The very first transportation was with the horse. Then someone came up with the idea to pair a horse up with a buggy. Now four to six people could be carried at one time. These horse and buggies began to be common sight in cities and public transportation was born. Before the horse and buggy people were confined to the distance they could walk, so cities could not grow much. People lived in the central business district because that is where they worked. Now with the simple horse and buggy, people that can afford the transportation can move a mile or two out of the central city (Guathier 174).

The big explosion of growth and increased ridership came at the turn of the century. The cause of this explosion was the electric streetcars that were insta

The scare of the oil embargo and the environmental concerns that the public had did throw some support back toward public transportation. More policy began to focus toward the need for public transit. Two major acts were passed in the 70's that were focused on the improvement of public transportation.

During the 1980's public transportation received little or no help. President Reagan's block grant system allowed local governments to disperse federal assistance money (Smerk 189). This put transit authorities up against sewage and highways in the fight for federal dollars. Reagan did not look well upon public transportation in the first place (Smerk 194). With the inflated federal budget, cuts had to be made and those cuts fell on public transportation. Instead of money allocated based on need of a given area, money was allocated based on population of cities (Smerk 205). This gave basically the same amount of money to cities with little public transportation as cities with a large network of public transit.

Public transportation shaped the way we lived during the beginning of the century. Transit made suburbs the place to be. Then as automobiles grabbed the hearts of Americans, public transportation fell out of the public light. Government killed public transportation with the aid toward the federal highways. Then government never helped out public transportation in the way it pushed along highways. Public transportation will continue but it needs the help of federal aid to improve and expand.

The National Mass Transportation Assistance Act of 1974 raised the level of federal funds allocated for public transportation. The act also encouraged the experimentation of fare-free transportation (Smerk 140). The Surface Transportation Act of 1978 was the other act passed in the 70's. This act once again raised the amount of money allocated for public transportation. One of the major differences in the Surface Act was the focus toward money pin-pointed for light rail. The act also set aside money for universities to study transportation. Provisions for environmental studies were also added to the 1978 act (Smerk 160-161).

Some common words found in the essay are:
Urban Transportation, Urban Mass, War II, San Francisco, President Reagan's, Toman Hays, Surface Act, Highway Act, Los Angeles, public transportation, II American, light rail, federal aid, public transit, federal money, transportation act, act 1956, money allocated, guathier 175, money spent, federal money spent, allocated public transportation, mass transportation act, public transportation act, transportation act 1956,
Approximate Word count = 3094
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)