http://www-personal.umich.edu/~afinelli/projects/detroitpages/thinking1.html
Michigan Central Station is not just an icon of Detroit, but perhaps also a reminder of the United States’ abandonment of train travel and public transit. I look to many foreign countries that have thriving transit systems and wonder why has America discarded this vitality?
Cities across the U.S. are slashing their transit service and Amtrak service has become more laughable and more expensive than ever before. Having lived in Philadelphia prior to moving to Ann Arbor, I have witnessed a five-year reduction of services, inflated prices and people being force to purchase a vehicle because transit service in their neighborhood has vanished. It is a sad time when public transit, the lifeline of a city– a system that provides a sense of community and benefits local economy, begins to dissolve. Instead of connecting the city, interstate construction has dismantled and in some cases destroyed vibrant neighborhoods. Rather than looking forward and developing more modern, efficient and greener ways of travel, individual automobile ownership has become a basic standard of living. Is it that our current government does not want us to believe in mass transit? Are our transit systems intentionally poorly designed to keep our faith in the “freedom” of private ownership, and of course, keep oil profits up?