Transit Planners Have It All Wrong

Columnist Steven Greenhut explains why public transit will never replace the auto, and chastises planners trying to use transit for social engineering.

1 minute read

February 21, 2005, 7:00 AM PST

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"The Orange County Transportation Authority, charged with developing the transportation systems that move us around, is dominated by ideologues who echothat trendy anti-car sentiment.

...I call it nostalgia as public policy, as planners ignore the way Americans really get around and instead try to build retro-style systems that would prod us to live like in olden days.

...As a longtime transit user, I can attest that the transit-dependent world planners are recreating is a dreadful dystopian place of shuffling, huddled masses filing into train cars and buses, building their lives around other people's schedules and other people's preferences.

...Mobility is freedom. Which largely explains why government officials, academics and planners are so hostile to the automobile, suburbia and every other icon of the American Dream."

[Editor's note: The OC Register required free registration.]

Thanks to PreservingtheAmericanDream

Saturday, February 19, 2005 in Orange County Register

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

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

June 18, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Two people walking away from camera through pedestrian plaza in street in Richmond, Virginia with purple and white city bus moving in background.

Vehicle-related Deaths Drop 29% in Richmond, VA

The seventh year of the city's Vision Zero strategy also cut the number of people killed in alcohol-related crashes by half.

June 17, 2025 - WRIC

Two small wooden one-story homes in Florida with floodwaters at their doors.

As Trump Phases Out FEMA, Is It Time to Flee the Floodplains?

With less federal funding available for disaster relief efforts, the need to relocate at-risk communities is more urgent than ever.

June 16, 2025 - Governing

Low view of row of red, grey, and black Tesla electric cars.

Texas Safety Advocates Raise Alarm in Advance of Tesla Robotaxi Launch

The company plans to deploy self-driving taxis in Austin with no oversight from state or local transportation agencies.

June 23 - Streetsblog USA

San Francisco Muni bus on street, line 14 with MISSION - Ferry Plaza" on front marquee.

How to Fund SF’s Muni Without Cutting Service

Three solutions for bridging the San Francisco transit agency’s budget gap without reducing service for transit-dependent riders.

June 23 - San Francisco Chronicle

Blue Austin public transit bus with graphic reading "I ride to keep the city clean and earth happy."

Austin Tests Self-Driving Bus

Autonomous buses could improve bus yard operations for electric fleets, according to CapMetro.

June 23 - Smart Cities Dive