Because they genuinely are a contributing factor to the problems of income inequality and gentrification, along with the long running corruption of the government and defense spending.

Let's turn back time to the 1950's.

America is riding high. We're King Shit of Fuck Mountain. Every economy but ours is stuck rebuilding from the war and will be for years to come. And what do we decide to do? We build suburbs. A LOT of suburbs. Malls. Airports. Jetliners. Highways. Cars.

Ford and GM, collaborating with Standard Oil and the Pentagon, get a little bit cocky. Collectively they conspire to buy up and put out of business hundreds of metro mass transit systems (mostly streetcars, intraurban rails, and electrified buses). The car makers want to make cars as fashionable as clothes; they want to see a new car in every driveway every two years, annually if possible. The Pentagon wants EVERY FUCKING CITIZEN to be able to get out of the cities before the bombs hit. And the oil companies, well, just want to sell a lot of oil.

By the 70's the first signs of trouble are beginning to appear. The mass proliferation of cars and urban sprawl without effective mass transit is beginning to show in overloaded roads. Office parks start appearing, accelerating in the 80's, on the outskirts of suburbs causing an urban ring and the rapid collapse of the inner city as old, high employment heavy industries collapse or offshore.

Cities bifurcated into those top few that had been able to retain their mass transit systems in defiance of the conspiracy to end them, and those that didn't. Buses are not as effective as dedicated rail systems. They don't move people fast enough, or in large enough quantities, to deter cars. Instead, they simply become an option for the poor (and inevitably earn a reputation as such).

Today, it's basically too late to fix. Any effort to add electrified mass transit where the provisions for it doesn't already exist is essentially doomed by litigation and land prices.

In some large cities, the process has repeated again, causing another urban ring of post 90's construction. Minneapolis for example has urban ring elements at the 494, and another all the fuck way out at Burnsville.

Because they genuinely are a contributing factor to the problems of income inequality and gentrification, along with the long running corruption of the government and defense spending.

Let's turn back time to the 1950's.

America is riding high. We're King Shit of Fuck Mountain. Every economy but ours is stuck rebuilding from the war and will be for years to come. And what do we decide to do? We build suburbs. A LOT of suburbs. Malls. Airports. Jetliners. Highways. Cars.

Ford and GM, collaborating with Standard Oil and the Pentagon, get a little bit cocky. Collectively they conspire to buy up and put out of business hundreds of metro mass transit systems (mostly streetcars, intraurban rails, and electrified buses). The car makers want to make cars as fashionable as clothes; they want to see a new car in every driveway every two years, annually if possible. The Pentagon wants EVERY FUCKING CITIZEN to be able to get out of the cities before the bombs hit. And the oil companies, well, just want to sell a lot of oil.

By the 70's the first signs of trouble are beginning to appear. The mass proliferation of cars and urban sprawl without effective mass transit is beginning to show in overloaded roads. Exurban office parks start appearing, accelerating in the 80's, on the outskirts of suburbs causing a second urban ring and the rapid collapse of the inner city as old, high employment heavy industries collapse or offshore.

Cities bifurcated into those top few that had been able to retain their mass transit systems in defiance of the conspiracy to end them, and those that didn't. Buses are not as effective as dedicated rail systems. They don't move people fast enough, or in large enough quantities, to deter cars. Instead, they simply become an option for the poor (and inevitably earn a reputation as such).

Today, it's basically too late to fix. Any effort to add electrified mass transit where the provisions for it doesn't already exist is essentially doomed by litigation and land prices.

In some large cities, the process has repeated again, causing another exurban ring of post 90's construction. Minneapolis for example has exurban ring elements at the 494, and another all the fuck way out at Burnsville.

Because they genuinely are a contributing factor to the problems of income inequality and gentrification, along with the long running corruption of the government and defense spending.

Let's turn back time to the 1950's.

America is riding high. We're King Shit of Fuck Mountain. Every economy but ours is stuck rebuilding from the war and will be for years to come. And what do we decide to do? We build suburbs. A LOT of suburbs. Malls. Airports. Jetliners. Highways. Cars.

Ford and GM, collaborating with Standard Oil and the Pentagon, get a little bit cocky. Collectively they conspire to buy up and put out of business hundreds of metro mass transit systems (mostly streetcars, intraurban rails, and electrified buses). The car makers want to make cars as fashionable as clothes; they want to see a new car in every driveway every two years, annually if possible. The Pentagon wants EVERY FUCKING CITIZEN to be able to get out of the cities before the bombs hit. And the oil companies, well, just want to sell a lot of oil.

By the 70's the first signs of trouble are beginning to appear. The mass proliferation of cars and urban sprawl without effective mass transit is beginning to show in overloaded roads. Exurban office parks start appearing, accelerating in the 80's, on the outskirts of suburbs causing a second urban ring and the rapid collapse of the inner city as old, high employment heavy industries collapse or offshore.

Cities bifurcated into those top few that had been able to retain their mass transit systems in defiance of the conspiracy to end them, and those that didn't. Buses are not as effective as dedicated rail systems. They don't move people fast enough, or in large enough quantities, to deter cars. Instead, they simply become an option for the poor (and inevitably earn a reputation as such).

Today, it's basically too late to fix. Any effort to add electrified mass transit where the provisions for it doesn't already exist is essentially doomed by litigation and land prices.

In some large cities, the process has repeated again, causing a THIRD exurban ring. Minneapolis for example has exurban ring elements at the 494, and another all the fuck way out at Burnsville.

Because they genuinely are a contributing factor to the problems of income inequality and gentrification, along with the long running corruption of the government and defense spending.

Let's turn back time to the 1950's.

America is riding high. We're King Shit of Fuck Mountain. Every economy but ours is stuck rebuilding from the war and will be for years to come. And what do we decide to do? We build suburbs. A LOT of suburbs. Malls. Airports. Jetliners. Highways. Cars.

Ford and GM, collaborating with Standard Oil and the Pentagon, get a little bit cocky. Collectively they conspire to buy up and put out of business hundreds of metro mass transit systems (mostly streetcars, intraurban rails, and electrified buses). The car makers want to make cars as fashionable as clothes; they want to see a new car in every driveway every two years, annually if possible. The Pentagon wants EVERY FUCKING CITIZEN to be able to get out of the cities before the bombs hit. And the oil companies, well, just want to sell a lot of oil.

By the 70's the first signs of trouble are beginning to appear. The mass proliferation of cars and urban sprawl without effective mass transit is beginning to show in overloaded roads. Exurban office parks start appearing, accelerating in the 80's, on the outskirts of suburbs causing a second urban ring and the rapid collapse of the inner city as old, high employment heavy industries collapse or offshore.

Cities bifurcated into those top few that had been able to retain their mass transit systems in defiance of the conspiracy to end them, and those that didn't. Buses are not as effective as dedicated rail systems. They don't move people fast enough, or in large enough quantities, to deter cars. Instead, they simply become an option for the poor (and inevitably earn a reputation as such).

Today, it's basically too late to fix. Any effort to add electrified mass transit where the provisions for it doesn't already exist is essentially doomed by litigation and land prices.