Sociology of Public Transportation

What is the Sociology of Public Transportation?

In this section we analyze the sociology of transportation in Los Angeles, covering the following areas:

Distributional Impacts

The social impacts of public transportation follow as a direct result of public transport's growth from an ecological viewpoint. Transportation was viewed by transit owners and city planners alike as a "moral influence" in removing people from the deleterious environment of central cities (Tarr, 1973; MacShane, 1975; Warner, 1976; cited in Yago, 1983). The social function of transportation in reducing social conflict in local politics through spatial dispersion of the urban working population was widely recognized (Gordon, 1978; Katznelson, 1981; cited in Yago, 1983).

• Access to transportation - distributional impacts of physical mobility upon social mobility
• Unequal transportation services promote distance barriers
• Private transport creates spatial limits to mobility

Social Interaction

As travel time increases, time spent in familial interaction, especially childrearing activities, decreases. This may influence both affective relations within the family (e.g. marital stress or divorce) and learning behavior among children (Lansing and Hendricks, 1967; cited in Yago, 1983).

• Promoting a sense of identity - autonomy and control
• Stress and tension caused by transportation
• Motorization isolates urban travelers from community life

Socioeconomic Effects

• Time-cost expenditures in the journey to work vary according to socioeconomic characteristics
• The separation of workplace from place of residence & the necessity of the automobile
• Automobiles as the principal mode of travel
• Flexibility afforded by automobiles reduces residential mobility and increases job mobility