Alternatives to Cars

Starting in the late 1800s, streetcars were the circulatory system of American cities. They were cheap, convenient and went where riders needed to go. Passengers took streetcars to city leisure destinations like Los Angeles's Venice Beach, seen here in 1910.

Interurban railways were electric trains with features of both streetcars and passenger trains. They were lifelines between small towns and cities starting in the 1880s. This interurban ran through Western Massachusetts in the 1910s.

Streetcars were a convenient, practical and affordable way to get around cities. A passenger used this ticket to ride streetcar lines operated by Detroit United Railways in Detroit and throughout southeast Michigan.

Interurbans were electric commuter trains that served as lifelines between small towns and cities starting in the 1880s. This ticket was good for one fare on the Wyandotte and Detroit River Railway, an interurban line serving Detroit, Wyandotte, and Trenton in southeast Michigan.

Streetcars were a convenient, practical and affordable way to get around cities. A passenger used this 5-cent token to ride streetcars operated by the Detroit Department of Street Railways (DSR). The DSR, formed in 1922 when the city bought the privately owned Detroit United Railways, added bus service in the late 1920s.

This leather purse includes several pockets and a compartment for a mirror.

Faced with growing competition from automobiles, streetcar companies economized. Charles O. Birney designed a small, single-truck streetcar that could be operated by one person rather than the usual two-member crew. The Birney Safety Car included a "dead man" controller that stopped the vehicle if the operator unexpectedly let go. This Birney car operated in Fort Collins, Colorado, from 1924-1951.

Interurbans were electric commuter trains that served as lifelines between small towns and cities starting in the 1880s. This ticket was good for one fare on the Wyandotte and Detroit River Railway, an interurban line serving Detroit, Wyandotte, and Trenton in southeast Michigan.

This coin (money) changer was used in the 1950s by a driver for the Montgomery (Alabama) City Bus Lines. While riding a Montgomery bus in 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man, leading to a widespread bus boycott by African Americans.

In 1971, the federal government patched Amtrak together from the remnants of privately operated passenger rail services. It's heavily ridden on the East Coast. This timetable of Eastern Seaboard routes dates from 1972.

Starting in the 1970s, concerns about traffic congestion, pollution and the plight of cities spurred the construction of new commuter transit systems. This postcard celebrates the 1972 opening of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit's (BART) Lake Merritt station in Oakland, California. The reproduction BART ticket was "not usable for passage."

MetroCards allow passengers to ride New York City area subways, buses, and commuter trains. Unlike earlier tokens which were good for "one fare," computerized transit cards can store a flexible amount of value.

This zine (small, independently produced publication) offers illustrated instruction on bicycle maintenance. Fixing and building your own bicycle -- and writing and producing your own publications -- are part of the do-it-yourself ethos popularized by the punk movement.

Using a dozen Model T Fords, 22-year-old entrepreneur Walter L. Jacobs started his now-global car rental car operation in Chicago in 1918. In 1923, he sold the business to John D. Hertz, president of a cab company, who renamed it the Hertz Driv-Ur-Self System. In 1932, Hertz opened the first airport rent-a-car facility in the country at Chicago's Midway airport.

This map of New York City transit systems was produced in the 1930s as advertising material for an insurance company. The map includes subway routes, points of interest-and information about F.F. Richardson, Inc. insurance.

In this photograph from 1939, two double-decker buses wait outside Pennsylvania Station in New York City.

Passengers and pedestrians congregate at the graceful Beaux Arts Atlantic Avenue subway station in Brooklyn, New York. New York City invested significantly in mass transportation infrastructure at the turn of the twentieth century.

Public transportation funding is often threatened by budget cuts. These stickers were produced by Transportation Riders United, a Detroit transit promotion and advocacy group, to help Detroiters protest possible cuts to city bus routes.

When it was built in the early twentieth century, New York City's subway was a modern, elegant transportation system. This photograph shows the tiled, vaulted ceiling over the ticket office at the City Hall subway station.

By the 1930s, buses were displacing passenger rail for long-distance travel, with companies like Greyhound and Trailways building national networks that drew crowds of passengers. This Greyhound brochure features historic sites and natural landmarks that are "off the beaten path" but could be easily found along the 50,000 miles of Greyhound bus routes across the United States.

Most people think of Checker as an operator of taxicabs, but from 1922 through 1982 they also manufactured cabs. Checkers featured big back seats and trunks and rugged, durable construction. This Checker's basic design dates to 1956 and was substantially unchanged until production ceased in 1982.

The Segway Personal Transporter is the brainchild of Dean Kamen. Introduced in 2001, this personal mobility device was touted as the next great transportation revolution. This 2002 model "i" weighs 83 pounds, has a speed of 12.5 mph, and a range of 8-12 miles. The Segway uses sophisticated electronic gyroscopic sensors and microprocessors to maintain balance and respond to operator's commands.

The New York City cyclist who owned this bike appreciated its versatility -- he could fold it up to take on the subway, or to store under his desk after riding to work. Folding bicycles had been produced for niche markets throughout the 20th century, but new materials and manufacturing processes have made contemporary folding bikes lighter and more comfortable.

Honda introduced the CB750 in 1969. This motorcycle was fast, smooth, and reliable. Honda packaged a powerful four-cylinder engine, five-speed gearbox, electric starter, and front disc brake -- something new to the motorcycle world -- into a lightweight and reasonably priced vehicle. The CB750 is sometimes called the first modern motorcycle.

This bike was built by a youth participant in the Back Alley Bikes earn-a-bike program at The Hub of Detroit, a nonprofit, collectively run community bike shop. Made of miscellaneous parts mounted onto a trusty Schwinn town bike frame, this bike demonstrates the increased attention to making things in the 2000s -- both as an outlet for creativity and as a tool for community empowerment.