Divided Highways - PBS (1997)

[@jamespugh9224]

You learn more from these documentaries than from schools.

[@kareemsupremet.v.5189]

Facts!! You can literally self educate yourself on KZbin just by watching documentaries.

[@alangray9117]

Thanks to politicians, for going on 2 generations now, they teach to an achievement test instead of teaching how to think critically and logically. Grade cards used to do that.

[@connoisseurkrvidoes]

Seriously

[@runningbear1982]

Schools aren't meant to teach you anything. They're meant to indoctrinate.

[@alangray9117]

@@runningbear1982 like republicans?

[@mackpines]

Amazing documentary. I'm from Portland, Oregon and I know the area known as South Portland in the 1960's was filled with old houses with elderly Jewish and Italian residents; Urban renewal completely wiped those people out to make way for office buildings, apartments, and I-405. However, when that freeway was finished, Harbor Drive which ran along the Willamette River was removed to build Waterfront Park so kind of a double edged sword here.

[@al-du6lb]

This documentary could not be more relevant today.

[@planetwalker798]

Agree. We were sold a "bill of goods" that I don't support, especially now seeing this film. Damn capitalism.

[@the747videoer]

I'm fine with the automobile and highway being ingrained in our culture, and I love the freedom and convenience they bring. But I absolutely hate how cities were ruined, and nowadays dependent on these. Sometimes a car is not the best way to get around, and you already know from watching this, that highways can ruin communities... Let's not forget how sad of a reflection it is that our road system is probably the worst in the first world, despite our strong automotive culture, and not to mention our automotive companies are absolutely horrible nowadays...

[@patjohn775]

You can still live in the city but people that don’t want to live there can leave. Freedom. Also usa is a lot bigger than almost all 1st world countries. It’s like comparing a nicely run mom and pop corner store to running Walmart.

[@zekecaldon5056]

@@patjohn775 you don’t get it… American cities have been ruined by freeways cutting through them and car-centric design that overruns our cities with pollution, doesn’t allow people to feel safe walking, biking or rolling short distances, and cuts (often underprivileged) neighborhoods apart. Most European cities are much safer and convenient to walk in and aren’t ruined by the noise and pollution of freeways cutting them down the center. Some cities in the US are making progress towards this goal while others continue to add freeway lanes that will immediately congest with traffic because the only way to get places is by car in those cities. Cars are important to our country’s transportation system, but they are much more inefficient at moving people for the space they take up than bikes, trains, buses and of course walking; and this effect is compounded in cities where space is a commodity and the transportation demand is much greater.

[@patjohn775]

@@zekecaldon5056 most European cities can’t add highways because the layouts were designed during Roman times. You are trying to gaslight people by saying people don’t feel safe walking and biking in cities because of cars. If anything people don’t feel safe on public transportation and because of crime. I have no idea what you are talking about with “underprivileged” neighborhoods. Have you ever lived in USA vs Europe? I’ve lived in both and the cost of train pass for a year would pay for an entire working car in the usa. If anything the highways increase the opportunities and freedoms on poor neighborhoods. New catalytic converters designs have all but eliminated the pollutions point you made. Car automation will probably eliminate 99% of pedestrian accidents in the next 20 years. Then we will be looking at European cities and laughing at the fact they still have to use trains and buses because they didn’t build infrastructure for roads 🤣

[@ayatollahlalalola]

@@patjohn775 It's sad how confident you are about knowing absolutely nothing.

[@ManInTheBigHat]

And then in 1982 "Blue Highways" was published. A story in which a guy drives around the country avoiding the highways. He purposely takes the little roads to get a closer look at all the communities along the way.

[@jimbosc]

I prefer Ghost Rider by Neil Peart if you want a good back roads yarn.

[@joemackey1950]

I took a round trip around the country last year and it was blue highways all the way (except where absolutely necessary). The only way to travel. Charles Kualt said with interstates one can travel coast-to-coast and see nothing. True.

[@shioyoutube9041]

I love the idea of doing something like this, I think someday if I had a ton of money to waste I’d go and actually do this. The closest I’ve had is in Portugal, there’s a motorway that takes you across the region I visit but you really do see nothing, but it’s very fast, but sometimes I’ll still take the old N125 road we used to take before the motorway got built, it’s slower and still gets congested sometimes but it goes right through all of the towns in the region, before motorways and expresses and high speed roads this was *the* way to get around, even going back to the days of horses and carts. (the late 70s) It’s a really interesting experience, you can see all the little towns and there’s always somewhere to pull over and get lunch or buy oranges from a little street vendor, and I imagine something like Blue Highways would be similarly special.

[@ManInTheBigHat]

@@shioyoutube9041 : I took five days to go across Kansas last year. All back roads. Saw some fun stuff, like a man who'd covered his acreage with his own hand carved and painted wood sculptures. Hundreds of figures and animals. They were great.

[@runningbear1982]

It was nice to see Click and Clack. I sure miss those guys.

[@tiamatxvxianash9202]

As a Canadian, I always loved the moment I got south of the border and reached the Interstate. Although Canada has some great thruways alongside Germanys Autobahn, Frances Autoroute and England's Motorways; all of them are no match for the effeciency in design of the US Interstate system. Those sky-high advertising signs that are viewed so far away, leave the traveller with absolutely no worries about where to eat, sleep etc that one doesn't even need a map. I hope I am still around when the Artemis project paves the way for the moonbase and all the infrastruture projects that will be required. As long as the SeeBee's and company are involved, the US Interplanet system is destined to thrive like its earthly elder.

[@NK-iw6rq]

I love this country , the infrastructure is unbelievable. An intricate highway system that can take you from Florida all the way to Seattle, Washington. God bless those visionaries that helped to manifest this project into reality.

[@bbolin5626]

Nahin Khan Check out China.

[@mohamedabdi3419]

LOOOL China buids 5 interstates a year while American highways slowly rot and get cancelled every year. America is dead

[@bbolin5626]

Jenna and Emma Toys They also build high speed rail.

[@bsmack66]

@@mohamedabdi3419 Agreed. The enviros and social activists are killing infrastructure in this country. The USA as we knew it is gone.

[@timomomomo969]

@@bsmack66 don’t be a clown. Commitment to innovation and partisan gamesmanship is what kills this country. Look at the innovation being developed and sold in China by China, from EVs to solar, wind, hydro and geothermal. Go burn some coal pal.

[@concertvids34]

My dad moved to suburban boston when he was 7 and I was born and raised just outside Hartford. When it comes to Boston big dig and not building I-695 (inner belt) were great decisions for all. However going to college in Eastern Connecticut I can attest that the lack of highway from Hartford to providence has deeply hurt the Eastern Connecticut Economy as residents have more stressful drives to well paying jobs once the industrial plants all disappeared.

[@davestewart2067]

Wrong on the Inner Belt. Without it the whole system was left disconnected. Leading to perpetual gridlock in the inner suburbs. Drove a delivery box truck in the late eighties. Was nightmarish navigation with the myriad local truck bans and restrictions in certain locales, and antiquated circulation patterns left locked in in other areas. Much of the southern belt route had already been cleared- and the final designs were sound. Meaning going under the Charles river and partial burial through the Fens. Bad decision making. Caving to the whims of a few elites.

[@robertewalt7789]

The section about Boston. The hugely expensive “Big Dig” put the elevated highways underground. The Mass Pike (I-90) goes to the airport.

[@andywolan]

Robert Ewalt do you know if the mass transit project they speak of went to the red line extension? (Harvard to alewife)

[@robertewalt7789]

Don’t know.

[@siennasienna1]

My bf watched this without me :(

[@khagemann7462]

😢

[@meankatrina]

Hope he's not still your boyfriend

[@PaulMungo]

😅😅😅😅😅😮

[@connoisseurkrvidoes]

Can watch this all day everyday

[@henrystowe6217]

I am largely sympathetic to arguments that the way we built interstates was bad. I don't like their effect on the sprawling landscape. On the other hand, unless you're willing to shop in those little towns, quit traveling by interstate, or maybe give up your car, there's really no room to talk. For a fast efficient ride between cities, the state operated toll roads work far better than interstates. Traffic levels are much more uniform without a bunch of interchanges.

[@souravzzz]

The interstate highway system is one the best things about the USA and why I love it so much.

[@MrSvenovitch]

You can't be a cheerleader for the military industrial complex, prison industrial complex, agro industrial complex, gap between rich and poor?...drink the rest of your kool aid and it won't be a problem

[@IcelanderUSer]

I highway system wrecked so many American cities. They not only leveled cities for the roads but they leveled blocks and blocks for parking. What was left behind was too ugly and depressing for the middle class and so with these new roads packed up and moved to the burbs. What they should have done was build the highways around the cities and construct commuter rail systems on the newly abandoned rail lines. This way cities wouldn’t have to level themselves and could hold on to their middle class peoples and neighborhoods. Thank god my city said no to an interstate cutting across our beloved neighborhoods. The powers that be wanted to build an interstate highway across midtown Manhattan, around where 34th street is today. Imagine Macy’s being leveled so people could go from New Jersey to Long Island. That’s the nutty thing about these highways. Why level a city if most people only want to bypass the city anyhow? Society really thought the future demanded 12 lane highways running every which way and that people should just accept them no questions asked.

[@robertewalt7789]

My father-in-law, from Hong Kong, agreed.

[@tannawannavannabittannawan7138]

B bo ~ Usually I find in the comment sections that people either state the obvious or make inane, pointless, idiotic comments. Your reply was pretty damn insightful. You obviously understand the realities and truth about our interstate highway program and the resulting impact it had on most American cities. Your suggestions and ideas are so perfect and I truly believe if that had been implemented early on, our cities would still be whole, healthy, and complete cities. 👍

[@MetroHam]

@@IcelanderUSer NAH nyc is in lack of road ways through it into its other regions, the traffic back up alone in NJ and in LI sucks so much even with the highest train capacity in the region. It really needs another way in north and from NJ so it doesn't bottle neck the main city and the tribough bridge and the GW

[@sanem2555]

I have been watching videos on US interstate for academic purpose for last few months. Like to watch old ones especially and this was a good find. Having said that, something else caught my attention, the voice of Michele Grijalva. What a beautiful voice it is. Tried searching her on google out of curiosity, but nothing much available on her. It says Writer, did she write for this documentary or is she a writer in general. Pardon me, hope she is alive. (This video being from 1997). She could have very well made a career in radio for such a soothing voice.

[@hankrogers8431]

If my parents didn't stop, I just pee'd on the seat. They stopped after that!

[@w41duvernay]

LOL.

[@CamaroAmx]

Trolleys were fine but only viable in cities. Housing was far more affordable. Now every house is dumb expensive. And to solve the housing crisis, we’re buying up farms and cutting down woods to build expensive McMansions instead of affordable housing like they did in the 50s. Highways bypassed smaller tourist towns and reduced the traffic on smaller roads. But the amount of cars on the road outpaced the construction of the highways. Railways are fighting back. Since a lot of fuel is still transported by rail, the railway could name their price of shipping. The railways then bought up trucking companies to control as much of the shipping as possible. When the rails charge more, the gas stations have to raise the price at the pump. The maintenance of the roads have outpaced the income of the highway system and have cost far more then what the roads cost to build initially. 2nd street overtown is fine today. From what Google maps show, overtown recovered. There are parks, dozens of condos, and colleges. How many homes and farms were destroyed to build the cities and all the other roads. When they built the dam near me in the 50s, it wiped out 5000 sq miles of farm land and dozens of homes. The dam was to create a reservoir for drinking water for the city. The funny part is that 40 years later the water became undrinkable due to mercury content. First swimming was banned, then it was catch and release fishing only.

[@planetwalker798]

Yeah- the thing that gets "swept aside" (not here) is the degradation that ensued without much though it seems for this "wonderful change". I am dismayed.

[@Andreas4696]

Yay it's back up! Thank you!

[@ejdiii333]

Get out of the city, traffic has always been bad in the cities.

[@Andreas4696]

What?

[@dchawk81]

3:03 "No officer I was watching the road. It's okay though I had my cruise control set."

[@harryscott9533]

hell no i wasn't watching my speedometer ! , i was watching the damn road ! 😎👍🇺🇸

[@howardcitizen2471]

The interstate highway system could never be built today.

[@jimbosc]

Yeah GOP would call it Socialism and that would be the end of it.

[@john99maro1]

.@@jimbosc :No, environmentalists would tie it up in knots forever

[@timomomomo969]

@@john99maro1 you both help illustrate what is lacking, and that is a positive attitude and the ability to set differences aside to achieve accomplishments.

[@planetwalker798]

yeah because we're funding every damn war.

[@mackpines]

I wonder what would that Thomas McDonald do to me if I called him Tom and I questioned his ideals.

[@hebneh]

No need to speculate about his reaction. He's dead, so he won't react at all.

[@NeilNileStudios]

11:20 Eisenhower's highway journey

[@NeilNileStudios]

Boston did fine without the highway extension 1:00:00

[@MaskMcGee]

1:17:50 Well actually when China embraced the automobile they built more miles of Freeway than the entire interstate system every 3 years by simply crushing all opposistion (the way we should be building in the west) so yea actually that is possible now.

[@ayatollahlalalola]

I agree with Elmer from Albany.

[@SuburbaniteUrbanite]

Can't wait for this destructive force to go away and have public transportation reign supreme like it once did in the early days. Highways are definitely needed to connect rural and far apart towns/cities but definitely not within cities themselves, that is where public transportation should take over. But Americans do not like that, we are an individualistic people who don't want to share a confined space with other people, or at least it makes us feel uncomfortable. Edit: that needs to change

[@planetwalker798]

Agree with your first paragraph in particular!

[@TS-1267]

... The New California Freeway @03:50?.. Is It The Same Freeway That Collapsed Recently?... The Very Best He Preened.😂😂😂

[@intelltr4563]

Why was the Northeast given 16 lane roads and Texas took forever to get wide loans?

[@benbohannon]

Because you can’t trust Texas. And you still can’t. *We keep threatening to secede from the union and we can’t keep the lights on*

[@ir10031981]

back in 1997, 75 in Arizona, 70* in Texas. (*N65/ T60 N55)

[@danaschoen432]

As I recall my last trip across West TX on I-10, it was 80mph on some stretches. 55 would have made TX a MUCH bigger place.

[@henrystowe6217]

Thanks to the National Motorists Association, the 55 mph limit was repealed in 1995.

[@ethanchaudhary2523]

19:44 : best part

[@IcelanderUSer]

It’s crazy that people just accepted GMs vision of the future without questioning these no go zones called the highway. Highways aren’t compatible with life. Unless you’re in a vehicle you will be killed, eventually. Even elevated roadways created no go zones underneath them. In the future there will be too many people to allow each of them their own vehicle and parking spaces. Commuter rail will have to be fast enough to allow people to live in rural or suburban areas. Even then people will be pushed further out. Having a car will be considered a luxury unless we can get population growth under control.

[@tubester4567]

@@bbolin5626 They also raised living standards, provided plentiful cheap food, safe drinking water, they educated millions of people, they spread democracy, human rights and individual rights, They provided revolutions in human health, much longer life-spans, health care, dental care, vaccinations and other medicine that saves millions of lives every year. There are still native tribes living in parts of the world, untouched by colonialism, and its a very harsh life. Short lifespans of 45 years, high child mortality rates, high maternal mortality, no healthcare, very high rates of abuse of women and wife murders, child marriages, and sexual abuse of minors. Native lifestyles were not some utopia, it was brutal basic survival.

[@LucasFernandez-fk8se]

No there won’t be. We have a birthing crash now. Also the highways are much more enjoyable then being on a train or a bus or a Trolly with dirty strangers

[@davidcarroll8735]

Those two cars at 18:31 are the cat’s meow!

[@25Soupy]

20 years later...2017...now what?

[@ryoamora8655]

2017? Whatya you own a De Lorean with a flux capacitor? Check your calendar, it's still 2016.

[@25Soupy]

Ok, it's 2017 now....

[@wendys1630]

The " Rainbow highway" is now being planned. The road is planned to be over 15,000 Miles.

[@CircusClownSteve]

2019 here saying hello

[@henrystowe6217]

Nothing. Nothing has been done since the 1973 Arab oil embargo.

[@ABUNDANCEandBEYONDATHLETE]

Guy says " I litter when at all possible" as he was referring to the highway and we dirty it and clean it up so what's the problem... It was a clip so not sure if he was taken out of context but damn what savage littering on purpose because someone was going to clean it up.

[@GP1138]

Those guys are Click and Clack of Car Talk, a popular radio call-in show in the 90s. I can assure you that comment was firmly tongue-in-cheek.

[@NeilNileStudios]

10:57 truck was no match for road of the day

[@NeilNileStudios]

15:30 enough cars to move every one in 1 car.

[@lylebarnard7447]

Just think this aired in 1997 China built in higher Road system for their country from 1997 to 2019 greater than ours well aren't infrastructure fails because the people in Congress do not want to fund our freeway system yay America

[@timomomomo969]

Context matters

[@maxi-me]

Enjoyed video but @ 8:02 why would you hold a ribbon cutting to celebrate the opening have a bad road?!?!?

[@andyharman3022]

I think it symbolized they were cutting out the bad road.

[@shteggyify]

Wow, who could have possibly predicted that a project inspired by the Nazis would turn out like this

[@LucasFernandez-fk8se]

I hope we can build more freeways in this country, we really need to widen every highway nationwide. The population has doubled but because of leftism we now have horrendous congestion since nothing has been widened since the 2000s but they keep letting in immigrants

[@NeilNileStudios]

5:50 most mobile & most congested.

[@NeilNileStudios]

Comment by the planner Sandra Rosenbloom

[@davidjohn4326]

Now 2020 and we have more oil than we can use.. Technology revolutionizes the doom and gloomers

[@NeilNileStudios]

1:05:00 transit vs highway

[@NoneYaBidness762]

Narrated by George Guidel (sp).

[@747-pilot]

True, despite all its flaws, the United States is the best, most superior, and greatest nation on earth. Period! No ifs ands or buts!

[@PunksloveTrumpys]

@jojofromtx That may be true, but no other country with a comparable population to America has infrastructure even close to the expanse and quality of the US, even with all of its faults.

[@bbolin5626]

Jared Freeland What about China?

[@NeilNileStudios]

1:08:00 3.1 billion dollars. dang

[@NeilNileStudios]

5:30 quote about congestion by Jessica Matthews, columnist

[@LucarioBoricua]

Concerning the defense aspect, it's ironic how the interstate highways are both a hero and a villain in the context of climate change. They enable a large share of the atmospheric pollution that causes global warming and subsequent extreme weather / sea level rise but at the same time serve as the main escape routes for coastal communities evacuated in the face of major hurricanes.

[@IcelanderUSer]

But you don’t need to build an interstate highway to evacuate people. As for the defense excuse and how the highways could help evacuate people, they fail to mention how these highways would also allow the enemy the ability to move large trucks and equipment great distances. Far easier than if they only had rail. So for all the benefits of the roads there were equal numbers of problems. The railroads were shafted. They literally built the country. They brought people to all four corners of the country. They built Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. Chicago and even Florida. For all their hard work they were rewarded with the Federal Government competing against them. I mean why did people allow this massive spending spree? Rail kept little towns alive and intact. Europe didn’t drink the GM coolaid and invested in rail equally. Cities weren’t bulldozed for the new monster roads and accompanying parking lots. European cities connected their local roads to the highways further out, allowing many connections into the cities. Europe also didn’t allow monster trucking companies free access to these new highways. They had to pay higher taxes for fuel, pay tolls based on number of axels, and require permits to operate long distances. All these differences in how they incorporated the new roads served to protect all the unique cultures and environments throughout Western Europe. I always like to say that New York City survived the automobile. The city almost died, was close to being defeated by the auto. But in the end the city survived. All our empty lots have been rebuilt with livable buildings. Department store chains open new locations without having to provide parking. Imagine a new Home Depot near 59th Street having no parking, or loading dock for that matter. Same for Kmart around Astor place. Life goes on and people move about without the stress of owning and maintaining an auto. I’ve traveled to many different American cities without having a car. I’ve gone to many European cities without even considering a car. I use Uber, transit, even free bikes. Stayed in downtown Dallas at a trendy hotel that recently opened in a previously abandoned building. Dallas is one of those American cities that is also recovering from the auto apocalypse (autocalypse). People aren’t driving to malls as much. They’re living and working in downtown areas that had been abandoned years before. They find like minded people’s and together they build a community. They create schools for their kids. Lots of greatness in America is coming back. We’re waking up from the nightmare that allowed GM to shape our physical world. It’s time we balance our communities needs with the larger world.

[@andyharman3022]

Hurricanes are real. Global Warming is imaginary.

[@dchawk81]

@@IcelanderUSer Unless we're invaded by Canada or Mexico, we're gonna see the enemy coming long before they can get to our ports/beaches and then onto our highways.

[@NeilNileStudios]

1:15:00 importance of mass transit. Middle East can decide anytime not to give us oil.

[@towgod7985]

This video is about social politics NOT the highway system!

[@NeilNileStudios]

Lol 30:33. PBS did a documentary on gm's conspiracy to find that it was true.

[@NeilNileStudios]

Subsidies also occur here

[@NeilNileStudios]

35:00 michael smith comment on railroads (or earlier

[@eldebtor6973]

they made an otherwise good documentary as awfully annoying as possible.

[@NeilNileStudios]

34:39 railroad info

[@tommytruth7595]

The railroads were heavily taxed to support and subsidize their competitors. It put many of them out of business and destroyed the best form of transportation this country has ever had----the passenger train. We are all worse off for that.

[@GDMHificationranpitc]

RIP to 40,000 annually US thanks Highways .. not to mention the obesity

[@lankansouljaz]

Michele Grijalva has the hottest stripper voice ever!

[@dchawk81]

Yeah she coos. 😃

[@iamthehighestofthehi]

the guy said the interstate highway system was bigger than the pyramids thats just a stupid statement..

[@bmw803]

It was a bigger project in terms of size for sure, but the Pyramids are definitely a more intellectual project and a very strange one. How was it built without any machinery or anything we have today.

[@eggsmiles]

19:44

[@alanjunkin3824]

on an unrelated subject, they should just get rid of this whole comment section. you get a few actual comments, but it's mostly normal, average ppl turning into total dicks against each other because they don't like what someone said. SAD

[@henrystowe6217]

It is time to get building more highways. The level of service on today's roads is horrible. At the same time, the new highways should not have interchanges every 2 miles.

[@reviewguy12]

@23:46 - 24:50 @19:22 - 21:27

[@NeilNileStudios]

5:40 parodox

[@GDMHificationranpitc]

too smart for their own good

[@HayastAnFedayi]

People piss and moan about traffic but when states try to build new highways to deal with the growing capacity and automobiles the same people become hypocrites when they say “we don’t want this in our backyard...”, they should have finished the Boston Inner Belt Project, if they did the Big Dig wouldn’t have been needed, to this day the traffic issues are because of the failure to complete the interstate and mass transit projects in the Boston and greater Boston area smh

[@dante6563]

So much flawed thinking in this rant it’s hard to know where to behind. Increasing the highway or adding more lanes creates induced demand which adds even more traffic.

[@HayastAnFedayi]

@@dante6563 so does ignoring the problem or even worse sticking your head in the sand like cars don’t exist.

[@BBT609]

The interstate highway system did cut through the black communities. Its largely obvious.

[@Ben942K]

Please explain your point further than just two sentences.

[@CircusClownSteve]

Cheapest route

[@dante6563]

@@Ben942K figure it out. Watch the documentary.

[@Ben942K]

@@dante6563 there’s nothing I need to figure it… I was asking for more information be provided towards the point. I didn’t ask you that…. Go away lol.

[@NeilNileStudios]

23:00 $1.50?

[@JASONHJEFFERSON]

more like 250 bucks for a semi truck

[@Hebrew42Day]

I think we would have been better off with small cross country roads like route 66. The interstate systems definitely cut off the black communities, but it wasn't just them. Look how many cities were bypassed by the interstate system. Sometimes an area was grown enough that the old route stayed in place to serve them, like SR-99 through central valley in California. But if Bakersfield, Fresno were a little smaller and less influential at the time? They would have ended up like every other small town bypassed by the interstate.

[@kevinloving5688]

America will keep moving via electric cars and trucks.

[@williambrock3349]

Perhaps all the people on here that are anti freeway anti highway should build themselves a time machine and travel back to the 1800’s where highways didn’t exist and they’ll be much happier staying in that time period

[@TheClassyArchitect]

29:09

[@callmeswivelhips8229]

Personalized vehicles are a terrible idea. They don't get people from point A to point B quickly on any level whatsoever. America had a great transportation network before the interstate system. We could have improved upon it, but now we're stuck with gridlock. That doesn't even mention how expensive, difficult to store, inefficient, dangerous, time consuming, and inhumane cars really are. Pathetic! The more roads you build, the worse the gridlock. The more roads you build, the more accidents that occur, especially in a country where everyone is constantly at work. America has so many problems, and the transportation netowkr is DEFINITELY one of the big ones!!

[@ryoamora8655]

I take it, you don't drive or own a car?

[@spookdsq]

If you don't like it, go back to your own two feet! and see how long it takes to walk coast to coast without stopping! You'll thank the Invention of the Semi Trucks for the Interstate System! Without them we have nothing Including this Great Feature the USA has... the Interstate System! The Roads here are far more safer then any other road in the world. just a few Dim bulbs here and there but otherwise safe!

[@callmeswivelhips8229]

I do not drive or own a car, and personally I don't want to. I rather love my own two feet and mass transportation. Have been loving it this way my entire life thank you!! As for the interstate and industrial transport (I'm talking goods here), there's NO REASON why we can't use other forms of transport just as effectively, AND WE DO! An enormous amount of American goods move across the country via railway. It's the only reason we have railway anymore tbh. Besides, I'm not talking about industrial transport. I'm talking about personalized vehicles and the privitization of mass transit. It's classist for owning your own car to be necessary in this country today. It certainly worsens the exploitation and oppression we as workers face. Again, I'm not saying all personalized vehicles have to go now forever. That would be equally foolish. I'm arguing that oour transportation network should not be built around personalized vehicles. It should be built around and emphasize mass transit instead.

[@nitkoffsky]

@@callmeswivelhips8229 Look Mr. Swivel Hips! Personal autos have been here in America for over 100 years & they're here to stay! And you can thank Mr. Henry Ford & the American public for that! And in this vast country called the USofA, most folks, myself included, are selfish pigs when it comes to our personal freedom>>>>to go wherever we want, whenever we want & for the most part all alone by ourselves. I AGREE WITH YOU that in large cities there is grid lock and if you count the number of cars that have more than 1 person in them you will find very few. In San Jose California where I have lived for 50+ years the grid lock here is heavy & traffic is very slow if not stopped BUT ONLY during the AM & PM rush hours (non rush hour & weekends the freeway speed is 65+ MPH). To cope with increased rush hour grid lock the local DOT invented commuter lanes to encourage carpooling but for the most part this has be a total failure. To have to share our ride & time schedule with other folks just isn't convenient or worth it to most of us & we are still too selfish to give up our aforementioned right to transportation freedom. On the other side of the coin>>>In the mid 1980s I lived in Italy for 2 years. I did not have a car then but the public transportation system in Milan was one of the best in Europe with buses, trams, trains & subways. Then In 2000, when again I didn't have a car, for 14 months I commuted via local train & electric bicycle to work. My commute time was cut in half & I loved sleeping/ resting/ reading on the train & getting some daily exercise by biking 1.4 miles from the station into work. However, both of my examples worked because a certain situation presented itself & I knew at that time it was my best choice. Presently I own 2 vehicles. A 20 yr old economy car that I got for $1,000 & a 2005 pickup truck for $5,500-both I bought used & have owned both outright for some time--so I have no car payments. To save more money I do my own maintenance & have had no major problems. Both run very well and each has its specific purpose. My car gets 30+ MPG & I make extra money with my truck in a small transport enterprise. And if one is in the shop the other one is my back up to get me where I need or want to go. Yes, it's expensive to own a car (& in my case a truck too) Registration, smog checks, insurance, etc all add up. At age 20, I got my first car as a free gift from my girlfriend's brother who had too many cars-a really nice guy. I slowly & skillfully learned to budget for gas, oil changes, tires, maintenance, registration, insurance, etc. so I would be ready to cover these costs as they came due. Oh, BTW, Saturday Night Drive-In Movies with my gf were at the top of my budget, of course!! I guess it essentially comes down to what you want from life & what you are used to. By my freedom of choice, I live in one of the most expensive areas in the nation HOWEVER, I love San Jose, the BEST WEATHER anywhere, the beach only 22 mins away, SF 55 mins, Lake Tahoe 4 hrs, Disneyland 5 hrs & I am used to the very high prices (my wife's family from the mid-west love visiting us here but in no way do they ever want to live here-they say, & it's true, that it's way too expensive!!) Owning a car (like living in San Jose) is expensive but I am used to both and most important of all, they both give me what I want from life!! (I know>>>so selfish of me again-LOL!!) PS>>>Mr. Swivel Hips I will promise to think of you the next time I drive in my car with my family to the world famous Santa Cruz Beach Board Walk to enjoy a fabulous day of sun & fun at the ocean! BTW, if you ever come here to visit, there is an express BUS#17 that goes from San Jose over the hill to Santa Cruz>>> so you can have it your way too! Peace>>>Mr. Nitkoffsky

[@PunksloveTrumpys]

Did you skip the first part of the documentary? Those mud roads were terrible even for horses and carts, and the railway system was completely inadequate. It was certainly not a "great transportation network". People demanded better because they suffered so much from what they had at the time.

[@Mark-ce3gp]

Leave it to PBS to deal from the bottom..Race card.27:16

[@russelljones8303]

It's interesting how you accuse PBS of playing from the "bottom" of the deck without recognizing the very real very racist tactics that were occurring throughout this process which have created the social and economic divides we're still dealing with today. But feel free to carry-on with your ignorant peculiar way of thinking.

[@MetroHam]

feels more negative then positive

[@robertewalt7789]

At the end, the oil crisis was 1973, not 1972. Nice try!

[@maxi-me]

I know and they called a "crisis" like people died or starved. it was just an inconvenience

[@LittyChitty]

END 304 fucking sucks

[@GDMHificationranpitc]

road rage systemic racism does not exist keep moving 46:00

[@sharkheadism]

Another PBS sob story

[@rayizard5687]

31:05 the moment I stopped watching. The streetcar buyout has been proven to be true and it wasn't just GM, the tire and gas companies too. This production stinks of a GM paid for propaganda film. Shame on PBS, I thought you had morals!

[@hubbard665]

They bought up all the light rail streetcar companies and shut them all down.

[@kosmos1957]

Luddite ? It's called progress, independence and affluence. I would rather hop in my Dodge Journey and go to the store without waiting on the corner in the rain. It was mans destiny as an inventor and lover of creature comforts.

[@hebneh]

Yeah, but notice that the woman being interviewed pointed out - correctly - that streetcars were being outcompeted even without General Motors' secret sabotage. The city I live in never had any interference from GM but the streetcar service ended in 1941, which is pretty early, because of its limitations. Streetcars required the installation and maintenance of tracks as well as the overhead wires carrying the electricity to run the trams, and often an entire electric generating plant as well. Whereas running diesel buses requires only maintaining the vehicles and buying fuel for them, while using the roads that the whole population pays for via taxes. Not a difficult choice to make when you're trying to make a profit.

[@bbolin5626]

Kristine B What about traffic or people who can’t drive?

[@nikolaospeterson2495]

This is obviously an AMERICAN production (PBS). there has been NO INTERNATIONAL comparisons such as with Europe (my home) and Japan. IN these two places public transport is regarded ta a very high degree and less of the American 'car culture' mentality. The ground infrastructure be itthe motorways or railways, MUST here in 2018 and beyond be ELECTRIFIED! Now there is something alled CLIMATE CHANGE and the idea of running individual vehicles burning fossil-fuels (and the railways burning diesel -- just another form of fossil-fuel -- is now passé! WE MUST CHANGE collectively on this planet -- especially the United States of America, or we shall be on a crash course to DEATH, for humans and all other forms of life on this globe (yes even the cockroaches)! Lastly the RESPONSIBLE production of electricity MUST be expanded, it is no longer a 'test bed' or some university research project, now it has been in use in everyday life! The NS (Nederland Spoorweg) or the Dutch national raliways get their electric power ONE-HUNDRED PERCENT (100%) from WIND! Norway's car population is already 1/3 electric! they alsohave the world's first all ELECTRIC car carrying ferry in regular service since 2015! ACT NOW, GO ELECTRIC! Thank you.

[@hebneh]

And this is also a production from 1997, not today. Things have changed considerably in 20 years.

[@jacksonhornbacher3053]

Very boring

[@runningbear1982]

The original plan was to not affect neighborhoods by not going into cities with the interstate. The major roads would swing through close to the cities say 15 km to 30 km away and then you would have to take a spur or a US highway into the cities. That's how they should have left it and it wouldn't have disturbed near as many people's lives. All the chamber of commerces and tourism boards got together and lobbied to have the interstates run through cities to bring tourism and economic gain. They completely fucked up the whole system.

[@LucasFernandez-fk8se]

Nah it was a good thing they brought them in the cities. Urban highways are good for commuters and strengthen the community across the metro

[@NeilNileStudios]

5:40 parodox