Planning Public Mass Transportation

Well planned and operated public transportation offers a major means of overcoming the chronic and growing urban traffic congestion problem. Future forms of urban development can assume several patterns, prominent among them being the fusion of nearby cities or metropolitan areas to form superregions. Public transit has a complementary role to that of the private automobile, and can function most effectively at times and places of peak volume demands. A wide variety of transit techniques and facility types are available in urban planning, and important new ones are on the horizon or in process of current development. The transportation planning process is outlined. The background, bases, and types of federal programs of assistance to urban transportation are examined. Important current transit developments and federal demonstration grants are noted. The Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 is specifically outlined. Potential public transportation planning development techniques and facilities of the future are reviewed.