Peter Norton and I discuss his new book
Channel: Active Towns
Date: 2022-01-14

In Autonorama: The Illusory Promise of High-Tech Driving, technology historian Peter Norton argues that driverless cars cannot be the safe, sustainable, and inclusive “mobility solutions” that tech companies and automakers are promising us. The salesmanship behind the driverless future is distracting us from investing in better ways to get around that we can implement now. Unlike autonomous vehicles, these alternatives are inexpensive, safe, sustainable, and inclusive.

I'm excited to have Peter back on the Podcast for a second time. We not only dive into the sales pitch being served up to us about autonomous vehicles and a utopian world of car dependency, but we talk about the real-life pragmatic solutions that we should be focusing on such as a sustainable safety approach to mobility network design and the example provided in The Netherlands in the Dutch cycle path and transit network integration. And specifically the power of mobility choice.

Helpful Links (note: may include affiliate links to help me support the channel)
- Landing Page for this episode: https://www.activetowns.org/2022/01/14/autonorama/
- Autonorama: The Illusory Promise of High-Tech Driving published by Island Press: https://bookshop.org/a/85379/9781642832402
- Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City published by MIT Press: https://bookshop.org/a/85379/9780262516129 or https://amzn.to/3AbN3Ka 
- How did the Dutch get their cycle paths video by BicycleDutch: https://youtu.be/SYHz93HXJFQ
- The Best Country in the World for Driving - The Netherlands a video by Not Just Bikes: https://youtu.be/d8RRE2rDw4k
- Audio-only version of this conversation: https://share.transistor.fm/s/2e719e6e
- My first podcast episode with Peter: https://bit.ly/3bXX5BX

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Credits: Video, music, and audio production by John Simmerman

Resources used during the production of this video:
- My recording platform is Ecamm Live: https://bit.ly/3rwsUup
- Editing software Adobe Creative Cloud Suite: https://bit.ly/35DBDDU

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Background: 
Hi Everyone! My name is John Simmerman, and I’m a health promotion and public health professional with over 30 years of experience. Over the years, my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization in how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.

Since 2010,  I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be while striving to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."

The Active Towns Channel features my original video content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them. 

Thanks once again for tuning in! I hope you find this content helpful and insightful.

Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2022