Straphanger : Saving our Cities and ourselves from the Automobile
Taras Grescoe rides the rails all over the world and makes an elegant and impassioned case for the imminent end of car culture and the coming transportation revolution. "I am proud to call myself a straphanger," writes Taras Grescoe. The perception of public transportation in America is often unflattering--a squalid last resort for those with one too many drunk-driving charges, too poor to afford insurance, or too decrepit to get behind the wheel of a car. Indeed, a century of auto-centric culture and city planning has left most of the country with public transportation that is underfunded, ill maintained, and ill conceived. But as the demand for petroleum is fast outpacing the world's supply, a revolution in transportation is under way. Grescoe explores the ascendance of the straphangers--the growing number of people who rely on public transportation to go about the business of their daily lives. On a journey that takes him around the world--from New York to Moscow, Paris, Copenhagen, Tokyo, Bogotá, Phoenix, Portland, Vancouver, and Philadelphia--Grescoe profiles public transportation here and abroad, highlighting the people and ideas that may help undo the damage that car-centric planning has done to our cities and create convenient, affordable, and sustainable urban transportation--and better city living--for all
x, 322 s. : maps ; 25 cm
9780805091731, 0805091734
828860095
Prologue
Shanghai, Kina. Introduction
Confesions of a Straphanger. The Subway that Time Forgot
New York, USA. Only Connect
Los Angeles, USA. The Highway to Hell
Phoenix, USA. The Copenhagen Syndrom
Copenhagen, Denmark. Fools and Roads
Moscow, Russia. City of Trains
Tokyo, Japan. The Revenge of the Loser Cruiser
Bogota, Columbia. Good Bones
Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, British Columbia. The Next Great City
Philadelphia, USA. Conclusion
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Prologue. Shanghai, Kina
Introduction. Confesions of a Straphanger
The Subway that Time Forgot. New York, USA
Only Connect. Los Angeles, USA
The Highway to Hell. Phoenix, USA
The Salvation of Paris
The Copenhagen Syndrom. Copenhagen, Denmark
Fools and Roads. Moscow, Russia
City of Trains. Tokyo, Japan
The Revenge of the Loser Cruiser. Bogota, Columbia
Good Bones. Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, British Columbia
The Next Great City. Philadelphia, USA
Conclusion. Montreal, Quebec, Canada