thestateofurbantransportation.docVIP

THE STATE OF URBAN TRANSPORTATION by J. Edward Anderson Department of Mechanical Engineering University of Minnesota September 23, 1970 Opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect collective opinions of any group. THE STATE OF URBAN TRANSPORTAITON J. Edward Anderson Department of Mechanical Engineering University of Minnesota September 23, 1970 The Greeks had a philosophy they identified as “The Golden Mean.” In one sense or another, too little or too much of anything was harmful. In whatever he did, the wise man strove for the right balance – The Golden Mean. Today, this ancient philosophy finds its expression in the term “optimum solution.” A prime example of a solution to a problem gone far beyond the optimum, away from The Golden Mean, is the automobile as a means of urban transportation. Unfortunately, indications are that this solution will be carried much further yet from optimum at great expense to urban dwellers before it is forced into a sensible balance with other solutions – other transportation modes. This is happening because we have no effective built-in mechanisms to seek and maintain optimum solutions to urban problems. Forces for continuing present trends for the economic benefit of a few at the expense of the public as a whole are powerful. In key decision-making processes at all levels of government, these forces have held sway over the forces of constructive change. In urban transportation, as well as in other problems, we are being driven further and further from The Golden Mean. Without a very considerable increase in the forces of change, the consequence of our dependence upon the automobile in urban life many be the stagnation and death of our central cities. The current literature is replete with examples of the ill effects of the automobile. Economically, billions of dollars each year are squandered because high-priced businessmen ha