Motorization Isolates Urban Travelers from Community life

How Does Motorization Isolate Urban Travelers from Community life?

Though much research on the social psychological dimensions of urban transportation remains to be done, evidence suggests that the way urban space is usually partitioned today may have resulted in the social isolation of the workplace from community life, the "invisibility" of the elderly and the young, and the erosion of social cohesion in neighborhoods. Manville notes that "while transit can also allow for encounters between people of different classes, this doesn't happen if the transit lines are segregated socio-economically."

Today, community interests appear to be perceived as separate from workplace concerns; the primacy of private over public life weakens political participation; and the socialization of children in isolation from diverse income, age, and social groups weakens the sense of belonging to a broad community. Motorization and transportation-related changes appear to have narrowed the diversity of urban experience, separating communities and workplaces and insulating urban travelers from the world in-between (Yago, 1983).

Amy Ford, however, feels that the social interaction promoted by Los Angeles public transit exceeds that of private transport. "I think especially compared with the aggressiveness that we observe among automobile drivers on LA roads, transit is a great facilitator of social interaction. Whether this is simply awareness of people from other income classes or ethnic groups, or actually meeting and chatting with fellow riders, it is a social interaction that you don't see in other places."

At the same time, however, Dr. Ortner notes that for the purpose of reaching the locations of social activities, the automobile takes precedence in Los Angeles over public transit because the activities are often so dispersed. "Public transportation is necessary for the poor and working class in the Los Angeles area. Generally, for social trips, those with access to a car will use it for social purposes because of the dispersed location of activities in this area."