[sustran] Re: Book Review

[Jonathan E. D. Richmond]

All good questions.

The point is that while GM did indeed want to get rid of rail lines, the
demise of rail was not the result of any such conspiracy but a response to
the market which had made rail uncompetitive. Rail companies were making
big losses as automotive-induced decentralization became a fact of
life, and trying to get out of the business.

                                                     --Jonathan

On Sun, 9 Oct 2005, Lee Schipper wrote:

> Thanks, this looks very interesting. It's always fun to fly in to LA and
> see if you can spot the Blue Line train (I usually only see one)!
>
> I am just old enough to remember the Red cars in LA in the 1950s. WE
> lived about 1/2 km from Venice and La Cienega, where the red car went by
> on an overpass.  I wonder, how much longer would have the old red car
> light rail lasted in LA without the alleged "conspiracy"? Maybe the
> problem was people were not clustering homes at the stations or along
> the lines?    Why did the French remove their rail from Paris in the
> 1950s? Why did the social democrat Swedes do this in Stockholm too (as
> well as ripping up lots of the key diesel-based rail lines connecting
> small towns)?  Why did Hanoi rip up its light rail decades ago, only to
> let the French donate one last year?
>
> There seem to be a message here, GM conspiracy or not.
>
> >>> richmond at alum.mit.edu 10/9/2005 9:07:24 PM >>>
>
>
> Here's a review of my book in Technology and Culture, which most of you
> on
> this list probably would not otherwise see!
>
> Best,
>
>             --Jonathan
>
>
> Technology and culture, July 2005
>
> Transport of Delight: The Mythical Conception of Rail Transit in Los
> Angeles. By Jonathan Richmond. Akron, Ohio: University of Akron Press,
> 2005. Pp. xix+498. $49.95.
>
> "This book is a study about the failure of thought and its causes,"
> writes
> Jonathan Richmond in his introduction to Transport of Delight. "It
> starts
> with a bizarre decision: to construct a comprehensive rail passenger
> system in an environment where it appears incapable of providing real
> benefits." Richmond analyzes the decision to redeploy rail-borne
> public
> transit in a metropolitan area infamous for its congestion, smog, and
> sprawl, and, most importantly, where he believes that by any rational
> measure buses provide a superior mode of transit. He finds the
> explanation
> for this decision in the power of myth and symbol, image and metaphor,
> citing extensively from linguistic experts such as Susan Langer,
> George
> Lakoff, and Martin Fossand on his first page quoting a passage from
> Russell Ackoff's The Art of Problem Solving: "We usually try to reduce
> complex situations to what appear to be one or more simple solvable
> problems . . . sometimes referred to as 'cutting the problem down to
> size.' In so doing we often reduce our chances of finding a creative
> solution to the original problem." This is exactly what Richmond
> believes
> happened in Los Angeles beginning in the 1980s.
>
> Richmond has done his homework. His book is based in part on more than
> two
> hundred interviews with public officials. He presents a history of
> Henry
> Huntington's Pacific Electric, the storied Red Car system that once
> operated 1,100 miles of track radiating in all directions from Los
> Angeles. He evaluates the case for modern light rail and the
> forecasting
> methodology used to predict passenger demand for the first route
> planned
> for the Los Angeles area, the Blue Line connecting with the region's
> second-largest city, Long Beach. He reports that ridership forecasts
> were
> initially inflated. Then, just before the line opened, they were
> deflated
> in order to make the actual numbers look good.
>
> Transport of Delight devotes considerable attention to the political
> decision-making process that led to passage of Proposition A, the
> local
> half-cent tax that funded the return of electric railways, a process
> ultimately dependent on "availability of a set of symbols, images, and
> metaphors which come together coherently to create a myth that acts
> with
> the power of truth" (p. 6). The human body's circulation system, for
> example, became a powerful metaphor for transit planners. Likewise
> valuable was the perception among civic leaders that electric trains
> were
> "sexier" than buses, a perception Richmond addresses at length in a
> section titled "The Train as Symbol of Community Pride: Penis Envy in
> Los
> Angeles."
>
> Richmond notes the power of the mental image that remained after the
> last
> Red Cars disappeared in 1961, an image that gave rise to the notion
> that
> [End Page 661] the demise of a superior mode of transit was the result
> of
> a conspiracy in which General Motors played a key role. The first
> local
> railway started running between the harbor and downtown Los Angeles in
> 1869, the last Red Car line operated along this same corridor, and,
> thirty
> years after service ended on that line, rail-borne transit was reborn
> in
> the form of the Blue Line. This, Richmond feels certain, was a big
> mistake. In his view, buses are a superior mode of transit for Los
> Angeles, particularly in terms of their cost-effectiveness; just about
> everything involving an electric railway is vastly more expensive than
> rubber tire on paved roadway.
>
> The Blue Line was brought into existence not on the basis of any
> rational
> assessment of available choices, but to reward political acumen,
> particularly that of County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn (now deceased,
> though
> his son became mayor of Los Angeles), through whose Fourth District
> was
> routed not only the Blue Line but also two other new electric rail
> lines -- all this in the wake of devastating riots in South Central
> Los
> Angeles and repeated recommendations that improved transit would have
> beneficial social consequences.
>
> The problem was "cut down to size," yes, but Richmond is certain that
> it
> was the wrong size. Whatever one may happen to think about the virtues
> of
> different modes of urban transit, Transport of Delight presents an
> excellent case study in the power of myth, and it provides us with a
> compelling picture of a place where culture and technology blend
> seamlessly.
>
> James Smart
> Jim Smart is adjunct professor of journalism and public speaking at
> California State University Fullerton and Cal State San Bernardino.
> From
> 1981 until 1998 he served as head of media relations for the Southern
> California Rapid Transit District and the Los Angeles County
> Metropolitan
> Transportation Authority.
>
> Permission to reprint a review published here may be obtained only
> from
> the reviewer.
>
>
> -----
> Jonathan Richmond
> 182 Palfrey St.
> Watertown MA 02472-1835
>
> (617) 395-4360
>
> e-mail: richmond at alum.mit.edu
> http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/
>
>
> ================================================================
> SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred,
> equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries
> (the 'Global South'). Because of the history of the list, the main focus
> is on urban transport policy in Asia.
>


-----
Jonathan Richmond
182 Palfrey St.
Watertown MA 02472-1835

(617) 395-4360

e-mail: richmond at alum.mit.edu
http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/