Author proposes new ways to resurrect America’s ‘Lost Subways’

Author proposes new ways to resurrect America's 'Lost Subways'

Event traced history of abandoned passenger lines in Ohio, nation

Cities across the nation - including Ohio metropolises Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati - are laden with abandoned underground subway tunnels and electric rail lines. Author Jake Berman explores how the United States can revitalize its long-dormant public transit systems in his book, "The Lost Subways of North America."

Berman discussed his research during an Aug. 16 webinar hosted by The Ohio State University's Center for Urban and Regional Analysis(CURA). The event concluded CURA's summer webinar series. The series featured researchers from around the nation speaking about how they use cartography and archival research to document trends in transportation, health, demographics and other issues affecting communities.

Berman is a cartographer, writer, artist and lawyer. A San Francisco native, he now lives in New York City. A chance event 10 years ago - getting stuck in a traffic jam on a Los Angeles freeway - sparked his interest in America's public transit systems.

"I was thinking to myself, 'What's wrong with this Los Angeles transit system? Why can't I just take the train to work?'" Berman said. "Naturally, I went to the library to research why."

Berman's research found that Los Angeles once had a thousand-mile electric railway system, which the city dismantled after World War II to make way for highway construction. He also found old train networks in cities across the nation, which he documents in the book.

"As I started going down the rabbit hole," Berman said, "I found that the stories of cities began to rhyme."

Berman's research examines how U.S. cities can transition from the current "expressway culture" that favors individual cars and taxes the environment, to a culture where public transit is a viable option. Citizens can play a role in urging elected officials to prioritize public transit, he said.

"If elected officials don't get pushed to do these things, they're not going to do them," he said. "People kvetch about traffic, politicians hear them and that's how you get an expansion of freeway systems."

There have been numerous lost opportunities over the decades for cities to build or expand public transit systems, Berman said. In the late 1920s, Cincinnati abandoned construction of a subway system because the development was tied to a corrupt political machine, he said.

"The Great Depression prevented further building out of the Cincinnati subway system," he said. "It does make for a very complicated 'what could have been.'"

Cleveland made use of abandoned freight-train lines by building its Red Line public transit system in the 1950s and '60s. However, the Red Line bypasses many points of interest in the city, Berman said.

"It misses the major destinations of Cleveland, so you end up with these stations that are kind of in the middle of nowhere," he said. "If the Red Line had been built on Euclid Avenue [a major thoroughfare] … you wouldn't have the combination of under-used rail lines and bad land use."

In his research, Berman uses cartography to pinpoint where rail lines and subway systems would benefit the most residents in a given city. Transit stops make the most sense at busy destinations such as densely populated neighborhoods, businesses and shopping centers, he said. Success stories include the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority system in D.C.

"People will take the train," he said, "if it's convenient, fast and goes where you want it to go."

In addition to cities like Washington, D.C., there are countries around the world with successful public transit systems that the United States can emulate, Berman said. In the U.S., Amtrak could follow Canada's model and reconfigure routes with low ridership to serve the most in-demand destinations.

"There needs to be reform, especially for the long-distance lines in the way that Canada does them," he said. "The long-distance lines are designed to operate like a cruise, and they do turn a profit."

Another example is Japan, which coordinates real estate development with the placement of rail lines. Governmental agencies in the U.S. could incentivize similar initiatives, he said.

"It really does require a massive re-think of what our transit agencies are meant to do," he said. "It requires a rethinking of how our institutions operate."

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