Yes people do drive more as they become more affluent, but that is based on a market situation that may no longer exist in the near future. Increasing energy costs will probably force more away from private trips. See my later comment for more details. Yes, China car ownership is rising rapidly, but from a very low base. That will cap out at a ...

Interesting question... why indeed did mass transit fade away? At least in a number of cities (East San Francisco Bay, San Jose, Fresno, Stockton, Sacramento, San Diego and Los Angeles), it was because the automotive industry did to the rail industry, what the rail industry had done to the canals in the East - they bought them up and closed them ...