The Lost Subways of North America: A Cartographic Guide to the Past, Present, and What Might Have Been

This book is a gold mine for fans of urban affairs generally and mass transit specifically – and a visual feast for people who love subway maps.I grew up in NYC, attended college in Chicago and now live in DC, so I was especially interested in how those cities grew up the way they did. Why didn’t NYC build the Second Avenue subway decades ago? Why hasn’t Chicago torn down the dilapidated (but iconic) Loop? Why does DC have a largely successful (and growing) subway system?Equally fascinating are chapters on many other cities, including Cincinnati’s never-used subway system, why Dallas’ system fails because of poor land-use choices, how Pittsburgh makes buses work, Vancouver’s excellent elevated system, Cleveland’s horrid lakeside system, the real reason LA’s streetcar system died (hint: “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” is great entertainment, but it ain’t history) – 23 cities in all.Visually, “Lost Subways” is also a hit. Every chapter includes colorful, full-page maps of each city’s old streetcar systems, current subway/light rail systems, and many subway proposals that never materialized.Fascinating stuff. Bravo to the researcher/author/illustrator.

My husband is a public transportation fanatic, and he loved this book! He knows quite a bit about the world’ transportation systems, but he knows less about the ‘ghost’ tracks and stations. So, for the train enthusiast who knows everything, this may gut be a good buy. The book arrives on time, and in perfect condition. The images are large and detailed, and the writing is interesting and well researched. So, according to my train obsessed husband, this is a great book for anyone interested in the history and workings of the world’s lost public transit systems.

Perfect coffee table book about NA transit

I really like the design shown in the product photo of what I assume is the dust jacket for this book. It would have been nice if that came with the book. The front and back cover are just plain black.

Very good book

Based on the title, I thought this would be another recounting of the lachyrmose story of American transit: cities have streetcars (and plan for subways), then run out of money, then plow money into freeways when they have money. And there are a few chapters in this book that are like this (most notably those on Rust Belt cities like Detroit, Rochester and Cincinnati that once planned for subways but are currently stuck with buses and the occasional streetcar).But Berman goes beyond the sad stories to discuss the problems of more successful systems. Boston and New York are able to (mostly) maintain extensive systems, but cannot seem to afford additions to their systems. For example, he writes that Boston's transit agency "lacks the administrative expertise and institutional knowledge to get things done cheaply and quickly" because it relies too heavily on outside consultants with no vested interest in keeping costs down. New York's construction costs are insane for similar reasons, but also because agency work rules make construction artificially expensive. Philadelphia has a system that looks great on paper, but its commuter trains often run only once an hour. Why? Berman explains that a variety of cost controls and technical improvements could allow more extensive service, but these reforms never get enacted because a) responsibility over the transit agency is so dispersed that neither the state of Pennsylvania nor the city really has control and b) transit unions are so politically powerful that the agency retains ancient work rules that raise labor costs. While transit has become a left/right issue in some cities, Toronto has a very different problem: politicians on both the Left and the Right want more subway service (good) but disagree as to where the service is provided (bad) and so as mayors and provincial leaders get replaced, the city has not been able to reach a stable decision on where the subway should expand.On the other hand, Berman praises Houston's new light rail system, because the city upzoned to allow more housing in the older parts of town, including those served by light rail stops. Even though Houston's overall transit ridership is not impressive by national standards, Berman points out that "Per mile of track, Houston's light rail has twice as many riders as Dallas's." Berman also praises Pittsburgh for investing in busways: while many cities claim to have bus rapid transit, Pittsburgh's busways really are "rapid" in the sense of being time-competitive with cars. Why? Because they don't share road space with cars.

This book was extremely well done with great content and accompanied graphics. The research was clearly done well and creates a comprehensive look at what North American transit was. A must read for anyone interested in transit!

While the book is informative, it seems like a missed opportunity to not have included St. Louis along with the other cities highlighted. It's an old city with a rich history of rail lines, street cars, and a modern mass transit system (which includes underground train stations.