Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability 1

In the United States, 80% of federal gasoline taxrevenue is used to build and maintain highways, andonly 20% is used for mass transit, bike paths, andwalkways. This encourages states and cities to investin highways instead of mass transit. The federal taxcode also penalizes mass transit users and those whobicycle or walk to work because employers who provideparking for their employees can deduct this expensefrom their taxes.xHOW WOULD YOU VOTE? Should half of the gasoline taxbe used to develop mass transit, bike lanes, and other alternativesto the car? Cast your vote online at http://biology.brookscole.com/miller14.Figure 25-15 Solutions: potential routes for high-speed bullet trainsin the United States and parts of Canada. Such a system could allowrapid, comfortable, safe, and affordable travel between major cities in aregion. It would greatly reduce dependence on cars, buses, and airplanesfor trips between these urban areas. (Data from High Speed RailAssociation)portation receives subsidies of $300–600 billion peryear in the United States.Case Study: Mass Transit in the United States—Destroying a Great SystemIn the early 1900s the United States had one of theworld’s best streetcar systems, but it was bought upand destroyed by several companies in order to sellcars and buses.In 1917, all major U.S. cities had efficient electric trolleyor streetcar (light-rail) systems. Many peoplethink of Los Angeles as the original car-dominatedcity. But in the early 20th century Los Angeles had thelargest electric-rail mass transit system in the UnitedStates.That changed when General Motors, FirestoneTire, Standard Oil of California, Phillips Petroleum,and Mack Truck (which also made buses) formed aholding company called National City Lines. By 1950,the holding company had purchased privately ownedstreetcar systems in 83 major cities. It then dismantledthese systems to increase sales of cars and buses.The courts found the companies guilty of conspiracyto eliminate the country’s light-rail system, but thedamage had already been done. The executives responsiblewere fined $1 each, and each company paida fine of $5,000, less than the profit returned by replacinga single streetcar with a bus.During this same period, National City Linesworked to convert electric-powered commuter locomotivesto much more expensive and less reliablediesel-powered locomotives. The resulting increasedcosts contributed significantly to the sharp decline ofthe nation’s railroad system.25-4 URBAN LAND-USE PLANNINGAND CONTROLWhat Is Conventional Land-Use Planning?Focusing on GrowthMost land-use planning in the United States leadsto poorly controlled urban sprawl and environmentaldegradation and funds this often-destructive processwith property taxes.Most urban and some rural areas use some form ofland-use planning to determine the best present andfuture use of each parcel of land.Much land-use planning is based on the assumptionthat considerable future population growth andeconomic development should be encouraged, regardlessof environmental and other consequences. Typicallythis leads to uncontrolled or poorly controlledurban growth and sprawl.A major reason for this often destructive processin the United States and some other countries is that90% of the revenue that local governments use toprovide public services such as schools, police andfire protection, and water and sewer systems comesfrom property taxes levied on all buildings and propertybased on their economic value. Thus local governmentsoften try to raise money by promoting economicgrowth because they usually cannot raiseproperty tax rates enough to meet expanding needs.Typically the long-term result is poorly managedeconomic growth, leading to more environmentaldegradation.Land-use planning can be aided by the use of geographicinformation system (GIS) technology (Figure4-35, p. 84). Many cities and counties in the UnitedStates have used this technology to convert their planningmaps into digital form.In the 1990s, GIS data from satellite images, historicaldata, and census data were used to create mapsshowing snapshots of certain years of urban developmentin the Baltimore, Maryland–Washington, D.C.,576 CHAPTER 25 Sustainable Cities