Road to Nowhere (2022 book)

Road to Nowhere: What Silicon Valley Gets Wrong about the Future of Transportation
AuthorParis Marx
LanguageEnglish
PublisherVerso Books
Publication date
2022
Publication placeCanada
Media typePrint (hardcover and paperback)
ISBN978-1839765889

Road to Nowhere: What Silicon Valley Gets Wrong about the Future of Transportation is a 2022 non-fiction book by Canadian author Paris Marx.[1]

Summary

The book covers a number of emerging technologies in mass transportation, particularly those that have been widely advocated for by corporations in Silicon Valley, such as ridesharing companies, electric cars, and the Hyperloop. Analysing those technologies, Marx criticises the vision of transportation put forward by Silicon Valley corporations, saying that they fail to resolve many of the issues facing mass transportation, such as environmental and cost-of-living concerns. Marx further advocates for a greater emphasis on collective methods to tackle those issues instead, including public transportation and more democratic urban planning.[2][3]

Reception

Alastair Dalton of The Scotsman said the book offers "a nightmarish vision of the direction in which technology is taking transport" and "underlines the extraordinary toll exacted by motor vehicles."[4] Rob Larson of Jacobin noted that there were some relevant topics that Marx failed to discuss, namely the use of private jets, but that the book was a "fun read" that "pairs brutally realistic analysis with a consummately Canadian level of indictment."[5] Matthew James Seidel of Protean Magazine described the book as "a sharply rendered, compelling, and illuminating text that combines diffuse histories and complex processes into a clear narrative" and that its "most essential message is its insistence that, whatever the promise of new technologies, they will never serve anyone but the privileged—unless decisions about their use are made in a democratic manner."[6]

References

  1. ^ Nocos, Clement (13 July 2022). "Billionaire tech visions won't save us from climate catastrophe". Broadbent Institute. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  2. ^ Dimitrijevic, Sophie (10 August 2022). "BetterPod: Paris Marx on Silicon Valley and the future of transportation". The Big Issue. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  3. ^ Jones, Stephen (6 August 2022). "Don't trust 'narcissistic, self-interested' billionaires like Elon Musk to improve transport, author says". Insider. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  4. ^ Dalton, Alastair (22 June 2022). "Book review: Road to Nowhere – Silicon Valley and the Future of Mobility, by Paris Marx". The Scotsman. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  5. ^ Larson, Rob (1 August 2022). "Elon Musk and Silicon Valley Don't Know How to Fix the Transportation System". Jacobin. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  6. ^ Seidel, Matthew James (29 June 2022). "Transit Democracy: Paris Marx's Road to Nowhere". Protean Magazine. Retrieved 11 August 2022.


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