ABSTRACT
Cars, cars, fast, fast! One is seized, filled with enthusiasm, with joy . . . the joy of power. The simple and naive pleasure of being in the midst of power, of strength. One participates in it. One takes part in this society that is just dawning. One has confidence in this new society: it will find a magnificent expression of its power. One believes in it. (Le Corbusier, 1929)
Los Angeles. . . Tomorrow’s City visible today, the city of multilane freeways, the city of the automobile . . . where there are districts where a human biped denuded of any conveyance and primitively ambulating along a pavement is so disconcerting a sight as to call for instant interrogation by the police. (Elaine Morgan, 1976)
Earlier chapters in this book have shown how mass mobility has changed the world irrevocably, rubbing out boundaries, changing lifestyles, opening up opportunities for economic advancement and shrinking the world for its people. But mobility is unequally distributed and has damaging sideeffects on the quality of our lives. This chapter examines these issues in general terms and then focuses on specific impacts - those of transport deprivation, accidents, ‘livability’ of urban areas and the effects of transport on human health.
