absurd solutions to transport problems

AWWTM: Engineering, psychology, and a bus on stilts

This entry was posted in at war with the motorist and tagged absurd solutions to transport problems buses china congestion driver behaviour psychology shenzhen straddling bus on by

Last week I posted about tracked hovercraft and straddling buses — a tongue-in-cheek look at how through the ages engineers have proposed ever more overcomplicated engineering solutions in an attempt to manage our out-of-control transport problems.  I assumed that my learned readers would get the point without labour.  WordPress.com very […]

AWWTM: Overcomplicating things

This entry was posted in at war with the motorist and tagged 1960s absurd solutions to transport problems infrastructure the future on by

In the 1960s, people were convinced that there was a huge and growing problem with transport.  The then Ministry of Transport commissioned engineers and economists to look at those problems and suggest solutions.  The Beeching Report recommended closing all except the very core main lines of the railway network.  The […]

At War With The Motorist: The future that was

This entry was posted in at war with the motorist and tagged 1960s absurd solutions to transport problems buses carbon emissions cars china climate change congestion google history hoverboards hovercrafts jetpacks philip hammond self-driving cars shenzhen straddling bus the future traffic in towns on by

I bought a second hand copy of Traffic In Towns, the 1963 Buchanan Report to the Minister of Transport on the future of urban mobility and development.  It’s fabulous sci-fi full of depictions of the future of British cities, except that it was never intended as sci-fi but as a […]