Urban Mass Transit

Technological choices depend on, and are part of, contests over political power, as the history of mass transit vividly illustrates. From horse-drawn omnibuses to subways to light rail, this volume highlights the technological and social struggles that have accompanied urbanization and the need for an efficient and cost-effective means of transportation in cities. Post depicts mass transit as a technology—rather, as a technological system—that provided an essential complement to industrialization, urbanization, and, ultimately, to the rise of consumer culture. He begins his narrative with the omnibus and horsecar in the 1830s and takes it to the renaissance of urban mass transit at the turn of the 21st century. Post focuses on innovations in the United States as well as worldwide developments. At the heart of the story is the streetcar, a conveyance that played a central role in the development of all U.S. cities and towns. For generations of Americans, streetcars were essential to everyday life. Once dominating the urban landscape in towns and cities throughout the United States, the streetcar has all but disappeared. Post traces its evolution and demise, debunking the urban myth that the downfall of the electric streetcar was directly attributable to the corporate malfeasance of General Motors and others from the automotive world. Post concludes with a meditation on the prospects for mass transit in a postmodern society that must face up to the contradictions of privatized mobility and the reality of dwindling natural resources.

Sustainable Mass Transit: Challenges and Opportunities in Urban Public Transportation, Second Edition highlights the many sustainability solutions and alternatives to fossil fuel usage including renewable energy and efficiency in mass transit, as well as the conservation of materials, water, and air and the overall health of communities. This new edition will update the reader on developments in the field since 2017 and advancements in sustainability solutions. It explores how Environmental Management System frameworks improve environmental performance in the operations, maintenance, design, rehabilitation, and expansion of a mass transportation system. The book covers the numerous types of mass transit systems, looking closely at all their key functions, including operations, maintenance, development, design, building, and retrofitting. It explores the mitigation measures that reduce or eliminate negative environmental impacts, including green infrastructure, materials conservation, ecological conservation, and more. It covers energy, greenhouse gas emissions, toxic pollution and other significant environmental impacts, recycling, and more. It also examines organizational best practices and environmental regulatory constraints and life cycle assessments, describing which sustainable elements can be added while rehabilitating or expanding a mass transportation infrastructure or ancillary facility. The book concludes with a look at forthcoming sustainable initiatives that will enhance mass transit systems. Contains case studies from around the world, including several new case studies from the United States, Canada, Mexico, South America, Europe and Asia Thoroughly updated with four new chapters on The Sustainable Mass Transit Revolution, Relevance of Mass Transit, Environmental Professionals in Transportation, and Reimagining Sustainable Mass Transit Includes a new companion website with assessment questions for educators, image files and video presentations Shows how teams from different fields, entities, agencies and cities can work together to solve complex sustainability challenges

This is the only current and in print book covering the full field of transit systems and technology. Beginning with a history of transit and its role in urban development, the book proceeds to define relevant terms and concepts, and then present detailed coverage of all urban transit modes and the most efficient system designs for each. Including coverage of such integral subjects as travel time, vehicle propulsion, system integration, fully supported with equations and analytical methods, this book is the primary resource for students of transit as well as those professionals who design and operate these key pieces of urban infrastructure.

This volume in the Greenwood Technographies series covers urban mass transit - that is, the technologies that allow cities to move large numbers of people around. Just a few hundred years ago, the size of cities was limited by the time it took people to move from one part of the city to another. The development of successive technologies has forever altered the urban landscape. From horse-drawn omnibuses to subways to current light-rail, this volume highlights the technological and social struggles that have accompanied urbanization and the need for an efficient and cost-effective means of transportation in cities.