The best Mass Transit books: crowd reviews

From 3.5 billion comments

If you want the whole story, read the book https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FU997S2/

TL;DR multiple attempts to get local funding for a transit system in the 60s and 70s failed, so we missed out on the round of federal funds that built BART, WMATA, and MARTA. Before that, fare caps and increasing automobile traffic bankrupted the private operators, and due to poor maintenance, people saw the switch to buses as an improvement. Other big events while the current Red Line was under construction include the Ross Dress for Less explosion in 1985 (which caused tunneling west of Western to be banned) and the Hollywood Boulevard sinkhole in 1996ish that caused funding for new subways to be blocked.

The NYtimes of course tries to put this on the gig economy, but lines like this:

> Medallions, which grant the right to operate a taxi in New York City, were now depreciating assets and drivers who had borrowed money to pay for them, once a sound investment strategy, were deeply in debt.

hint at just how profoundly artificially constructed the entire taxi industry was, in ways deliberately designed from the start to create capital functions that otherwise would not have existed. The existing industry was a goddamn feudalistic shitshow before predatory monopolistic middlemen like Uber came along.

I strongly encourage everyone to read https://www.amazon.com/Taxi-Cabs-Capitalism-York-City/dp/0801474396 a book by a labor organizer who worked in the taxi industry in new york.

This is the cover of The Soviet Bus Stops book. The only purchace I've ever made on amazon and it was definetly worth it. Appearantly bus stops was one of the few opportunities architechts got to really express themselfs and it made for some really interesting designs. Highly recommend it.

Definitely recommend you check it out! A cute little store that is essentially 100% maps (historic and current), mostly of the Boston and New England area. I believe they are open again as well post-pandemic. It's about half-way between Porter and Harvard

As for the book: Transit Maps of the World by Mark Ovenden. A great compendium of all things graphic transit map.

The creator of these maps is a Redditor, /u/barnhill808. Solid work; I’ve spent thousands of miles on trails but this was the first map I’ve seen done like this. I love it.

If you like this kind of thing, here’s a book that collects hundreds of them together.

I have this book 'transit maps of the world' with the subway systems of cities around the world. Its interesting to see how some smaller cities have relatively elaborate systems and some major cities have very little.

https://www.amazon.com/Transit-Maps-World-Worlds-Collection/dp/0143112651

The Soviets also liked to show off their bus stops.

This is a more speculative post than we usually see from Mr. Elkind. Would recommend his book - https://www.amazon.com/Railtown-Fight-Angeles-Metro-Future/dp/0520278275 - for those who are interested

Amazon sells all three. For a little over 20 each.

Link to first book here

I'm all about transit maps. I recently went into an Amazon store and found a coffee table book which is basically the /r/gonewild of transit maps.

Good summary. I would also recommend Railtown for those who want to know more about LA's prolonged delay versus other cities in building rapid transit.

If you're into this, check out Soviet Bus Stops by Christopher Herwig.

Houston TX skyline cutting board! Too awesome. My partner just got me Transit Maps of the World, I highly recommend it.

Where'd you get your info? I've been in the tunnels half a dozen times and can confirm there are no rails! Check out this book, it's the most up to date and complete one about the subway. It's also a free e-book from the Library if you want to go that route.

For anybody interested in the transit and rail history of Los Angeles from the 1970s until today, read the book "Railtown: The Fight for the Los Angeles Metro Rail and the Future of the City" by Ethan Elkind. I read it and it's amazing how much history is behind the rail system we see today.

http://www.amazon.com/Railtown-Fight-Angeles-Metro-Future/dp/0520278275

There's a book on the progression of the NYC Subway system: 722 Miles. It's less about the actual construction and more about the politics behind it all, but a good read nonetheless.

I used to work with the New York Taxi Workers Alliance. I don't know if they're still active in the city or not, but they were good people and responsible for the non-corrupt functioning of the card readers. Anyway, this isn't to preach, just to recommend a book: http://www.amazon.com/Taxi-Cabs-Capitalism-York-City/dp/0801474396/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_y

I've read this book - it's really fascinating and I'd highly recommend it.

Similarly, if you are interested in the public transport side of this I'd recommend reading "Human Transit" by Jarrett Walker which touches on how design and attitude influences efficiency in a transit system.

My friend (Cincy native) just wrote a book about it. It's really comprehensive. If you're into this sort of thing pick up a copy, he could use the support!

http://www.amazon.com/Cincinnatis-Incomplete-Subway-Complete-History/dp/1596298952

That was a cool slideshow. Did anyone see the pictures of the Swedish subway system that were on Reddit a month or two ago? Also, has anyone else checked this book out? I snagged a cheap used copy. It definitely focuses on the design aspect of the map, rather than tons of info about the subway, but it'll make any transit geek happy.