Ok this is isn't bike related. But it does have some Jacksonville transit ties.
Taken for a Ride is an amazing documentary by Jim Kleina and Martha Olson that documents the efforts to derail mass transit in America.
Ever wonder why the U.S. has the worst mass transportation system in the industrialized world? Using historical footage and investigative research, this film tells how GM fought to push freeways into the inner cities of America, and push public transportation out. More Info at New Day Films.
11 comments:
i'd argue cycling and transit are inextricably linked -- so this movie, i would argue, has everything to do with cycling. cars rose in cities, in part, because there were no other options when the streetcars were killed off/died. cars, of course, prevent bicycle use.
Wow. Thanks for posting this!
It's a "Salt of the Earth" for transit-types.
Thanks so much for posting this. It paints a pretty bleak picture, but makes it clear that we can't just leave it to the free market to have our best interests in mind. We need to take action, and in cases where it would be unprofitable to run transit systems (which, it appears, is the case in general for urban rail systems nationwide), than the government needs to step in and provide the service. That's one of the things government is for: to provide the services that would not be profitable in the free market, but that people need anyway.
Peter is right. This is about bicycles. Cycling will never be safe until the private auto is brought to heel. Do you want your children cycling on city streets with only a white line to protect them? Make transit free and we will be safer. Free Public Transit
Cars don't prevent bicycle use. Being scared of cars prevents bicycle use. Sharing the road with cars is not dangerous. It is nothing to be afraid of. I do it for hours everyday. Keep your eyes and ears open and obey the rules. You'll be fine. Cycling is safe now.
"At the moment, crashes caused by negligent drivers often are recorded in sketchy “aided reports.” More detailed MV-104 reports are only filed when there is physical contact between cyclist and motor vehicle. This often leaves injured cyclists with little recourse to compensation."
StreetsBlog
Common guys. Read the following before you rush to judgement about conspiracy theories: http://www.upa.pdx.edu/CUS/publications/docs/DP98-11.pdf
C'mon guys. Read the following before you rush to judgement about conspiracy theories: Kennedy, 60 Minutes, and Roger Rabbit: Understanding Conspiracy-Theory Explanations of The Decline of Urban Mass Transit
"If Alfred Sloane were alive today he'd love Los Angeles"... well, it brightens me up just a tiny bit to think that his feelings would be a bit more mixed. Not that he'd have a "come to Jesus moment" about the disaster he created, but at least he'd have to face the very hard fact that LA is dominated by foreign-made cars.
A double irony being that these car were designed and built in places where mass transit *is* very, very healthy.
+1 for Scott -- I had heard references to this myth-busting in Smogtown: The Lung-Burning History of Pollution in Los Angeles by Chip Jacobs and William J. Kelly. Until then, I had accepted the GM/streetcar demise as fact...but there's a lot more to the story.
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