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How cyclists, not drivers, first fought to pave US roads
- malbs 12y agonot just in the US - from the stuff I've read (and I can't cite anything), here in Australia the roads were originally sealed to improve cycling conditions!
- antr 12y agoA few months ago I attended a conference where they spoke very clearly about how the automobile industry, in the early 1900's, used marketing to make roads their own. Here is the talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHA4xN1dEkM&t=2m8s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHA4xN1dEkM&t=2m8s and this part of the interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyT8AUn3cuU&t=10m30s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyT8AUn3cuU&t=10m30s
- agumonkey 12y agoInteresting historical artefacts.
- Gifford 12y ago99pi did a story recently on how the auto industry fabricated the crime of "jaywalking" to get people out of the streets and seize the streets for cars.
- antr 12y agocorrect, in the above talk they mention the origins of "jaywalking". i found it fascinating.
- innguest 12y agoSo cyclists started raising money for roads in the 1900s from private individuals ("Pope [...] and other special interest groups"), private companies ("asphalt manufacturers") and 16 years later when it was too late, the government passed some bill to give themselves credit for funding the roads by saying they would match state contributions. And now everyone thinks if it weren't for the government we couldn't have roads.
- Gifford 12y agoYes, private parties stated, smd government partnership made it actually happen
- joshuapants 12y agoYou could have roads without the government, you'd be unlikely to have an effective interstate highway system without it. Or something like the Garden State Parkway.
- jug5 12y agoWho would have thought bicycles predated the automobile.
- BrentSkillhd 12y agoVery interesting. Who woulda thought!