Without a comprehensive public transportation system to overcome the greater city's distances, the middle class has become mostly car-bound and wary of the city's reputation for violent crime.

WSJ: A Historical Tour Shows Off Johannesburg's Present-Day Sights

In a deal structured by the city and the MTA, the financially strapped agency that runs New York's public transportation system and is selling its surplus properties to meet its growing deficits, the Jets would have bought the abandoned Hudson Rail Yards on Manhattan's far West Side for a new football stadium.

WSJ: New York Stadium Deals: Good and Bad

Many customers say they are upset that Apple has removed mentions of public transportation routes or stations from its new map service, a popular feature on the Google system which allowed users to see bus and train schedules at individual stations.

CNN: Users: Apple iOS 6 maps are a mess

America has become a country that routinely hunts down and kills individual terrorist enemies overseas - apparently now in preference to capturing and detaining them indefinitely - and its citizens put up with more burdensome security restrictions in transportation and in public places than before, as well as with a somewhat less constricted system of domestic electronic surveillance.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy

For example, IBM developed a smart traffic system for Stockholm that resulted in drop in traffic, increased green vehicle and public transportation use, and an improved overall quality of life for the city's residents.

ENGADGET: IBM shows off Smarter Traveler traffic prediction tool

"Passenger rail service, especially services at higher and high speeds, will require new safety rules, constant public capital investment and operating subsidies, and balance with freight rail service and the rest of the national transportation system -- and currently only some of these elements are in place, " according to a GAO report.

CNN: Is the U.S. turning a corner on high-speed rail?