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The decline in public transport came about for many reasons. Villains were involved, i.e. buying up street railways to destroy them and sell buses to the surviving agency, but most of the change came about because of better technologies and higher living standards. People moved to the suburbs, especially following WWII, for better housing, schools, etc.  And they opted for cars because they are more comfortable, convenient, and flexible.  Most importantly, given the dramatic growth of the U.S. economy following the war, more people could afford a car.  Then two, then three, etc.! I rode public transit in New York City, Hartford, Dallas, Melbourne, and Austin. I still ride it. Most of my contemporaries don't.  And I can see why.  In a car you don't have to sit next to people who shout into a cell phone, or have not had a bath in a week, or spice their sentences with offensive four letter words. You don't have to put up with snarling bus drivers and transit workers for whom customer service is a foreign object.   According to National Transportation Statistics, in 2009 (latest complete data) five per cent of Americans used public transit to get to work. This was up from 4.7 per cent in 2001. However, when adjusted for sampling error (the numbers are derived from statistical samples), there has been no real change in the percentage of Americans going to work on public transit since the 1980s and perhaps back to the 70s. Through DART in Dallas and the T in Fort Worth, North Texans have invested billions in building the largest light rail and commuter bus system in the southwest. Yet, for all the money that has been spent on public transit, the percentage of people in the Metroplex who use it is less than five per cent. Most people don't want to use it, and they won't until driving becomes unaffordable, i.e. economically, timely, frustratingly, etc.
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