★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ American ★ ★ Dream ★ ★ Coalition ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ The Greatest Invention How Automobiles Made America Great by Randal O’Toole American Dream Coalition September 2006 The Greatest Invention: How Automobiles Made America Great by Randal O’Toole American Dream Coalition Post Office Box 1590 Bandon, Oregon 97411 americandreamcoalition.org September 2006 Abstract The automobile has been widely criticized for its so- wildlife and watersheds, and another 40 million acres cial costs, including accidents, pollution, and changes of pasture to the production of higher-valued crops. to urban form. But few of the critics consider the many In comparison, the 21 million or so acres of low-den- benefits that the auto has produced for the average sity suburban development that has taken place since American. This paper fills that gap, showing that the 1945 is relatively insignificant. automobile has played a large or dominant role in: Because of these benefits, it is reasonable to call • Increasing personal incomes by seven times; the mass-produced automobile the greatest inven- • Increasing personal mobility by six to eight tion in the 230 years since the American republic was times; founded. Those who seek to reduce the amount of • Increasing homeownership rates by nearly 50 driving people do by imposing disincentives to the percent; auto or allowing traffic congestion to increase risk • Reducing the cost of consumer goods and in- killing, or at least limiting, the automotive goose that creasing the variety of such goods by up to 100 laid the golden egg of American prosperity. times or more; This paper recommends that governments should • Enabling the civil rights and women’s liberation be neutral regarding people’s transportation choices, movements; only insuring that people pay the full costs of their • Making outdoor sports and numerous other rec- choices. Transportation agencies should be led by reational and social opportunities available to the transportation professionals, not political appointees, average person; and funded as much as possible out of user fees such • Providing rapid access to fire and other emergency as gasoline taxes, tolls, and transit fares. Subsidies services and swift escape from natural disasters. needed for purposes of social equity should be given to Automobiles, trucks, and tractors also allowed a transportation users, not transportation bureaucracies. significant improvement in land uses in this coun- These policy guidelines will insure that government try. Since they replaced horses for most farming and programs produce transportation systems that are safe hauling uses, farmers converted 80 million acres of and efficient, allowing the nation to continue enjoying horsepasture to forests, which are far superior for the benefits of the greatest invention in its history. Contents Introduction . .5 Mobility . .6 Incomes . .8 Freight Transport Costs . .11 Consumer Costs . 12 Consumer Goods . 13 Social & Recreational Benefi ts . 16 Health and Safety . 17 Freedom . 18 Land Use . .19 SOVs and SUVs . 20 Recommendations . .22 References . .24 Tables and Figures Figure One—Personal Mobility in the Twentieth Century . .6 Figure Two—Transit and Highway Subsidies and Use, 1987–2004 . .7 Figure Three—Income Per Worker and Per Capita . .8 Figure Four—Transportation Costs . 12 Figure Five—Personal Costs . 12 Table One—Consumer Costs as a Share of Personal Income . .12 Table Two—Homes and Businesses on University Avenue . .14 Cover Photos 1. 1938 Buick “Y-job,” the fi rst concept car and in- spiration for many post-war auto designs. 1 2 3 2. Ad for 1950 Ford. 3. 1929 Packard. 4. 1954 Dodge FireArrow concept car. 4 5 5. 1955 Chevrolet Nomad. 6. Ad for 1939 Ford “woody” station wagon. 6 7. Biodiesel-powered Ford pickup truck. 7 8 8. 1940 Chrysler Thunderbolt concept car. 9. 1956 Chevrolet and matching Glastron boat. 10. Postage stamp depicting 1954 Kaiser Darrin. 9 10 Uncredited anonymous photos are in the public domain or have GNU Free Documentation Licenses. 4 S D Q W F G Z H G C The Greatest Invention Executive Summary In 1900, the United States was a rich and grow- • In 1900, many women and most blacks were ing nation, yet many of the benefits of that wealth trapped in oppressive social systems. The au- were accessible to just a few. Only the wealthy, and tomobile offered escape, enabling the civil some whose jobs depended on travel, frequented rights and womens liberation movements; passenger trains, dined regularly in restaurants, • In 1900, the average grocery store stocked or regularly wore fine clothes. fewer than 300 items on its shelves. Today, For many urban dwellers, life was harsh: living the variety of foods and other consumer in high-density tenements, walking to factory goods has increased by 100 times or more— jobs that demanded long hours and offered low and quality has increased as well; pay. Life in rural areas was, in many ways, even • In 1900, only upper-class families could af- worse. While a larger share of families owned ford to take an annual vacation—most em- their own homes, they were rarely able to leave ployees worked six days a week, fifty-two their farms. Life for women in particular was weeks a year. The automobile (and the mov- especially lonely. ing assembly line that made mass production The mass-produced automobile changed possible) reduced the work week and made everything. The moving assembly lines that Henry annual vacations the norm; Ford developed to build his Model Ts increased • In 1900 outdoor sports such as skiing, back- worker incomes and made mobility affordable to packing, and river running were either acces- the average family. The use of trucks for ship- sible only to the very wealthy or did not exist ping, especially when aided by intermodal con- at all. Today millions of people engage in in- tainers, greatly reduced consumer costs. numerable outdoor sports each year, many of Some of the benefits that are largely or entirely which are only accessible by auto. due to the automobile include: Railroads, bicycles, streetcars, and subways • In 1900, the average American traveled less have all played a role in American transportation. than 3,000 miles per year, mainly on foot, But no other form of transportation has pro- and many lived and died without ever jour- duced such huge benefits at such a low cost as the neying more than fifty miles from home. automobile. Despite these benefits, some people Today the average American travels close to argue that we should rely less on autos and more 20,000 miles per year, mostly in automobiles, on other forms of transport. They support gov- and thinks nothing of taking trips of several ernment policies, funding, and rules promoting hundred miles; alternatives to the auto and hindering driving. • In 1900, homeownership was affordable only It is wrong to imagine that America can limit to the wealthy, rural landowners, and white- automobility without reducing incomes and collar workers. The automobile made home- the other benefits automobiles have produced. ownership affordable to working-class fami- Regions that try to discourage auto driving or lies and led to a nearly 50-percent increase in that divert highway user fees to expensive transit homeownership rates; schemes are only hurting their residents, espe- • In 1900, food and shelter alone consumed cially low-income families for whom the auto- more than half of an average family’s per- mobile offers an escape from poverty. The nation sonal income. Today the average family eats should instead recognize that the automobile is much better and lives in a much nicer home, the greatest invention in its history and create yet food and shelter consume only a quar- systems giving people the freedom to choose how ter of its income, leaving more for recreation, they travel while insuring that they pay the full education, and other things; costs of their transport choices. How Automobiles Made America Great d q s z f h c g 5 Introduction In the 230 years since the republic was founded, no in- or a twenty-year-old Yugo. The egalitarian benefits vention has enhanced the quality of life of the average of autos extends to other aspects of American life as American as much as the mass-produced automobile. well: While homeownership in the first half of the Neither railroads, nor electricity, nor telephones, nor twentieth century was limited to white-collar work- computers, nor the Internet have led to as many im- ers, farmers, and the wealthy, the second half saw its provements in personal mobility, income, homeown- extension to blue-collar workers. ership, consumer goods, recreation and social oppor- Despite these huge benefits, for forty years crit- tunities, or other aspects of our personal lives. ics of the automobile have waged a continuing drum Since the auto was invented, personal mechanized beat against autos and highways. Such critics point to travel has increased by at least sixteen times. This the high social costs of driving, such as air pollution increase in mobility is largely responsible for a seven- and auto fatalities. Yet, besides ignoring the benefits fold increase in inflation-adjusted worker incomes of driving, the critics also ignore the huge decline in and a 50-percent increase in homeownership rates. these social costs over the past several decades. Thanks in large part to trucks, freight transport costs • Fatality rates have declined from an average of 50 have declined by 90 percent. This cost reduction, per billion vehicle miles in the 1960s to just 15 in combined with the automobility of consumers, has the 2000s.1 increased the variety of consumer goods by roughly • Pedestrian fatality rates have declined from more one hundred times. than 12 per billion vehicle miles in 1956 to just While the share of personal incomes spent on 1.6 in 2004.2 transportation has only slightly increased since 1929 • Though we drive nearly three times as many (and has declined since 1950), thanks in large part miles as we did forty years ago, total emissions to automobility the shares Americans spend on food, of major pollutants (carbon monoxide, nitrogen clothing, housing, and household goods have dramat- oxides, hydrocarbons, and particulates) have de- ically declined.