Ghost Road: Beyond the Driverless Car

by Anthony M. Townsend

For decades we have tried to build a car that will drive itself. Anthony M. Townsend’s Ghost Road argues convincingly that the driverless car is a red herring. When self-driving technology infects buses, bikes, delivery vans, and even buildings, a wild, woollier, future awaits.

Technology will transform life behind the wheel into a hi-def video game that makes our ride safer, smoother, and more efficient. Meanwhile, autonomous vehicles will turbocharge our appetite for the instant delivery of goods, making the future as much about moving stuff as it is about moving people. For-profit companies will link the automated machines that move us to the cloud, raising concerns about mobility monopolies and privatization of “the curb.” Our cities and towns will change as we embrace new ways to get around.

Ghost Road explains where we might be headed together in driverless vehicles, and the choices we must make as societies and individuals to shape that future.

Genres: Technology, Urban Planning

320 pages, Hardcover

Published June 9, 2020

About the author

Anthony M. Townsend is the author of Ghost Road and Smart Cities, and the president and founder of Star City Group, a strategic foresight and urban planning studio. He lives in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: A fascinating, balanced look at the possible futures of autonomous vehicles.

Although I thought Anthony Townsend's first book, Smart Cities, relied a bit too heavily on anecdote, it presented enough interesting ideas that I was quite excited for his new book. The author is the founder of a 'strategic foresight and urban planning studio' and those specialties both show in the strengths of this book. He really narrows in on this one specific technology - autonomous vehicles (AVs). He is incredibly creative in the ways he imagines AVs might changes our lives. These changes will probably be largely in urban locations, especially at first, and the author paints a particularly vivid picture of the future of cities as AVs become more ubiquitous. I also appreciate his ability to recognize both the positive and negative changes AVs might make to our lives.

This book definitely suffers less than his previous book from being composed mostly of anecdotes. The first two of three sections have clear thematic connections, as do each of the individual chapters. The third section was a little more disjointed, but I had to stop and think about structure to notice it. Individual topics flow seamlessly into one another and are fascinating enough to distract from the small organizational issues in the concluding section.

Every chapter began with a story. I found this engaging, but I wish I couldn't see the author pulling the strings so much. I knew he was trying to draw me in by beginning this way and I think the best books do this without also drawing your attention to what they're doing. The fact that whole book doesn't read as a narrative is, I think, what prevented me from falling completely in love with it. This was an incredibly fascinating, creative, balanced look at the many possible futures of AVs. If you have someone you'd enjoy discussing AVs with, I'd highly recommend this book as a great conversation starter. It's just a little too purely informational, without enough narrative, to be one of my absolute favorites.This review was originally posted on Doing Dewey

[Andrew Breza · Rating 4 out of 5]

I live in Washington DC. I can use public transportation to get to the National Mall in about 30 minutes. My wife and I love how connected we feel to the rest of the city (or at least did before the pandemic). Prior to becoming full-time remote, I used to commute on a train 100 minutes each way to my job in an exurb. I often fantasized about a self-driving car whisking me directly to the office as I napped. Undoubtedly that would have been cool. But what else would that mean? Would I have bought a house a quarter mile from the Metro if I had an automated vehicle? Maybe I could have achieved the same feeling of connectedness by moving outside of the urban area. After all, automated vehicles could reduce the feeling of distance from my favorite museums, restaurants, and shops when an AV could take me to them or bring me their goods without having to drive.

In the book Ghost Road, Anthony Townsend offers comprehensive predictions about the changes autonomous vehicles could bring society as a whole. I would describe the tone as cautiously optimistic. I don't agree with every prediction, but the fun of a book like this is using it to hone my own thinking about a topic.

[Nat Zorach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought provoking critique of the current push toward autonomous vehicles that combines research-heavy journalism with complex historical and academic critique. Very readable and accessible, critical but not gloomy, and excellent contexts provided

[CatReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating and thought-provoking. I had presumed based on the title that the book would focus on driverless cars, but it goes well beyond that. Similar themes to futurist Amy Webb's recent book The Big Nine.

[Adam Menashe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting things to consider as society defines the problem statement for autonomous vehicles. Similarly to most engineering projects, it seems like we are defining the problem statement after the design is most of the way done...

[Phillip · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 / 5.0

NOT AS INSIGHTFUL AND EXPLICIT AS LECTURE. EASY READ. DISSAPOINTING END ADDRESSED TO CODERS. THEMES ARE NOT WELL CONNECTED. TOO GEE WHIZ AND BEWARE

[Steven Beningo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good look at issues involving driverless vehicles, and how those vehicles may share our future.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fear the new! Fear what you don't know! Ask your beloved local politician to vote some more vague laws and hopefully the newly created agencies will employ Townsend. Or, at least, some TV host who does not have enough fear for his morning show will pay Townsend as "expert".