Dispatches from the Post-Automobile Future, by Taras Grescoe
Ontario's Bicycles Aren't the Problem. "Ford Nation" Is the Problem. // At the end of the oughts, when I was working on my book Straphanger, everybody in the world of transportation and urbanism was horrified by, and obsessed with, Rob Ford, who was elected mayor
In the Swiss Alps, I Explore an Automobile-Free Paradise // When you think about it, there are very few inhabited places in the world that haven't been touched by automobile traffic. The empire of internal combustion and asphalt has stretched its tendrils into virtually every hamlet and outpost, no
Is Microtransit a Shuck, or an Essential Service? // Some years back, I was walking along the Viale di Trastevere, the main drag of one of my favourite neighborhoods in Rome. Because of my interest in transportation, I'm always on the look-out for anything new and unusual to me,
A Voyage Back to 1955, When Passenger Rail Still Ruled the Land // After spending some time in Europe—where I almost always get around by rail, usually of the high-speed variety—I'm inevitably beset by a sense of melancholy when I return to North America. On this continent,
And Other Inspiring Places where Books and Transport Meet // Last week, I wrote about the co-evolution of railways and books. To summarize: railway journeys, often of several hours, often in compartments, were ideal settings for reading a book, a newspaper, or a magazine. In the mid-19th century, booksellers such as
