A Partial List of Pop Culture's Anti-Transit Stigma

Why do movies and tv shows hate public transit much? There's no answer here, but there is plenty of evidence that the question responds to reality.

1 minute read

March 13, 2020, 5:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


"Have you ever noticed that almost any time characters ride a bus or a train in a movie, they…kinda hate it?"

That's how Kea Wilson opens a "Streetsblog 101" feature listing many examples of pop culture stigmatizing public transit. Let's get this out of the way, right away: the list includes the famous monorail episode from The Simpsons, for reasons that rarely get mentioned in transit advocacy:

Seriously, has any small town in America ever been offered a comprehensive transit network — much less had everyone in town unanimously and immediately agree it would be great? If it were true that vaudevillian hucksters are coming to convince us all to invest in trains — unless we’re smart enough to demand the endless autocentric roads we really need  — then Streetsblog would not need to exist.

Click through to the source article to see a ton of clips of public transit being defamed on TVs and movie screen, and also read Wilson dispense with the many ways pop culture worships the automobile.

Thursday, March 12, 2020 in Streetsblog USA

"Planetizen federal action tracker" logo superimposed over black and white image of US Capitol dome.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

October 28, 2026 - Zachary Whalen

A car drives through a puddle, making a large splash. Rain pours down.

California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour

If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.

October 28, 2026 - Grist

Lake Powell with much of the water evaporated.

Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River

Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.

October 30, 2026 - Yale Environment 360

A Firefighter sprays water from a hose at a tall blaze.

US buildings threatened, destroyed by fires set to triple by 2060

Researchers found a high fire risk for socioeconomically vulnerable neighborhoods in the American West.

3 hours ago - Inside Climate News

People cross a crosswalk in Los Angeles.

LA residents may be allowed to paint their own crosswalks

Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky put out a motion instructing the Los Angeles Department of Public Transportation to study the feasibility of allowing volunteers to paint crosswalks.

4 hours ago - ABC7

Two women walking on the sidewalk in Dallas.

Dallas moves to overhaul its zoning code

The city's zoning reform will allow more multi-family and mixed-use developments.

5 hours ago - Yahoo News