The Next Transporter.(Column)

Byline: Steve Thompson

It is a safe bet car guys will be around until there are no more cars. Nevertheless, there is reason to wonder about the future of automobility itself.

That reason is essentially the same as it has been since the middle of the last century, though it now has new relevance, as what used to be called the Third World explosively embraces automobility.

In spite of delivering many benefits, automobility has also brought with it a very large bill, which includes increasing economic expense, too many deaths and injuries, the practical and psychological consequences of widespread congestion, and the influence of our automotive lives on the environment.

Some blame the cars and those who make and sell cars. I don't. All of us inherited a techno-social system we did not create, though we have willy-nilly sustained that system largely because it works for us.

The question as I see it is: How do we keep the best of the world automobility has built for us and eliminate the worst parts?

I was educated as a historian, and serve as an advisory editor for the history journal Technology & Culture. Most T&C readers believe ...