TRANSPORTATION
More on my current readings on urban planning. Writer and planner Lewis Mumford once observed that transportation is simply a tool. It can be used to transfer goods from the farm or manufacturer to seller to buyer. It can be used to connect areas of commerce and trade and to connect cities for mutual benefit. It can be used for leisure, entertainment, and education.
Not so much these days
These days it is used to a great extent to support the exponential growth of entities that profit from its existence, primarily the automobile industry and the businesses that profit from highway and bridge construction or the production of fossil fuels.
It allows parents to choose the type children with whom their children will attend school.
It provides frontage and access for business, no longer neighborhood ones but city and regionally oriented chains and mega-facilities.
It is now a winding, slithering monster that controls our lives with scant regard for serving the overall public good.
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