CLEANING OUT THE CLOSET
Well, Fall clean-up is upon us, and I just found this old, partially completed entry from May. It is not complete, but it is sort of interesting.
The New York Times had an article about the city's plan to take over management of seven private bus lines that operate under a franchise from the city to provide mass transit services on the fringes of Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. I have not provided a link because the article itself is not very interesting. However, it does highlight a modern remnant of a strange period in the history of our cities.
It turns out that in some of the big cities of the late 19th century, the building of mass transit systems was taken on by private companies. Below is a very brief compare and contrast among three cities in how that worked out. In Chicago you first had the Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad Company, which built on the . . . wait for it . . . South Side. Next came the Lake Street Elevated, which went straight west. So far, so good. Then came the Metropolitan West Side Elevated, which went straight west, then split to serve the Southwest Side (Douglas Park), the west (Garfield Park), and the Northwest Side (Logan Square and Humboldt Park). Some overlap with the Lake Street Elevated, but still generally OK. Next came the unification of track downtown in what was called the Union Loop, and is today just "the Loop." This was a vast service improvement, since previously the various trains ended at terminals outside downtown, and transfers among them were difficult. Finally, the last elevated line in the private company era was by the Northwestern Elevated Railroad Company. This line went to Wilson and Broadway on one branch and Lawrence and Kimball on the other. Again. No problem. Thus, in Chicago there was competition, but very little overlap. Once again, the city that works.
In Boston the story starts in 1631(!) with a ferry from Boston to Charlestown. However, we jump in around 1880. At that time, streetcars had just begun in Boston, and were run by private firms. This led to a situation in which, "over-duplication of existing services, fares were not regulated, and competition for passengers was fierce." Thus, in 1887 the General Court of Massachusetts passed a law consolidating all streetcar lines into a single operation.
The history of New York is at the attached link (hey, I said it was unfinshed).
Of course, one consequence of competition is that there are losers. This can be functioning lines that lost the competition for customers, or private groups that simply could not complete what they had started. Sometimes the losers can be integrated into the unified system. Sometimes, cities are left with strange and interesting materials embedded in their landscapes. Here are links to pages that show some of this material in a variety of cities. These are sometimes failed attempts, sometimes competitive losers, and sometimes simply what is left over when upgrades are made. The pages are generally pretty good: London; New York; Chicago; Boston; Cincinnati; LA; Rochester; and Buffalo.
Well, Fall clean-up is upon us, and I just found this old, partially completed entry from May. It is not complete, but it is sort of interesting.
The New York Times had an article about the city's plan to take over management of seven private bus lines that operate under a franchise from the city to provide mass transit services on the fringes of Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. I have not provided a link because the article itself is not very interesting. However, it does highlight a modern remnant of a strange period in the history of our cities.
It turns out that in some of the big cities of the late 19th century, the building of mass transit systems was taken on by private companies. Below is a very brief compare and contrast among three cities in how that worked out. In Chicago you first had the Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad Company, which built on the . . . wait for it . . . South Side. Next came the Lake Street Elevated, which went straight west. So far, so good. Then came the Metropolitan West Side Elevated, which went straight west, then split to serve the Southwest Side (Douglas Park), the west (Garfield Park), and the Northwest Side (Logan Square and Humboldt Park). Some overlap with the Lake Street Elevated, but still generally OK. Next came the unification of track downtown in what was called the Union Loop, and is today just "the Loop." This was a vast service improvement, since previously the various trains ended at terminals outside downtown, and transfers among them were difficult. Finally, the last elevated line in the private company era was by the Northwestern Elevated Railroad Company. This line went to Wilson and Broadway on one branch and Lawrence and Kimball on the other. Again. No problem. Thus, in Chicago there was competition, but very little overlap. Once again, the city that works.
In Boston the story starts in 1631(!) with a ferry from Boston to Charlestown. However, we jump in around 1880. At that time, streetcars had just begun in Boston, and were run by private firms. This led to a situation in which, "over-duplication of existing services, fares were not regulated, and competition for passengers was fierce." Thus, in 1887 the General Court of Massachusetts passed a law consolidating all streetcar lines into a single operation.
The history of New York is at the attached link (hey, I said it was unfinshed).
Of course, one consequence of competition is that there are losers. This can be functioning lines that lost the competition for customers, or private groups that simply could not complete what they had started. Sometimes the losers can be integrated into the unified system. Sometimes, cities are left with strange and interesting materials embedded in their landscapes. Here are links to pages that show some of this material in a variety of cities. These are sometimes failed attempts, sometimes competitive losers, and sometimes simply what is left over when upgrades are made. The pages are generally pretty good: London; New York; Chicago; Boston; Cincinnati; LA; Rochester; and Buffalo.
posted by David at 9:15 AM
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