My opinion is that in America, most people have either enough money or enough credit to own a car, which is more convenient that mass transit, ususally. This creates very little incentive for alternative transportation methods (busses, light-rail, etc.) to develop. Some cities have a well developed transportation system, but not many. If it gets to the point where most American's budgets will not allow them to buy or operate a car, then consumer demand would push the development of mass transit.

every where have that kind of situation not only in us but even in other country.. cowboy...

Hello Erica I'm not living in América but in my country it is also terrible if you don't have a car.... AT THIS STAGE THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN DO REALLY...

There is only one University at Irvine. The UCI, but I have never met any students who took Civil Engineering major at UCI, you are the special one. The parking is not as bad as the other campus, but it is still a problem to find any parking space. Students are not encourage to drive to school. Most of the students rent an appartment nearby within the walking distance to school. So, you don't need to drive. If you don't like to drive, you should move to San Francisco, or New York, Columbia University is in New york, it has the excellent Civil Engineering Program. If you are living in US for a long time, you should be finished college. Most of the students go straight right after high school will graduate from college at age around 21.