The Impact of New Transport Technologies on Intraurban Mobility: A View from the Past

This article considers the impact of new transportation technologies on intraurban mobility in the 20th century. The authors argue that mobility change over the past century or so may be less than is sometimes assumed. The authors use four scenarios to focus their discussion: changes in the journey to work over the 20th century; the experience of new travel technologies by an adolescent female in the late 19th century; perceptions of competing forms of urban transport in Manchester and Glasgow in the interwar period; and changes in the everyday mobility of children aged 10 – 11 years since the 1940s. The article includes extensive quotes of first-person transportation experiences in these four settings. The authors contend that, although the material experience of everyday transport has changed significantly over the past century with the advent of new transport technologies, the aspirations and decisions of people with regard to everyday mobility have not changed. In addition, the technological advances did not necessarily increase benefits to all travelers. A final section considers the implications of these conclusions for contemporary transportation policies.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/0308518X
• Authors:
  • Pooley, Colin
  • Turnbull, Jean
  • Adams, Mags
• Publication Date: 2006-2

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 253-267
• Serial:
  • Environment and Planning A
  • Volume: 38
  • Issue Number: 2
  • Publisher: Pion Limited
  • ISSN: 0308-518X
  • EISSN: 1472-3409
  • Serial URL: http://www.envplan.com/A.html

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: 20th century; Children; Commuting; Gender; History; Mobility; Sociology; Technology; Travel behavior; Travelers; Urban areas; Urban population
• Geographic Terms: Glasgow (Scotland); Manchester (England)
• Subject Areas: Economics; Highways; History; Planning and Forecasting; Safety and Human Factors; Society; I10: Economics and Administration;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01045304
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 26 2007 8:06PM