Evolution of Public Transit
Evolution of Public Transit
The ecological impacts of public transportation are realized when we examine the influence of a public transport network on urbanization. Urbanization requires the coordination and geographical concentration of specialized economic activities. Population concentration and coordination between urban centers is influenced by changes in transportation and communication technology (Yago, 1983, 172). At first, populations in urban centers such as Los Angeles are formed via inter-regional transportation such as canals (the LA basin), railroads, and highways, after which the population tends to disperse as centralized economic activities spill over into broader metropolitan regions through further intra-urban transportation developments such as streetcar electrification, or in the case of Los Angeles, the advent of automobiles (Yago, 1983, 172).
Technological advances in transportation have made it possible for Los Angeles to participate more in inter-regional economies, which has spurred the growth of the urban population (Berry and Garrison, 1958; Berry, 1979; Isard, 1960; Berry and Horton, 1970; cited in Yago, 1983). Historically, such transportation changes have promoted urban expansion and the evolution of a national urban system (Pred, 1974; cited in Yago, 1983). As one mode of transportation reached its technological limits in extending urban space, another would take its place.
The urban form of Los Angeles has evolved from pedestrian city to streetcar suburb and now to auto metropolis as a result of advances in motive power. Across the nation, branch lines of horse-drawn trolleys, electrical trams, and steam railways extended and created a star-shaped, axial pattern of urban growth. Later, automobiles developed the spaces between the axes of this star-shaped pattern, developing a circular urban structure. Central city congestion then encouraged residential and industrial decentralization (Park, 1952, 171-77; McKenzie, 1968, 9-18; Hawley, 1950, 382-85; Hawley, 1970, 242-45; cited in Yago, 1983). As a result, Los Angeles is surrounded by sprawled out neighborhoods that are reachable primarily by automobile and bus lines, with higher-income neighborhoods lacking the latter and poverty-stricken areas depending on them. The continuous extension of urban boundaries has increased the need for transportation along the urban periphery (Yago, 1983).