I am not an expert in the field of transportation but I am interested in the history of technology and the synthesis of various areas of expertise, which is why I found this book rewarding.
The title and the major part headings were a bit vague but further reading proved to be worthwhile.
Parts include:
Life Cycle of the Railroads
Modal Experiences
Transit, Turnpike, highways, canals, ocean, aviation
Inputs and Outputs
Communication, energy, environment, finance, forecasting, time, land
Creating Experiences
Innovation, technology, imagination, benefits
Speculations
The book is accessible to an educated reader and advanced knowledge of the field of transportation is not necessary. However, a broad interest in transportation, policy, city planning, economics, geography, and in particular, network development is definitely a plus. If you can read academic writing this book is fine.
The main question that the book asks is: Why can't we do better in the field of transportation? This question is then answered by looking not only at transportation itself but all the other areas that affect transportation. The book looks at well developed modes of transport (railroad) and speculates about possible futures, such as PRT (personal rapid transit). The authors' aim to use the past to speculate on the future and to point alternative routes of development that are still available to other parts of world. This is interesting for not being purely descriptive, though it is heavy in case history.
One of the interesting facts that I found in the book was that the S-curve of innovation was first used by Tarde in 1890, which makes all the self-glorious management books on innovation neither overly innovative nor well researched.
Overall, a surprisingly good read for me. The pull-out boxes provide interesting short reading the history of various things such as Bell Labs, air mail, and the US Army Corps of Engineer. The main body of the text asks and analyses why the field of transportation has not done better but argues we can do well in the future if we, the reader, understand the underlying history, logic, and knowledge boundaries of transportation systems.
I give it 4 and a half stars, but I never give 5.
