ABSTRACT
A remarkable number of scholarly studies have described the changes in urban structures and social life when railways entered cities in the nineteenth century. At this time, many municipal authorities were eager to get a direct rail connection, or at least hoped to be near a railway track. They wished to improve the economic situation of their community, exploiting more distant markets by the use of the faster traffic connection. Railways guaranteed speedy transport of the products demanded by the fast-growing industrial sites and the expanding population in the cities. They boosted the economic revolution in the second half of the century. Further scholarly road traffic studies concerning the Rhein-Main area should examine more deeply the relationship between cities and the Autobahn network. Road structures inside cities and villages and peoples use of the different transportation modes can be understood and explained if the political, economic and social consequences of the regional Autobahn system are brought to mind.
