David W. Jones is a historian and policy analyst who has taught at Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley, where he served as research manager at the Institute for Transportation Studies. Jones has been a staff consultant to regional transportation planning agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area.

• ContentsList of TablesList of IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsPart 1. U.S. Motorization in International Context1. Motorization in the United States and Other Industrial NationsPart 2. U.S. Motorization in Historical Context2. Transit's American History, 1880–19293. The Great Depression and the New Deal: A Pivotal Epoch in U.S. Transportation History4. World War II and Its Immediate Aftermath: The End of the Streetcar Era and the Beginnings of the Freeway Era5. The Interstate and Pervasive Motorization, 1956–806. Transit's Conversion to Public Ownership7. U.S. Motorization since the OPEC Embargo8. The Competitive Difficulties of the U.S. AutomakersPart 3. Evolving Challenges in an Evolved Environment9. The Changing Valance of U.S. Motorization10. The Road to Sustainable Motorization11. Motorization and Sustainability: History and ProspectGlossaryNotesBibliographyIndex

"Jones ultimately attributes mass motorization to consumer preferences—for single- family home ownership, suburban living, and sun belt metropolises where low-density development and dispersed employment made automobiles essential.Vol. 96.2 September 2009"—Thomas G. Andrews, University of Colorado Denver"David Jones does a great job of dispelling myths that many of us hold about the advent of the automobile and the decline of public transit in the United States."—publictransport.about.com"Jones documents well the politics of postwar efforts by big city mayors to obtain federal aid for rail systems. . . . He provides good evidence for transit's very limited potential to solve the pressing problems of congestion, energy use, and global warming. . . . Highly recommended.March 2009"—D. Brand, formerly, Harvard University"In this sweeping history of urban transportation modernization and post-modernization in the United States, David Jones debunks popular explanations for the decline of mass transit and the rise of mass motorization. . . . offers a solid foundation for debating alternative theses that seek to account for technological change.Vol. 50 July 2009"—Gregory Thompson, Technology and Culture"This is a valuable and topical book which brings transport issues to the fore in American domestic and foreign policy. 43 2009"—Margaret Walsh, University of Nottingham