Mass Transit and Happiness

Arnold Kling

By Arnold Kling, Aug 16 2004

Peter Gordon reports on declining use of mass transit.

As a group, the 20 largest U.S. metro areas declined in transit use (all trip purposes; thank you, Wendell Cox) in the 1990s. Not relative decline but absolute decline.

As a group the areas with new (post-WWII) metros (San Francisco, Washington, DC, Atlanta and Miami) lost even more transit users than the group of 20.

Yet, according to Robert Frank, we would all be happier if we rode mass transit.

For Discussion. What factors account for the decline in mass transit use? Is it due to flaws in public policy or to consumer preference?

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Mass Transit and Happiness

Arnold Kling

Peter Gordon reports on declining use of mass transit. As a group, the 20 largest U.S. metro areas declined in transit use (all trip purposes; thank you, Wendell Cox) in the 1990s. Not relative decline but absolute decline. As a group the areas with new (post-WWII) metros (San Francisco, Washington, DC, Atlanta and M...

Mass Transit and Happiness

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