Introduction

Abstract

Suddenly, public transit is a critical issue. For decades, the private car has seemed the ideal tool for free and spontaneous travel, and in rural areas and many small towns, that will continue to be true. But all over the world, people are moving into cities, and great cities just don’t have room for everyone’s car. Meanwhile, the converging threats of climate change and the end of cheap oil are forcing a new assessment of how cities work. Public transit—the most efficient means for large numbers of people to move freely within cities—is an essential tool in that effort. Today, even Los Angeles, a city that is world famous for its extreme dependence on cars, is scrambling to grow its transit system as fast as it can manage.¹