"Probably the most important book for the industry since Peter White's Planning for Public Transportation, Professor Vuchic's contribution is valuable because in its pages it gives references to almost every basic hardware option likely to face the transport planner or entice the politician." --Bus and Coach "Contains between two covers for the first time most everything anybody would want to know about the history, evolution, technology, characteristics, and applications of transit systems." --APA Journal "Probably one of the most complete histories ever written on the development and growth of the various forms of urban transportation. It is a well-written, well-illustrated volume that belongs on the bookshelf of anyone seriously interested in mass transit." --National Railway Bulletin "Every engineer and planner of urban public transit facilities and systems needs [this] book." --ITE News A comprehensive modern guide to urban transportation The founding, shaping, and growth of human communities throughout history have been products of complex interactions of many forces. One major force has always been transportation. Transportation has played a key role in determining the location of cities; their size; their form; and their structure. Today, the United States has a population of 300 million people driving 136 million cars and served by over 6,000 public transit agencies. With such daunting statistics, the challenge to the transportation professional is significant indeed. In Urban Transit: Systems and Technology, Vukan Vuchic has assembled the guide to urban transportation that the industry needs. Broad in scope and deeply researched, this book covers the entire field of transit in all its modes and aspects. Vuchic begins with an overview of the history of transit and its role in urban development, illuminating how transportation both responded to the needs of communities and, in turn, helped shape them. Defining relevant terms and concepts, the text then examines: * Urban transit modes--highway, rail, automated, specialized, paratransit, and unconventional concepts--and the most efficient systems designs for each * System components, vehicles, travel ways, terminals, and control systems * Vehicle propulsion (diesel, electric, and others), fully supported with equations and analytical methods for vehicle dynamic performance and travel times Bringing every aspect of urban transport between two covers, Urban Transit: Systems and Technology is a primary resource for professionals and students who are designing and operating these key components of urban infrastructure.