Dude, Where's My People Mover?

Automated monorails were the hottest invention since the wheel back in the 1960s, and the Feds wanted to see them in every city. So what happened?

1 minute read

December 8, 2011, 2:00 PM PST

By Tim Halbur

Eric Jaffe says that HUD actually released a report in 1964, under the direction of President Lyndon B. Johnson, to promote alternative forms of transportation. After failing to catch on, Congress recommended making funds available to cities to encourage the construction of more monorails. Jaffe says there was interest, and a handful of cities got theirs built, but the Reagan Administration brought the grants to an end:

"Still, the legacy of the downtown people mover is not entirely a failed one, civil engineers William Sproule and William Leder argued in a recent talk. In some sense, it cleared the way for the surge in circulator buses and streetcars taking place today."

FULL STORY: Whatever Happened to the Downtown People Mover?

Thursday, December 8, 2011 in New Urban Network

Transportation United States Monorail People Movers

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