Bias in Schiller's "Introduction to Sustainable Transportation"

Preston Schiller, in Introduction to Sustainable Transportation, presents a highly biased view of the situation of the American transport system. His condemnation of an automobile society does not offer a sufficiently deep discussion of the benefits that “business as usual” provides (Schiller 2). The development of the automobile-dominated transportation system has produced economic, social, and environmental benefits as well as problems.

Schiller mentions the opposing viewpoint only once in the 24 page chapter. On page 5, he states, “Currently, some of these impacts are beneficial, as when people find it easier to get medical help in an emergency.” This is merely a nod to the opposition, not the beginning of a serious debate. Even before the end of the sentence, Schiller dismisses this claim, declaring that “many [impacts] are not beneficial or are even extremely harmful, as when transportation-generated pollution threatens human health and even the survival of life on Planet Earth.” (5) The diction of this sentence suggests that it would be ludicrous to believe that business as usual had any more than the slightest positive impact: Schiller juxtaposes an isolated minor benefit with severe and partially inaccurate costs. Although pollution can threaten human health and may even lead to the extinction of some species, life on Earth has shown great resiliency, adapting in the wake of catastrophes that dwarf the impact of modern humanity’s transportation pollution.

The car has revolutionized the global economy, primarily through increased mobility. Cars provide both high speeds that allow people to travel long distances (lacking in foot, bicycle, or horse traffic) and flexibility to choose from many possible routes (lacking in public transit systems). “Compared to other modes of travel, the speed and flexibility of automobile travel gives people access to many times more housing, jobs, and consumer goods, and gives employers a much wider pool of potential employees.” (Cox 38-39) The direct costs, including negative externalities, of automobile transportation are much lower than the costs of public transit. (Cox 54) The increased mobility also allows efficiency gains through greater specialization. Although many of the economic costs described by Schiller, including infrastructure, congestion, and loss of productive land, are legitimate, the economic benefits far outweigh these costs. (7)

Schiller discusses many social problems that result from a loss of community life and attributes all of them to a car-dependent society. (13) However, this problem has deeper, more complicated causes. Jacobs discusses these causes more fully and gives an example of a carless society, a high rise public housing project, which also lacks the sense of community life. (42-43) Schiller also neglects the social benefits that cars provide. The increased mobility provided by cars allows people to stay in contact with one another despite large spatial separation and on a deeper level than the relationships sustained by the recent communications revolution.

Car ownership is widely prevalent, even in lower income groups. Over 90% of American households own a car. (Cox 49) This nearly ubiquitous car ownership provides substantial transportation equity. Public transportation cannot provide this level of equity: it arbitrarily rewards some (those who live near stations or bus stops) with shorter transportation times, while punishing others (who live farther away). These decisions are inflexible and determined by government bureaucrats rather than through an open market. The social consequences of a car dependent society are more complicated than Schiller portrays them and include both positive and negative aspects.

Business as usual does have negative environmental consequences, both through direct pollution and as a consequence of urban sprawl. These problems can be controlled without abandoning the car culture entirely. Increasingly stringent emissions tests and fuel efficiency standards have consistently reduced pollution levels, even as driving has increased. (Cox 56-58) The emission of greenhouse gases can also be reduced by increasing fuel efficiency and the use of hybrid and electric cars. The negative effects of urban sprawl can also be mitigated through mixed land use in suburbs. None of the environmental problems associated with business as usual necessitate the abandonment of the car culture; they can be resolved without drastically changing the transportation system.

Schiller’s discussion does not sufficiently investigate any positive results of an automobile dependent society. The car culture in which we live has given us many economic and social benefits at a decreasing environmental cost. Although Schiller brings up many good criticisms of our society, these problems can be resolved within the system rather than through a complete revolution in our society’s transportation.

Works Cited:

Cox, Wendell, Alan Pisarski, and Ronald D. Utt. "The Social Benefits and Costs of the Automobile." 21st century highways: innovative solutions to America's transportation needs. Washington, DC: The Heritage Foundation, 2005.

Jacobs, Jane. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: Random House, 1961.

Schiller, Preston, Eric C. Bruun, and Jeffrey R. Kenworthy. Introduction to Sustainable Transportation: Policy, Planning and Implementation. London: Earthscan, 2010.