The Evolution of Transportation and the Shaping of America

The Evolution of Transportation and

the Shaping of America

Norman W. GarrickLecture 1CE 2710

The Role of Transportation

Transportation is an essential backbone of modern society, bringing goods to market and

allowing people to have access to work, services and recreation

The Role of TransportationTransportation is often not an end unto itself,

but is rather a way to satisfy social or economic goals.

As planners and designers of transportation systems, it is crucial to always keep in mind the primacy of these social and economic goals and remember

that transportation is about more than simply mobility.

The Role of Transportationit is useful to consider that transportation is about access

Mobility is one way of achieving access

The Evolution of Transportation

It’s easy to overlook the crucial role that transportation plays in shaping how we live today.

But an historic review shows how the evolution of transportation has shaped where we live and how we live

As transportation technology has evolved the fortunes of whole regions have been altered and

the structure and physical extent of our cities have been shaped and re-shaped

The Early 1800sSlow Going By Land and Sea

At the turn of the 1800s the only options for long distance travel on land was SLOW - no more that 7 mph –

either by horse or coach for people and by horse-drawn wagon for goods.

Goods from the Midwest were shipped down the Mississippi to New Orleans and then by sailing ships to

east coast ports like Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore.

Consequently, all the important cities of the time were those that had advantageous locations on rivers or on the ocean.

The Early 1800sThe Steamboat

In 1811, the coming of the steamboat turned the counterclockwise trade into a two way system by allowing travel up the river.

Also in that year the National Road was built, which provided a route over the Appalachian Mountains linking the Ohio River to the

Potomac.

http://blog.insidetheapple.net/2010/08/robert-fulton-and-age-of-steam.html

1815 to 1835The Canal Era

The next great leap forward was the construction of the Erie Canal, which linked the Great Lakes at Buffalo to the Hudson River and

hence to New York City and to Europe beyond.

www.britannica.com

Barge near the western end of

the Erie Canal, New York, mid-1800s.



The Erie Canal helped cement New York City’s place as the pre-eminent American city – as it became the gateway to the riches of

the American Midwest.

http://www.eriecanal.org/Syracuse.html

The Erie Canal also contributed to the prosperity of many cities

in the upper tier of New York State


Many of the canals built following the success of the Erie Canal turned out to be unprofitable and the canal

era was quickly superseded by the next leap in

technology – the steam railroad.

Farmington Canal

Circa 1825 The Coming of the Iron Horse

Rail transportation is centuries old - a flanged wheel on rail is a very efficient way of moving large loads when the grade is very gentle.

The wagonways of Germany C1550

Circa 1825 The Coming of the Iron Horse

The stream train came about with the invention of the locomotive steam engine by George Stephenson in England in 1814.

The steam train quickly caught on in America with a popular passenger rail service running alongside the Erie Canal by 1827. By

the 1850s the canal was almost totally eclipsed by rail travel.

Gold in California

… but how to get there?

There were two miserable choices. The sea route around the tip of South America that often

took more than six months. But the alternative wasn't much better -- a 2,000 mile

walk across the barren American outback.

http://www.pbs.org/goldrush/journey.html

The Pony Express“Fast” Mail Service to the West

From St. Joseph, Mo to Sacramento, Ca

2000 miles

Fastest Delivery: under 7

days

1860 to 1861

The Pony Express

Wanted. Young, skinny, wiry fellows. Not over 18.

Must be expert riders.

Willing to risk death daily.

Orphans preferred.

The 1860sThe Transcontinental Railroad

Planning started in 1838

Construction in 1863

The 1860sThe Transcontinental Railroad

May 10 1869 – The two railroads met at Promontory

Point, Utah

US Rail Road System 1870

http://users.humboldt.edu/ogayle/hist111/industrial.html

Chicago and the RailroadsIn some ways the Erie Canal made NYC what it is today

The railroads played a similar role for Chicago

The Railroad and Time

Before the railroad there was no need for time zones

Each city had its own ‘sun’ time

At 12:00 noon in Hartford it was already 12:02 in Storrs

Unified time zones were put in place in 1883

The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Co 1929

www.middletownplanning.com/images/historic/1929_CT_Rail_Map.gif

The Mid-1950sThe peak of rail travel was in the 1940s. In the 1950s and 60s rail passenger rail travel decreased precipitously with the increased prominence of both automobile and air travel.

Since the 1990s this decline has turned around and there is a slow increase in rail travel in the USA - especially for city travel, for commuting and for longer distance travel in places like the Northeast and California.

Rail continues to be important for freight transportation.

Transportation in CitiesWhile rail transportation helped to knit the country together, it also changed the structure of American cities.

Although the steam engine found some limited use for urban transportation, it was the development of the electric railroad in 1888 which lead to a revolution in urban transportation. The electric railroad replaced horse drawn rail cars in cities around the country.

Larger cities such as London, New York and Paris developed subway systems, while other cities worldwide developed extensive tram or streetcar systems.

The London Undergroundthe first subway - 1863

Chicago “El” C 1907

Street Cars in Hartford1863

connecticuthistory.org/a-revolution-in-horse-power-the-hartford-wethersfield-horse-railroad-goes-electric/

Street Cars in Hartford1888

connecticuthistory.org/a-revolution-in-horse-power-the-hartford-wethersfield-horse-railroad-goes-electric/

Street Cars King Street, Jamaica (c 1900)

www.tramz.com/jm/ki.html

The Late-1800sTransportation in Cities

With this faster, more convenient mode of travel, cities were able to expand beyond their old boundaries. For example, workers in New York City were able to live in Connecticut and Northern New Jersey with the coming of commuter rail connecting their suburbs to the city. In America, a system of ‘electric interurban’ connected almost all urban areas from Connecticut to Illinois. In southern California, the Pacific Electric Railroad ‘red cars’ connected cities in Los Angeles and Orange Counties.

By the mid-1950’s, most streetcars and trams in American cities had been decommissioned and replaced by bus transit. The decrease in rail travel for urban travel began to turn around by the mid 1990s with the development of new rail systems in over 50 American cities.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

End of the LA Red Cars

The Evolution of Transportation and the Shaping of America

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