Excerpt from The Fundamentals of Transit Planning for Cities

In a modern city street railways are as essential as the homes of the people and the buildings in which they work. They are the connecting link between the two. They carry the people to work in the morning and bring them home again at night. They transport them to and from their shops, heir friends and their amusements. They are the chief means of circulating and distributing the city's population. In all of their social and economic activities the people are dependent upon their street railway service. They have become so accustomed to such service that they accept it as a matter of course, and lose all sense of its vital importance to the community.

If the city is to prosper and is to grow, its municipal transportation facilities must constantly develop and expand. To utilize these carriers in its best interest, the city should own and control them. To be able to develop, expand and utilize its facilities properly, the city first must know the fundamental requirements of transit planning. When should the facilities be provided? Are they conveniently accessible? Are they sufficiently extensive? How should the facilities be owned? How should they be operated? These are important matters which every city should know. Every city should compel the development, the extension and operation of its transportation lines in such a manner as will best serve its needs.

The Evolution of The Transit Art

At the outset it is interesting to consider briefly the evolution of the transit art. Starting with the horse-car line city transit is now ninety years old.

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