans, regulations, mission statements and legislative mandates. The author sees the transit industry as structurally obsolete; its form suits the functions and markets that were served at the turn of the century. This book's goal is to provide a constructive debate about the kind of transit service appropriate to the modern American city. It tells the story of transit's growth and decline and assesses the performance of recent policies and programs designed to preserve and revitalize transit service, concluding that subsidy has not stabilized the industry. Understanding history before examining the policies of the 1960s and 1970s indicates how they might have been more effective. The need for a reorientation would have been better than replacement of aging equipment and extension of service. Public ownership has been a reprieve for transit but has not stabilized the industry. Subsidy is necessary, but endlessly increasing subsidy is both inappropriate and unrealistic. The last chapter is the author's suggestion for a reorganization alternative.

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