Flutterby™! : Back of the Bus

Back of the Bus

2011-02-02 00:00:18.485186+00 by Dan Lyke 2 comments

Back of the Bus: Mass transit, race and inequality. As I've said before, if you start to look at actual energy costs of mass transit a lot of places we've implemented it in the United States make no sense, but if you look at it as a matter of income redistribution and social engineering the blocks start to fall into place. This piece looks a bit at the intersection of urban planning, race, and bus routes.

[ related topics: Interactive Drama Public Transportation ]

comments in descending chronological order (reverse):

#Comment Re: made: 2011-02-06 14:29:56.301678+00 by: Dan Lyke

Thanks. I need to find more on the light rail and crime, because that's the rationale that caused Marin to vote against BART, and it seems like areas around BART in the east bay are more expensive, that it raises property values there.

#Comment Re: made: 2011-02-05 13:22:51.418347+00 by: radix

Just two things to add about this article, both related to MARTA.

I've lived in Atlanta since 1988, I know of which I speak, although some of it is from talking to others.

The aversion of the exurbs to MARTA is not just based on race, it's based on crime. When the N6 MARTA station at Lenox was being proposed, there was a big pushback, with businesses objecting that it would bring crime. They were excoriated as racists. They built the station, crime spiked in the area.
Clayton County went from majority white to majority black because the black mayor and city council closed multiple housing projects and basically moved the people to Clayton County. This was in preparation for the 1996 Olympics. Of course there was a lot of cooperation at the state level. They basically outsourced their housing projects and a good portion of the underclass to another city and county.