{ _ TRANSPORTATION 59
9%  K Electric railroads, or interurbans, as they were more generally called,
or  · enjoyed a brief prosperity at the beginning of the present century.
 A With the exception of the electric lines connecting Louisville and New
€X‘   Albany, Indiana, and Cincinnati, Ohio, and its sister cities of northern
It   Kentucky included in the Greater Cincinnati area, there are no inter-
15» I urbans in Kentucky today. The appearance of the private automobile
Om  I foreshadowed their end, the motor bus made it certain, and the depres-
WS sion delivered the final blow.
the As the railroads gradually evolved into the present-day efficient car-
€V· ‘ riers of freight and passengers, river traffic languished. Passenger
in travel by river has almost entirely disappeared, although some excur-
» sion boats are still operated. Volume-freight traffic on the Ohio and
l 3 Mississippi is gaining, however, under the program being carried out by
ne. the Corps of Army Engineers and the Inland Waterways Corporation,
ine operating the Federal Barge Lines.
¥€¤ R The introduction of the automobile intensified, in Kentucky as else-
~ where, the demand for better roads. The constitution adopted in 1890
Oi had prohibited the State from expending funds on highways, but this
Ver . provision was removed in 1909. In 1912 a State highway commission
l0  A l was created, and in 1914 the legislature authorized a system of roads
{Jr ` connecting county seats. This act was modified in 1920 by an act pro-
gig V viding for a primary system of State highways aggregating 4,000 miles.
185 p There are now (1939) 62,633 miles of roads within the State. Ap-
` proximately 500 miles of improved roads a_re being added annually by
ins the State highway commission, in addition to improved mileage added
m` A by the various counties.
les ` Since 1920 improved highways have encouraged the growth of a net-
Lib work of bus lines that covers the entire State. Interstate buses are
B V well designed and equipped, and local buses are becoming more com-
_ fortable and modern. The largest bus center in Kentucky is Lexington,
if which is the hub of a system of fine highways in all directions, over
B15} Which local and interstate coaches carry hundreds of passengers daily.
Cc- Air travel in Kentucky is still in the embryonic stage of development.
ml V The only important commercial airport in Kentucky is Bowman Field,
Bly ln Louisville, used by American Airlines and Eastern Airlines. It is an
km  . Important stop on the American Airlines route from Cleveland to Los
are » Angeles, by way of Louisville,. Nashville, Dallas, and Fort Worth; and
pep OH the Eastern Airlines route from Chicago to Miami, by way of In-
.65 dianapolis, Louisville, and jacksonville. Many municipalities maintain
airports for local air traffic, chiefly of the air taxi type.