“Many of our technology-related problems arise because of the unforeseen consequences when apparently benign technologies are employed on a massive scale.” – Melvin Kranzberg

Stench and disposal of horse manure and urine increasingly difficult to manage by end of 19th century;

Metal horseshoes and iron-rimmed wheels created cacophony 

North America 1872 equine influenza incapacitated economy and stark reminder of the reliance on animal power [COVID]

Providing hay and oats for horses took up vast farmland 

“Paradoxically, the advent of the steam locomotive and the construction of intercity railway links, starting in the 1830s, had helped make the problem worse. Faster and more efficient transport between cities increased the demand for rapid transport of people and goods within them, which required a greater number of horse-drawn vehicles. The result was more horses, more manure and steadily worsening congestion.”

Debate about whether wheels originated in Mesopotamia or Europe or in between

Ljubljana Marshes Wheel in Slovenia dated to around 3200 BC one of earliest known wheels; made of wood for mine carts in that area and depicted on clay drinking vessels

In Europe wagons were used primarily for agriculture over small distances (carrying manure, harvests, firewood within community); around the Black Sea were used by nomads; in Mesopotamia for military transport and ceremonial use

“It was the idea of the wheel, rather than the specific knowledge of how to make it, that spread from its original birthplace. Once you’ve seen a wheel, after all, you can describe it to someone else or try to make your own something that is not possible with, say, novel metallurgical or agricultural techniques based on specialist knowledge. Even so, wheels were only adopted in situations where the time and effort needed to make them could be justified. And that explains the surprising fact that, for thousands of years after their invention, wheels were not widely used.”

Ancient Egypt knew of the wheel but didn’t use it because they had the Nile for transporting large loads, and levers and rollers for overland 

Two-wheel carts evolved into chariots around 2000 BC; spoked rather than solid wheels were lighter, faster, and could be made with less wood

Hittites pioneered fast, lightweight military chariots by 1700 BC, soon adopted by Egyptians 

War chariots could reach unprecedented 25 mph, took 600 man hours to build, expensive and high-tech weapons for elites

Chariots became obsolete due to progress in horse breeding for cavalry and ineffectiveness in uneven terrain, but still used by Romans for racing and to signify royalty 

Pompeii used alternating one-way streets to accommodate traffic in narrow streets

Mistaken belief that modern railway gauge of 1.43 meters) descended from Roman road ruts; since first wheeled vehicles gauge has been consistently between 1.3-1.6 m with average of 1.45, and multiple gauges in use for farm wagons in Britain before railroads invented 

Roman roads fell into disrepair after end of Roman Empire, with camels and horses then becoming the default 

For Rome, Persia, Assyria, horseback was the dignified way for men and rulers to travel; post-Rome carts and wagons held on in Europe for agriculture but considered shameful 

Horses separated noblemen and commanders from commoners or soldiers literally by height and by stature

By 1500, majority of wheeled vehicles (whenever still being used at all) were two-wheeled agricultural carts 

Late 1400s Hungary started using wagons in battle equipped with gunports and proving their appeal; Hungarian village Kocs (pronounced “coach”)

By 1560 Antwerp had more than 500 coaches (two in London and three in Paris), which spread in popularity among royalty 

New willingness to ride and hire coaches led to long-distance services on fixed routes with regular stops; gave rise to “stagecoach”

As popularity spread in Europe, streets were widened and straightened, parks included large carriageways

“That some countries ended up driving on the left, and others on the right, is an example of path dependency—the way decisions made in the past can constrain behaviors and choices in the future, making change difficult. The history of transport is, appropriately enough, full of path dependencies.”

Desire for smoother roads led to inverting the custom of large stone slabs atop bed of smaller stones; Scottish engineer John McAdam developed surface of small, sharp-edges stones packed together (macadam surface), and once tar was added by 20th century become tarmac

French philosopher Blaise Pascal pioneered concept of shared transport system of carriages on fixed routes in 1660s, but fizzled out when bourgeoisie didn’t want to admit they couldn’t afford their own 

Revived in 1820s by Stanislaus Baudry to encourage visits to public bath on city outskirts; soon popular and expanded to large “omnibus” vehicles open to all throughout Europe and New York City by 1830s

Subsidies offered to poorest workers in form of “commuted” fares 

“During the nineteenth century, new materials and propulsion technologies made possible entirely new kinds of vehicle, and the technology of human transport changed more in one hundred years than it had in the previous five thousand.”

Railway emerged in 1820s England, first connecting Liverpool and Manchester 

Railroads made getting in and out of cities quicker, allowing people to live farther away from work and thus spurred urban expansion and railroad cities 

America had laid 30k miles of track by 1860, more than the rest of the world combined 

“Cities linked by rail were suddenly closer together, in effect, redefining national geography.”

Connecting New York to Philadelphia in 1834 reduced journey time from two days to five hours 

Increased railroads also increased demand for horses to supplement 

1810s early versions of pedal-less bicycles emerged as velocipedes, which didn’t catch on as replacement for horses 

Breakthrough of pedals in 1860s, followed by tubular steel frames and wire spokes, rubber tires, chain drive of rear wheel, improved brakes by 1880s

“Steam trains had shown that horseless transport could be fast. Bicycles had shown that it could be personal. Could it be both? Was it possible to build a vehicle that was as fast as a train, as convenient and personal as a bicycle, and could travel on existing roads like a horse?

Internal combustion engine developed throughout mid-1800s; in 1885 attached to a bicycle for first motorcycle 

German engineer Benz developed combustion engine and built large tricycle around it, patented in January 1886 as Motorwagen

Starting in 1880s, cyclists lobbied for better roads and removal of road restrictions 

Increased hostility toward (wealthy) motorists at turn of century 

Woodrow Wilson in 1906 as Princeton president: “Nothing has spread socialistic feeling in this country more than the use of automobiles. To the countryman they are a picture of arrogance of wealth with all its independence and carelessness.”

Model T had the power and ruggedness of a touring car without being as large, heavy, or expensive; used vanadium steel to make engine and all other metal light yet powerful

Ford marketed Model T as “the universal car” for its durability and range; captured 11% of American car market its first year in 1908 to 46% in 1914

Assembly line brought production time for a single vehicle down from 12 hours to 93 minutes 

Starting in 1914 Ford paid $5 for eight-hour day (double the industry rate) which cut costs; before this, 71% of new hires left within five days 

By 1922 the Model T accounted for 57% of world automobile production 

Car ownership skyrocketed in America due to higher incomes, cheaper cars, lower fuel taxes

GM emerged as Ford’s opposite: variety of makes at different price points, offered installment payments and trade-ins, yearly design tweaks (“dynamic obsolescence”)

Auto fatalities rose from 36 in 1900 to 11k in 1920; regulations and street furniture established in 1920s persist to today

Manufacturers added ignition keys and door locks around 1912, letting owners leave them unattended on the street; parked cars a rarity in photos before 1910 then commonplace by 1915

First traffic light was installed in Cleveland in 1914; green for go, white for caution, red for stop

Meaning and order of lights became international standard in the 1920s with the help of the League of Nations; US didn’t participate but acted as de facto standards-setter

Public opinion against reckless drivers as cause of fatalities, but industry groups and AAA teamed up for new campaign focusing on careless pedestrians 

“Jay” was a slang term for a clueless country bumpkin unsure of how to behave in a city; jaywalkers term by traffic officers starting in 1915

Hitler inspired by America’s car-heavy culture and sought to make car ownership easier, developed the Volkswagen for affordable small car for the masses

William Levitt a navy veteran who applied GM assembly line techniques to home-building; Levittown established in 1947 Long Island with homes built every 15 minutes

Thanks to Robert Moses’s building spree, Levittown had highway connections to all the NYC boroughs; “this new suburban lifestyle was, in other words, doubly indebted to the car.”

Streetcars, once the only form of public transport in many American cities, had all but vanished by 1937

Smartphones are the new car with the freedom it grants to socialize, shop, transport 

Alcohol initially a viable alternative to gasoline and derived from crops, but gasoline cheaper and more plentiful in America as new oil fields discovered

“The experience of the twentieth century suggests that it would be a mistake to replace one transport monoculture with another, as happened with the switch from horses to cars—and would happen again if, say, autonomous cars became the dominant mode of transport in the future. A transport monoculture is less flexible, and its unintended consequences become more easily locked in and more difficult to address. With a mixed, flexible system there is much less danger of path dependency—where decisions made in the past make subsequent change harder to bring about—and more scope for experimentation.”