Public Transportation - horse drawn vehicles

         

 Isa Pedersen

Mr. Roddy

IHSS

29 April 2022

Public Transportation 
 
     
 
    The first modes of public transportation started in the 1820s with horse drawn carriages. It was not as popular as you might think it was, it took a while to spread around the public as a popular mode of transportation. Once the horse drawn carriages were fully fledged and people started looking into other more modern modes of public transportation. The next step to this was cable cars, then rail lines, and then they created the modern way of public transportation, buses. Back in 1662 Blaise Pascal created a system of horse drawn carriages that he tested in Paris, these were called "Five-Penny Coaches". This did not catch on because barely anyone could afford these coaches. This plan quickly failed and the next model of early buses was created in 1826. In 1826 the Omnibus was created. These were not the first semi-successful public transportation, ferries had been in action since 1800. However, the omnibus was the first public transportation with wheels. These omnibuses were drawn by three horses, and they could carry up to 42 people. They fit everyone by piling them into the carriage, and some of them even had a second story to the carriage. This started once again in Paris, however this was such a brilliant idea at the time that it soon was transported into New York, by 1828 New York, and several European cities had it too. The omnibus was not without its faults. It was very uncomfortable because it had big, unsturdy wheels, no padding on the seat, and it was quite crowded. The biggest fault with it is that it was still too expensive for most people to buy a ride. It was priced at 12 cents a ride, which only allowed middle and high class people to ride on them. In the 1830s, the comfortableness of these buses were conquered. They started to look much more like modern streetcars. Rails were engraved into the streets, making these look much more like cable cars, except drawn horses. This created the first rail system. By the end of the 1890s, more than 20000 horse cars were in use, in America alone. The only issues with this car was with the horses. These horses could only go for two hours, so in order to complete a full day, it would take 8-10 horses. The other issue with the horses is that in 1872 there was a huge influenza that knocked out lots of the horses. There was also additional expenses for the food for the horses, and someone to clean up everything the horses leave on the streets. This ended up being much more money than the government could pay. This was the deciding decision that they would move away from animal drawn vehicles.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Marcel Mauss - blogger

  Claire Thacker  Mr. Roddy  IHSS  Date  Marcel Mauss Marcel Mauss was a sociologist and anthropologist. He was born May 10, 1972, and died February 10, 1950. One of his accomplishments is an original study of the relation between forms of exchange and social structure. Mauss’s views on the method/theory of ethnology are thought to have shaped the thoughts of many famous social scientists. His career started as a professor of primitive religion in 1902 at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris. He also taught at College de France and established the ethnology institute of the University of Paris. Essai Sur le don , also known as The Gift,  is thought to be his most influential work. The Gift is an essay Mauss wrote about how human relationships are formed through the exchange of objects between groups. The Gift also talked about what part of giving a gift does it mean that you have to give something back. The answer according to Mauss in his writin...
Read more

The Tipping Point Sociology Blog

Wyatt Quillin  Mr. Roddy IHSS 27 September 2021 The Tipping Point     The tipping point is the point where something becomes immensely popular and spreads across a society. This something can be anything from a pair of shoes to a dance move to a hairstyle, and there are a couple of variables that are necessary to the success of the something. According to Malcolm Gladwell, the writer of the book The Tipping Point , the three components that determine whether something will reach its tipping point are the law of the few, the stickiness factor, and the power of context. The law of the few relies on the select people who are able to use their special social traits to help spread information and influence. Again according to Gladwell, the three types of people are the salesmen, mavens, and connectors. Salesmen are naturally very convincing and can easily persuade people. Connectors are very popular and connected to lots of different influential people. Connectors can easily s...
Read more

Sociology Reading Blog (The Culture of Fear)

 Ethan Zweig Mr. Roddy IHSS September 27, 2021 "The Culture of Fear"     "The Culture of Fear" was written in 1999 by Barry Glassner, who was a sociology professor at USC. The book explains who Americans are so engrossed with "fear of wrong things". Glassner examines and exposes the people who manipulate Americans perceptions profit from the often baseless anxieties they cultivate and encourage. Three out of four Americans say they feel more more fearful than they did a decade ago. Culture of fear is the concept that people incite fear in the general public to achieve political or workplace goals through emotional bias. Barry Glassner found out that no amount of debunking can wipeout fear. 
Read more