Roger Ramjets
Philosopher
Don't conflate two different things. Big Auto is not Big Oil. Oil companies had little involvement in roading infrastructure. Before gas cars became popular, oil companies were doing just fine selling other products such as heating oil and kerosene. The first 'Big Oil' company was Standard Oil,
In supplying gasoline to motor car drivers, 'Big Oil' was simply responding to demand.
In the early days electric cars were preferred in cities because they were much more user-friendly. All you had to was plug it in to charge the batteries, and go. No nasty liquids, no fumes, no back-firing, virtually no maintenance, and most importantly no hand cranking. Anybody could drive an electric car, while gas cars needed a strong man who was mechanically minded and willing to risk breaking his arm (or worse) starting the damn thing.
But electric cars had downsides too. Lower range - fine in the city but not for rural areas that didn't have electricity. Low speed, again great for cities but not so great for long distance travel. And they were more expensive than gas cars. A gas car had the advantage that you could carry extra fuel and stockpile it where you needed it, whereas electric cars needed a mains electricity supply nearby (which was far from universal in those days). Then the electric starter motor was invented, and gas cars took off because now anyone could drive them.
The idea that 'Big Oil' pushed motor cars onto an unwilling public is ludicrous. People bought them because they wanted them, and they wanted them because they were a huge advance over the horse and cart - especially in places like the US where large distances were involved. In 1908 when Henry Ford introduced the Model T, 54% of Americans lived in rural areas. Roading infrastructure expanded to meet the needs of those drivers, not city dwellers (who were quite happy walking or using public transport).
Of course car makers promoted this new technology in glowing terms without mentioning the downsides, and naturally they wanted better roads etc. to support motor cars. But people didn't have to buy them. Even after Ford dramatically lowered the cost of production, a motor car was an expensive item to purchase and maintain. The average person needed a good reason to spend that kind of money - and they had one - freedom. The freedom go where you wanted when you wanted without wasting too much time getting there. That's not something they were brainwashed into believing - it's inherent in human nature.
Of course in reality it wasn't that simple. The more cars you have the more roads you need, and when everybody drives into the city at once you have a big problem. Cities have been struggling to provide sufficient infrastructure ever since motor cars became popular. But they struggled to deal with horse traffic before that.
This wasn't a conspiracy dreamed up by Big Auto and Big Oil to get people hooked on gas cars, it just happened - because everyone wants a better life for themselves, but nobody looks at the big picture.
To a large extent that's true. They wouldn't be so popular if it wasn't. Just because we weren't born with wheels doesn't mean the desire for effortless mobility isn't inherent. For millennia we only had animals to satisfy that desire, and they had considerable downsides.
Back in the 1960s we used horses on the farm. Then the farm bike was invented by a guy from New Plymouth in New Zealand. These have low gearing suitable for riding hilly country at low speed. My dad got one and put a tray on the back for the dog to ride on. He got rid of the horse soon after. I never learned to ride a horse properly, but it only took a minute to get used to the bike (though it was quite funny to see my dad kneeing the bike's fuel tank to make it 'go faster').
More than just a couple of bike paths here. The only problem is cars are more versatile and a lot less effort, so few people ride bikes. However that is changing now as electric bikes are becoming more capable. It is quite possible to ride on cycle ways all the way to the next city, and with how clogged the motorway is at peak traffic time not much slower! But not great in bad weather or when you have cargo.
I wasn't that impressed. The city seemed crowded, and that was a long time ago when its population was much lower. Things weren't as rosy back then as you imagine.
The Truth About Horse-Drawn Carriages in New York City
Hang on a minute, that was in 2007!
New York, manure and stairs: when horses were the cities’ nightmares
If 200 are a problem, imagine the chaos caused by 170,000 of them!
But hey, I bet it was Big Oats who manipulated people's thinking to the extent where it didn't even occur to them to try looking outside the box.
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