Do Androids Dream of Electric Cars?: Public Transit in the Age of Google, Uber, and Elon Musk

by James Wilt

Public transportation is in crisis. Through an assessment of the history of automobility in North America, the "three revolutions" in automotive transportation, as well as the current work of committed people advocating for a different way forward, James Wilt imagines what public transit should look like in order to be green and equitable. Wilt considers environment and climate change, economic and racial inequality, urban density, accessibility and safety, work and labour unions, privacy and control of personal data, as well as the importance of public and democratic decision-making.

Based on interviews wity more than forty experts, including community activists, academics, transit planners, authors, and journalists, Do Androids Dream of Electric Cars? explores our ability to exert power over how cities are built and for whom.

Genres: Nonfiction, Urbanism, Technology, Urban Planning, Cities

300 pages, Paperback

Published May 15, 2020

Reviews

[Myles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly informative and an inspiring vision of the future (if we work for it). James Wilt does such a good job outlining the assumed benefits of the “three revolutions”—electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles, and ride-sharing—and then methodically demonstrating how the issues they purportedly solve are better addressed by sustained and sizeable investment in public transit. I didn’t need convincing, but having it spelled out in such clear detail is nonetheless so very valuable.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful (a future to dream for)! Delightful (in that way where your deeply cynical and upset @ the state of public transit and Elon musk)! Read it, highlight it, send to a friend, etc.

[rabble.ca]

Review by Malcolm Araos:

In 2018, Elon Musk logged onto Twitter to share his ambition for the future of L.A. transit: a network of underground tunnels buzzing with electric self-driving Tesla cars. The system would have thousands of "small stations the size of a single parking space that take you very close to your destination and blend seamlessly into the fabric of a city," he tweeted.

Critics inevitably rolled their eyes. "Every two or three weeks," a commentator pointed out, "a tech guy accidentally invents the concept of a city bus."

Yet public bus and train systems across North America are crumbling, while Tesla stocks have risen alongside the popularity of private ride-sharing apps. Between 2014 and 2017, bus ridership in the U.S. plummeted by 14 per cent. In New York alone, subway ridership dropped by almost 30 million rides between 2016 and 2017. In Washington, D.C., subway stations are literally catching on fire, and due to a lack of funding for maintenance, flames lick the tracks unattended until someone tweets about it.

Keep reading: https://rabble.ca/books/reviews/2020/...

[Erin Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

ANTI-CAR CONTENT! 4.5 stars

It would be fascinating to read a post-pandemic update on this book, given people generally traveling less and being uncomfortable sharing spaces. I do wish it had discussed more the role of the oil industry in promoting (forcing) automobility. My only critique of the book is that it is so dense with good info, it would be hard as an intro for people not usually interested in this topic.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the book was an interesting and engaging read, some of the solutions offered could have used more explanation because as presented they seemed incomplete or not feasible

[Alex Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clearly lays out the situation we're in and what must be done.

[jac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Conversations in support of public transit so often fall to clinical calculations of saving money and improving efficiency, and I had somewhat expected this book to do the same, as I was unfarmilar with the authour's work prior to reading it.

I was so happily surprised to read not only a well done analysis of the benefits of public transportation and dangers of the turn towards this automated privatized technostate of transport, but also a resounding vision for a better world. The radical transit politics in this book are not built just around statistics, but around community and the way tansportation weaves so many different struggles together.

This book definetley showed me the fight for public transit as fundamental in this better world, and central to the fight against white supremacy, capitalism, ableism and climate change.

[Zanny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really informative book about the destructiveness of car culture (& by extension, the ride-sharing industry), and the ways that public transit is capable of being improved. I went into it already having some fairly strong opinions about the need for better public transit but I learned a lot from this book about the specifics of why it's necessary and how it can best be implemented. It's very informative and well-researched, with some great citations. It's also a very good source if you need some new reasons to hate Elon Musk even more than you already do. The man is committing OSHA violations because he thinks the color yellow is ugly.

Something that really struck me was an underlying theme I kept seeing - the fact that capitalism does not breed innovation. It breeds safe, risk-averse choices, because there is a fundamental fear of losing money. It's unfortunate that politicians put more value on money than they do their own constituents.

[Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Wilt does a great job of describing the problems facing transportation. Wilt also describes the ways in which speculative capitalist firms would like to privatize transportation to solve those problems, but also makes clear that those speculative solutions - even if they were to materialize - do not solve environmental issues or issues of equality and access (among a slew of others). Wilt effectively argues that the answer to these issues facing transportation already exists: public transportation, which has been effectively gutted due to austerity measures, must be an essential part of our transportation discussions moving forward.

[Matthew]

I really loved this book.
Wilt examines the evolution of transit and mobility according to a number of themes (climate, inequality, surveillance, labour and ability and disability) and shows how a more equitable future is possible through technological means that are available right now, and the challenge is overcoming political apathy.
The book is a well researched and fun read. I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in the future of cities and how we can build a more inviting and healthy environment for everyone

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Cars', Wilt argues that even the best case for automobility - one where we see a timely achievement of 'the three revolutions' of automation, ride-hailing, and electrification - fails to deliver the kind of low-carbon mobility for all that we so urgently need. If that's what we're after, we must organize for a well-funded, democratically planned, owned, and operated transit system.

[Chad Kohalyk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wilt's book is a rallying call in the fight against the hyperindividualizing experience of careening along highways at human-killing speeds, alone in a tin can, oblivious to the outside world. I cover the players in this battle in at the Literary Review of Canada: https://reviewcanada.ca/magazine/2020/10/shifting-gears/

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mandatory reading. Incisive and urgent reminder about the value of public transit and of the blatant lies sold to the public and governments by both ride sharing companies and electric vehicle manufacturers. Both fascinating and infuriating to read post Covid-19 when public transit is at an even greater threat, as this seems to have come out right at the precipice of the pandemic.

[Yusuf Rahman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wilt presents a comprehensive overview of the problems facing public transit and their potential solutions, but often wanders to other issues (which are important but don’t necessarily add to the core premise) instead of focusing solely on public transit.

[Ari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wilt makes the case for public transit as opposed to ride-sharing, electric, and automated vehicles. This is a must read for anyone fighting for a society that places people ahead of profits.

[Maggie Kovács · Rating 5 out of 5]

James "James Witt" Wilt makes a well-researched and compelling case for the expansion of public transit and phasing out of automobility

[Emily Eaton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book - loved it!

[Ananmay · Rating 4 out of 5]

elon musk sucks: the book

[Justin Morlock · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. Tax the rich
2. Abolish Uber
3. Invest in public transit
4. Everything is better!

[Kira · Rating 3 out of 5]

All of my reviews are on bookworm now ✌🏻 @kirworm