Here's a review of my book in the journal Technology and Culture, which
most of you on this list probably would not otherwise see!

Best,

            --Jonathan


Technology and culture, July 2005

Transport of Delight: The Mythical Conception of Rail Transit in Los
Angeles. By Jonathan Richmond. Akron, Ohio: University of Akron Press,
2005. Pp. xix+498. $49.95.

"This book is a study about the failure of thought and its causes," writes
Jonathan Richmond in his introduction to Transport of Delight. "It starts
with a bizarre decision: to construct a comprehensive rail passenger
system in an environment where it appears incapable of providing real
benefits." Richmond analyzes the decision to redeploy rail-borne public
transit in a metropolitan area infamous for its congestion, smog, and
sprawl, and, most importantly, where he believes that by any rational
measure buses provide a superior mode of transit. He finds the explanation
for this decision in the power of myth and symbol, image and metaphor,
citing extensively from linguistic experts such as Susan Langer, George
Lakoff, and Martin Fossand on his first page quoting a passage from
Russell Ackoff's The Art of Problem Solving: "We usually try to reduce
complex situations to what appear to be one or more simple solvable
problems . . . sometimes referred to as 'cutting the problem down to
size.' In so doing we often reduce our chances of finding a creative
solution to the original problem." This is exactly what Richmond believes
happened in Los Angeles beginning in the 1980s.

Richmond has done his homework. His book is based in part on more than two
hundred interviews with public officials. He presents a history of Henry
Huntington's Pacific Electric, the storied Red Car system that once
operated 1,100 miles of track radiating in all directions from Los
Angeles. He evaluates the case for modern light rail and the forecasting
methodology used to predict passenger demand for the first route planned
for the Los Angeles area, the Blue Line connecting with the region's
second-largest city, Long Beach. He reports that ridership forecasts were
initially inflated. Then, just before the line opened, they were deflated
in order to make the actual numbers look good.

Transport of Delight devotes considerable attention to the political
decision-making process that led to passage of Proposition A, the local
half-cent tax that funded the return of electric railways, a process
ultimately dependent on "availability of a set of symbols, images, and
metaphors which come together coherently to create a myth that acts with
the power of truth" (p. 6). The human body's circulation system, for
example, became a powerful metaphor for transit planners. Likewise
valuable was the perception among civic leaders that electric trains were
"sexier" than buses, a perception Richmond addresses at length in a
section titled "The Train as Symbol of Community Pride: Penis Envy in Los
Angeles."

Richmond notes the power of the mental image that remained after the last
Red Cars disappeared in 1961, an image that gave rise to the notion that
[End Page 661] the demise of a superior mode of transit was the result of
a conspiracy in which General Motors played a key role. The first local
railway started running between the harbor and downtown Los Angeles in
1869, the last Red Car line operated along this same corridor, and, thirty
years after service ended on that line, rail-borne transit was reborn in
the form of the Blue Line. This, Richmond feels certain, was a big
mistake. In his view, buses are a superior mode of transit for Los
Angeles, particularly in terms of their cost-effectiveness; just about
everything involving an electric railway is vastly more expensive than
rubber tire on paved roadway.

The Blue Line was brought into existence not on the basis of any rational
assessment of available choices, but to reward political acumen,
particularly that of County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn (now deceased, though
his son became mayor of Los Angeles), through whose Fourth District was
routed not only the Blue Line but also two other new electric rail
lines -- all this in the wake of devastating riots in South Central Los
Angeles and repeated recommendations that improved transit would have
beneficial social consequences.

The problem was "cut down to size," yes, but Richmond is certain that it
was the wrong size. Whatever one may happen to think about the virtues of
different modes of urban transit, Transport of Delight presents an
excellent case study in the power of myth, and it provides us with a
compelling picture of a place where culture and technology blend
seamlessly.

James Smart
Jim Smart is adjunct professor of journalism and public speaking at
California State University Fullerton and Cal State San Bernardino. From
1981 until 1998 he served as head of media relations for the Southern
California Rapid Transit District and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan
Transportation Authority.

Permission to reprint a review published here may be obtained only from
the reviewer.


-----
Jonathan Richmond
182 Palfrey St.
Watertown MA 02472-1835

(617) 395-4360

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http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/