Transportation

• Main Author: Lieb, Robert C (Author)
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: Reston, Va. Reston Pub. Co. 1985; ©1985
• Edition: 3rd edition
• Subjects: Transportation > United States; Transportation and state > United States
• Online Access: Click Here to View Status and Holdings.

 Our nation's transportation system has a pervasive impact on each of us. It not only influences our personal mobility and the prices that we pay for goods and services, but is also a major determinant of where we choose to live and work. At the same time, individuals affect the transportation system through such actions as their purchase of transportation services and their ever-increasing commitment to the automobile. In turn, automobile use has significant implications with respect to contemporary concerns involving pollution, congestion, and energy conservation. Although this two-directional pattern of influence is quite meaningful in terms of the realization of both personal and national goals, the transportation system and its operations are little understood by the general public. Historically, the public has tended to take the existence of transportation services for granted, and public interest has only been stimulated by such incidents as carrier bankruptcies, strikes, or accidents. However, in recent years public awareness of transportation issues seems to have increased as our national transportation problems have been more widely publicized. One often hears such questions as: If a railroad declares bankruptcy, why doesn't the federal government allow it to be liquidated, rather than waste taxpayers' money keeping it alive? Or, why doesn't our local transit company buy some new equipment, increase service, and ower fares to attract additional passengers?