It’s well-known that the US used to have a highly functional public transportation network that was dismantled for the car, but I’m really curious on the details of how that happened. Obviously there was National City Lines who dismantled streetcars and replaced them with buses, as well as interstate highway construction gutting cities, but I feel like there’s a lot more detail and nuance that’s missing.

Does anyone know of any books or other reading material that goes into the details of the decline? I’m hoping for something in-depth, think comparisons of big events vs ridership numbers vs average public transit speed, public opinion, ideally a case study on some actual cities. When the streetcars were ripped out, did the buses still provide adequate service, or was there a large decrease in frequency/quality? Were there frequency cuts later on? What happened when the private bus company inevitably went bankrupt? Did people without cars protest as service was cut, or were they left behind as people and jobs moved to suburbs, where service didn’t exist to begin with? What did people in small towns without cars do?