California

G

Entertainment Industry

Southern California, with its year-round sunshine, variety of landscape, and excellent technical facilities, has dominated the U.S. motion-picture industry since the 1920s. The name Hollywood has long been synonymous with the world of motion pictures. Since the late 1940s the Los Angeles area has also become a major center of the U.S. television industry.

H

Tourist Industry

California plays host to millions of visitors each year, and many Californians are employed in providing for these tourists. Tourists are drawn to the state’s magnificent scenery and recreational facilities and to such cities as Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco, which are also popular convention centers. Visitors to California spend $68 billion on lodgings, rental cars, and other traveling needs each year, by far the largest sum for any state.

I

Transportation

Trucks, buses, and automobiles play a major role in the economic and social life of California. Automobiles are the most important means of passenger transportation. There are more automobiles in California than any other state—nearly one car for every two people.

I

1

Highways

Beginning in the late 1940s the state embarked on freeway construction, and complicated, multi-laned freeways are one of California’s more indelible images. But dependence on the freeways has given the state’s metropolitan areas some of the worst traffic congestion in the nation. By 2004 there were 273,252 km (169,791 mi) of highways in California, including 3,956 km (2,458 mi) of the federal interstate highways.

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I

2

Railroads

Several major railroads link the cities of California with urban centers in other states to the east. The state was served by 9,328 km (5,796 mi) of railroad track in 2004. The National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) also serves the state, and more passengers ride trains in California than any other state except New York. Commuter rail systems also provide transportation for people in the San Francisco and Los Angeles metropolitan regions.

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