[sustran] Re: 20:20 Century Transport Icons - Cut 1 of idea for a cooperative

[Obwon]

Mier Space Station!
obwon

eric.britton at ecoplan.org wrote:

> Dear Friends,
>
> My idea is to post this on a handful of our most authoritative discussion
> sites to see what it might engender.  Any comments or suggestions for me
> before I put it out for slaughter.
>
> eric
> ======
>
> 20:20 CENTURY TRANSPORT ICONS
> - Cut 1 of idea for a cooperative knowledge building exercise on the Web -
>
> What's a 20th century transportation icon?  Let me list a few of the longer
> range variety, though what I propose here is to concentrate on local
> transport concepts:
>
> * Bullet Train
> * Concord(e)
> * Interstate Highway system
> * Autobahn
> * DC3
> * Trans-Siberian Express (wrong century?)
> * Graf Zeppelin
>
> You get the idea.  The idea is that the "icon" is somehow so striking that
> once the concept is understood or, better yet, convincingly demonstrated,
> that it  makes a new crease in the collective brain with the result that all
> of us begin to think differently about our topic. Or... they somehow change
> the landscape of transportation thinking and practice.
>
> Now.... What I would like to propose if any of you are up to it is to
> develop in the first instance a simple listing, having in mind that we might
> at some point want to draw a line and select the "top 20" for eventual
> closer scrutiny. For it to make any sense to most people, it will probably
> be appropriate that for each there be some sort of brief all-comer
> explanation, maybe a picture or two, and a bibliography of sources that have
> managed to get out of the fog and shed some real light on what's going on,
> and what should be going on.
>
> To get the ball rolling, I am going to start here with a purposely mixed
> list... with the idea of somehow engendering thoughtfulness, discussion and
> feedback.. all to the greater good.  Also I have stuck in a few Web sites
> which may be useful for those who do not already know them.
>
> 1. Bottlenecking (on purpose, as a strategy)
> 2. Carsharing  (http://www.ecoplan.org/carshare,
> http://www.bremen.de/info/agenda21/carfree/greengame.html)
> 3. Carte Orange (i.e., intermodal transit pass)
> 4. Collectivos
> 5. Curitiba
> (http://www.curitiba.pr.gov.br/Ingles/Solucoes/Transporte/index.html)
> 6. Dial-a-Ride
> 7. Dutch/Danish bicycles
> 8. Gothenburg traffic cells
> 9. Gridlock
> 10. ITS
> 11. Mexico City
> 12. Monorails
> 13. Musée d'Orsay (http://www.smartweb.fr/orsay/)
> 14. Networks that work (http://malaysiakini.com/sustran/,
> http://www.ecoplan.org/access, et al)
> 15. Paratransit
> 16. Paris Metro
> (http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Paris/Paris_metro.shtml --great idea
> but then again it's not 1900 any more)
> 17. Parking supply reduction
> 18. PRT (nice try)
> 19. Rickshaws
> 20. Smart
> 21. Tramway insistence (N. Europe)
> 22. Transit portals (http://www.sytadin.tm.fr/)
> 23. Woonerf
> (http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~la362/allimagecategories/streets/thumbnails/st
> reetsthumbnail.html)
> 24. Zurich Ubahn (A wonderful benchmark project and example for us all)
>
> That should give you a flavor... and maybe some ideas that we can
> incorporate before we put this out for potshots.