Trains Planes & Automobiles

Reading the history of transportation gives you a sense of adventure and a dose of reality.  Progress was made because all forms of transportation had to compete to advance and survive.

Horses

Indirect evidence shows that man started using a horse as far back as 6000 BC. However, it is believed that horseback riding may have begun around 4500 BC. Horse drawings existed as early as 3000 BC. Horse-pulled chariot carvings seen in caves can also be traced to the Bronze Age.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equestrianism   I miss horseback riding and would like to have horse paths next to the bike lanes.

Bikes

There are several early, but unverified, claims for the invention of bicycle-like machines. The earliest comes from a sketch said to be from 1493 and attributed to Gian Giacomo Caprotti. The first bike was patented in Germany in 1818. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_bicycle

Trains

The first steam engine was delivered to America from England in 1753 and was set up to pump water from mines.  Over the next hundred years, engineers and inventors continued to develop the steam engine to replace the water wheel, windmill and the covered wagon. The development of the coal-fired, piston driving steam engine made it possible In 1869, the railroad connecting the east and west coast was completed in Utah.  http://www.sdrm.org/history/timeline/

Public Transit Trains

Work toward the New York passenger transit system began in 1869 and continued to develop with elevated and underground systems completed in 1904. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_Subway

Royal Bus Lines began operating on Buford highway in Chamblee and Doraville a few years ago.  Their  $1.50 per fare is cheaper than MARTA  Royal Bus Lines transports about 60,000 riders monthly and yields more than $1 million annually before expenses.  Cobb and Clayton county should look at Royal Bus Lines and this private bus service should look toward providing bus service where possible in these counties.

http://profilingatlantatransportation.wordpress.com/2011/11/27/buford-highway-and-the-royal-bus-lines/

Private Passenger Trains

Passenger Trains were in use and largely operated by private sector corporations. I remember the train ride from St. Louis Missouri to College Station Texas in 1945.

Freight Trains

As passenger train demand declined, freight handling technology advanced resulting in more freight train business. Pods and automation allow more freight and easier handling at shipyards for export.  Like river barge traffic, heavy loads are cheaper to ship by train. 

Air Balloons

The first untethered, manned flight was in 1783 in Paris, France. It was in a hot air balloon made of paper and silk made by the Montgolfier brothers. The balloon carried two men.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_air_balloon

Airplanes

In 1804, Sir George Cayley began experiments that turned into the study of aerodynamics.  In 1903, the Wright brothers tested their airplane design and built The Flyer in 1904.  Also in 1904, Professor Ludwig Prandtl continued Caley’s work on aerodynamics and by 1910 planes were flying http://www.greatachievements.org/?id=3728

Automobiles

Steam engine powered automobile development began in 1789 and continued to 1886 with the introduction of Karl Benz’ Motorwagon. The gasoline engine came to pass in 1888. In 1908, Henry Ford offered the Model T, a $500 automobile most people could afford. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_automobile

Buses

Horse-drawn buses were used from the 1820s, followed by steam buses in the 1830s, and electric trolleybuses in 1882. The first internal combustion engine buses, or motor buses, were used in 1895. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus

Many U.S. cities established public transit buses for commuters.  The cross-country bus business remains largely private.  In-town commuter bus service remains largely public, Private bus systems are competitive and feared by the public transit employees.

Public Transit Should be Private or Brake-Even

One problem with public transit is cost.  Buses cost millions and trains cost billions to build and more billions to maintain.  These train cars and buses are often empty and outlandish subsidies are required to build, maintain and operate them. These costs include pension costs and these are labor-intensive operations.

Another problem with public transit is that it is a politically protected government monopoly.  It is subject to transit unions, extortion, walk-offs and strikes.  We were in Rome Italy in 2003 at St. Peters square on Christmas Eve when the transit employees decided to shut down the trains and buses to go home for Christmas. Our hotel was 15 miles away. The Temperature was dropping and bedding down inside the nativity scene was tempting, but we walked 2 blocks and found a hotel.

All transportation should be private or operate on a brake-even basis. Public bus service should not be protected, it should be sold to private operators.  Amtrak subsidies should be eliminated. 

Cities, counties and states need to look into privatizing all transportation to remove subsidies. Government should get out of anything the private sector can do better and cheaper. Government makes everything it touches more expensive and that has to stop.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader