This is consistent with a substantial body of economic theory, albeit not conventional neoclassical economics, which frequently treats transit as a special case. This conflict is linked to faulty assumptions underlying neoclassical economic theory.
When it first opened on October 27, 1904, the New York City subway ran twenty-two miles from City Hall to 145th Street and Lenox Avenue—the longest stretch ever built at one time. From that initial route through the completion of the IND or Independent Subway line in the 1940s, the subway grew to cover 722 miles—long enough to reach from New York to Chicago. In this definitive history, Clifton Hood traces the complex and fascinating story of the New York City subway system, one of the urban engineering marvels of the twentieth century. For the subway's centennial the author supplies a new foreward explaining that now, after a century, "we can see more clearly than ever that this rapid transit system is among the twentieth century's greatest urban achievements."
Excerpt from The Return on the Investment in the Subway of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company of New York City: Submitted to the Public Service Commission, for the First District of the State of New York Gentlemen - I have the honor to transmit herewith my report upon "The Return on the Investment," in the Subway of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, this being Report No. 7. Many of the conclusions reached in this Report result from analyses already made in my former reports upon "The Signal System," "The Subway Car," "The Capacity of the Subway," and "The Traffic of the Subway." This report discusses the influence on the return upon the investment of the density of traffic; non-paying branch lines; fixed charges upon structure and equipment; depreciation; income and expenses per car mile; non-paying car miles; the necessity for the development of the short haul business; development of maximum capacity by proper design and the relative effect of each of these elements upon the practicability of maintaining a Subway system throughout Greater New York upon a fixed five cent fare basis. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Derrick (archivist, Bronx County Historical Society) tells the story of what was, at the time, the largest and most expensive single municipal project ever attempted--the 1913 expansion of the New York City Dual System of Rapid Transit. He considers the factors motivating the expansion, the process of its design, the controversies surrounding financing it, and its impact on New York then and today. Appendixes summarize the contracts and related certificates and list the opening dates of Dual System lines. Twenty-four pages of photographs are also included. c. Book News Inc.