A review by theotheremily
The Great Society Subway by Zachary M. Schrag

4.0

I've been taking metro for 8 years, disembarking at Judiciary Square every morning, but until I read this book I had no idea that was the first station of the 103-mile system. This book is a fascinating look into how metro was built. Not as much the construction side, but the murkier ecosystem of congressional and DC local politics, public opinion, budgets, and economic development. It is mind boggling to me how long (decades!) the effort took--the studies conducted, the requirements and curveballs thrown at metro (congressional stalling, public backlash, DC home rule politics, inflation of the 70s, to name a few), and how huge the cost overruns were. The author makes the case that, despite the fact that metro never has been and never will be financially self-sustaining, that it has achieved the Great Society vision of its 1960s planners. I really enjoyed the section on how DC and the suburbs shaped development around metro (you dropped the ball on that one, Fairfax County). This is a must read for DC residents and transit nerds.