Thank you to Peter Norton, Associate Professor, Department of Engineering and Society, University of Virginia, who presented Rediscovering Normal: History as the Key to the Transport Transition at the Transportation Seminar Feb. 2, 2024.
Abstract: Transportation experts are the heirs of a forgotten revolution in the governing axioms of their discipline. Their predecessors of a century ago agreed that automobiles can play only a limited part in passenger transportation. Following an ideological revolution that its proponents themselves called a “radical revision,” American traffic engineers prioritized driving over all other modes of everyday passenger transport. Constructed versions of history legitimized the effort, invocations of state-of-the-technology lent it a specious credibility, and attractively packaged futures made it seem both inevitable and desirable. While generations of such efforts have failed, the misguided enterprise continues. The hard-earned lessons of the past are neglected. The fault lies not in the technology but in the vision. To achieve more sustainable urban mobility, we must overcome the persistent legacy of the “radical revision.” When we do, we will find that we already have everything we need.
Bio: Peter Norton is a historian of technology and Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering and Society at the University of Virginia. He is the author of Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City (MIT Press), and of Autonorama: The Illusory Promise of High-Tech Driving (Island Press).