The Defeat of the Golden Gate Authority: Regional Planning and Local Power

The most ambitious proposal for transportation planning ever considered for the San Francisco Bay Area—the Golden Gate Authority—went down in defeat in 1962, bringing serious efforts for regional government to an end. Authority advocates touted its potential to promote prosperity, provide employment, and relieve congestion. Opposition to the Golden Gate Authority came almost exclusively from local governments. In an attempt to protect their autonomy, officials of cities, counties, and special districts asserted the intrinsic value of home rule. The story of the Authority’s failure suggests that the patchwork pattern of decentralized, fragmented government in most American metropolitan areas may be self-perpetuating, with important implications for future efforts to plan and coordinate metropolitan area development.

• Record URL:
  http://www.uctc.net/access/40/access40_defeatofgg.shtml
• Record URL:
  http://www.uctc.net/access/40/access40.pdf
• 
• Authors:
  • Dyble, Louise Nelson
• Publication Date: 2012-4

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Photos;
• Pagination: pp 16-22
• Serial:
  • Access
  • Volume: 20
  • Issue Number: 1
  • Publisher: University of California Transportation Center (UCTC)

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Districts and authorities; Local government agencies; Regional planning; Transit authorities; Transit operating agencies; Transportation policy
• Geographic Terms: San Francisco Bay Area
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Highways; Policy; Public Transportation; I10: Economics and Administration;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01444756
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: UC Berkeley Transportation Library
• Files: BTRIS, TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 30 2012 9:10AM