![]() Marx's work helps us better understand the past and contemplate the kind of futures we might bring about. Road to Nowhere is a sharply rendered, compelling, and illuminating text that combines diffuse histories and complex processes into a clear narrative. Marx has written a wonderful book that explains why, and is persuasive about that better, more equitable future we could all have if we looked to Main Street instead of Sand Hill Road. I know it is heresy, but electric cars are still cars and they won't save us. ![]() is far ahead of the depressing pile of texts that put a 'left' gloss on techno-optimism Simon Pirani, I recommend Road to Nowhere not only for what it says about transport, but for its approach to technologies more generally. Jarrett Walker, author of Human TransitĪn astute and engaging critique of Silicon Valley’s visions for transportation, Marx highlights the problems of technology being driven by the needs of capital and crafts a compelling vision of a world where technology is instead used to deliver social good Wendy Liu, author of Abolish Silicon Valleyĭraws a compelling picture of the evolution of the Western vision of mobility. ![]() Brian Merchant, author of The One DeviceĪ lively summary of the ways Big Tech has distracted us from the urgent task of making our cities work for everyone. ![]() The path to a better, more equitable future of transit begins with the Road to Nowhere. Paris Marx's invaluable new book explains how and why big tech's utopian transit projects crashed and burned, why these disasters will keep finding funding if they are not opposed, and what the alternative might look like. The last decade has been a trainwreck for Silicon Valley's dreams of mobility. The book also argues that rethinking mobility can be the first step in a broader reimagining of how we organize our social, economic, and political systems to serve the many, not the few. In response, Paris Marx offers a vision for a more collective way of organizing transportation systems which considers the needs of poor, marginalized, and vulnerable peoples. Technological solutions to social problems and the people who propose them must be challenged if we are to build cities and transportation systems which serve the public good. Road to Nowhere exposes the problems with tech’s visions of the future and argues that we cannot allow ourselves to be continually distracted by technological fantasies that delay the collective solutions we already know are effective. ![]() The future of transport is frictionless, sustainable, and according to Paris Marx, a threat to our ideas of what a society should be. Meanwhile visionaries like Elon Musk promise to eliminate congestion with tunnels, and Uber help with flying cars. Micromobility devices like electric scooters will be at every corner, and drones will deliver goods and services. On-demand services like Uber and Lyft will eliminate car ownership. Autonomous vehicles will make us safer, greener, and more efficient. Silicon Valley wants us to believe that technology will revolutionize our cities and the ways we move around. ![]()
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