The Killing Off Of Public Transportation

[Steel City Slim]

At one time public transportation was a privately owned, for profit enterprise. Then a consortium made up of Standard Oil, General Motors, and Firestone Rubber started buying up these private companies. They would sell off the property and abandon the rolling stock and then move on to the next city.

http://www.bilderberg.org/socal.htm

Now, it seems to me, the auto, oil and highway lobbies are attempting to finish the job by buying politicians and using them to strangle public transportation by cutting funding.

[ewagner]

1. I think that's

what Dubya is trying to do to Amtrack....It's going to get ugly.

[AP]

3. I remember reading in the paper after Jeb was elected...

...that he terminated a fairly advanced plan to connect Miami, and two other Florida cities with a train system that would make it possible for tourists and commuters to get arround Florida cheaply, easily and quickly. Apparently, car rental companies and the oil lobby pushed him to terminate the plans.

[Steel City Slim]

9. Yes, That Was The Florida Overland Express

Dubbed FOX. It was to connect Miami, Orlando, Tampa and eventually Tallahassee.

[Steel City Slim]

8. AMTRAK Is Somewhat Slightly Different

While there is no doubt that the Bush administration would love to do away with AMTRAK, AMTRAK has repeatedly shot itself in the foot for an extended period of time through mismanagement, poor decision making, malfeasance, and the attitude that they would get their funding no matter what.

[Trillo]

2. I actually found myself wondering about

buying a horse the other day. Unfortunately, now all the unpaved right of ways are fenced off.

[CottonBear]

7. I'm going to train my horse to drive (pull a cart).

I'll have about a year of training to get her ready. The big expense will be buying a (used) cart or wagon. I'll have a mode of transportation,a way to plow and mow her pasture and a way to haul hay, water, feed and other supplies.

[SoCalDem]

4. The asphalt and concrete guys were involved in the unraveling too

There is an excellent PBS program (it's not new, but very interesting)that lays this whole scheme out.. They NEEDED "city-folk" to head for suburbia,and BUY CARS and GASOLINE..how to get them to commute back to the cities where most of them worked?? Dismantle their infrastructure iside their cities.. They knew full well that most people, especially the poor ones would not be able to move, but what the hay? there was money to be made..That's how "inner city blight" started..Poor people left behind with no easy way to get around..Soon the jobs started to flow out of the city too...following the workers, because land was still cheaper in the outlying areas..What's left is people who used to not even need cars..and now they too must have their own transportation.. no parking, crowded narrow streets, and wear and tear on roads that were not meant to carry that much traffic..

It's all connected, and it's not accidental.

[Steel City Slim]

10. I Remember Seeing Something....

....about the Ford Motor Company being behind the effort to get the government to pave roads.

[SoCalDem]

11. You probably watched the documentary I mentioned

Ford and GM were "big participants" in it.. "Create the need, and then provide the product"

[Telly Savalas]

13. Do you remember the title of the PBS program?

Sounds interesting.

Pope the thread for public transit!

[SoCalDem]

14. Try this link.. it may mention the name

http://www.1134.org/stan/ul/GM-et-al.html

[ewagner]

5. I've always been a strong

advocate of public transportation...especially light rail....but I'm afraid that we have let the highways become too prolific and urban sprawl has become too common to make rail profitable now. I'm saddened by it actually.

[SoCalDem]

6. Michigan City , Indiana said NO.

The South Shore Railway was destined to be torn out and stopped, and there was a huge public outcry, and it was saved.. It's old, clunky and ugly.. The train runs down the middle of the street, but it's still the best way to get to Chicago..and we all LOVED the SS when we lived there.. Some of the cars still had potbelly stoves for heat (the 70's), but that train took us right to the middle of Chicago, and you never had to worry about what to do with a car :)

[ewagner]

12. Yoohoo!

I love the old South Shore! I used it regularly when I lived in the Gary area.

AND

The South Shore was the FIRST and ONLY Train my son ever rode on. He loved it!

My wife has many, many fond memories of the South Shore from her childhood.