James Wilt - Do Androids Dream of Electric Cars?

As Wilt argues with vigour, egomaniac billionaires will not save us. But if people fight together for transitmassively expanded, truly accessible, publicly owned, democratically controlled, and hell, why not freewell, we might just be on a fast track to winning the world we need.

Avi Lewis , filmmaker and co-founder of The Leap

Will electric cars and ride-sharing platforms solve climate change? For James Wilt, these supposedly eco-friendly innovations are the latest in a long history of profit-driven threats to public transit. Wilt debunks the hype surrounding electric, autonomous vehicles and makes the case for a decarbonized future that guarantees mobility for everyone.

Shelagh Pizey-Allen , executive director of TTCriders

In 2020, we stand at a critical juncture: will we democratize and decarbonize mass transit systemsor will we allow private electric vehicles to dominate our streets? In this lucid, accessible, and sharply argued book, James Wilt presents an inspiring vision of mobility justice for transit workers, riders, and broader communities. In the process, he deftly critiques the twin paradigms of automobility and austerity, which threaten to dismantle public transit in the United States, Canada, and beyond.

Thea Riofrancos , co-author of A Planet to Win: Why We Need a Green New Deal

James Wilts new book blows open the false promises and dead ends of individualized, tech-savvy, platform-based solutions to our collective need to get around. In their place Wilt recovers a demand of public transit for all, with the needs of groups like the disabled and the health of our planetary systems driving his case. If youre looking for a radical orientation to the problems of transit, get this book.

Alex Birnel , Texas voting rights advocate and community organizer

Wilt cuts through the narratives of Silicon Valley billionaires and lays bare the equity problems with ride-hailing services, electric cars, and autonomous vehicles, while making the essential case that only a massive reinvestment in public transit with democratic, community control can achieve a future of transportation that is inclusive and sustainable. A must-read for anyone who cares about building a transport system that truly serves everyone while addressing the climate crisis.

Paris Marx , freelance writer and editor of Radical Urbanist

In this very readable and strategically important book, Wilt identifies the centrality of public transit in key issues of our time: the environment, the urban crisis, inequality, and the ebb of the social. Rejecting tinkering and technical fixes, he argues, with admirable confidence, for a radical politics that once again places public ownership and democratic planning on the public agenda.

Sam Gindin , co-author of The Making of Global Capitalism

Well-researched and timely, Wilts book is a must-read for those interested in the nitty-gritty of climate politics. An engaging combination of data and political imagination, Do Androids Dream of Electric Cars? provides an important window into how revitalizing public transportation can address inequality and climate change in one fell swoop.

Jessica F. Green , associate professor of political science, University of Toronto

As the corporate class tries to squeeze every last breath from workers and the planet, Wilts book presents a long-awaited, sharply written, and indispensible blueprint for how to analyze and organize around mobility justice as a core pillar of climate justice. Itll read even better on your commute!

Simran Dhunna , organizer Climate Justice Toronto & Peel

Wilt makes quick work dismantling the pervasive automobile industry myths that scaffold our car-dominant society. He provides both a road map for activists to internalize how our struggles over public transit are connected to other struggles and a vision of public transportation as the foundation of a truly just and democratic society.

Kate Jacobson , labour organizer and podcast host of Alberta Advantage

This book is a gift to the climate justice movementone that could not have come at a better time. As organizers around the world are forced to confront the overlapping crises of white supremacy, capitalism, and climate change, Wilt makes clear why public transit is one of the most strategic points of intervention we have to building a better world.

Emma Jackson , organizer with Climate Justice Edmonton and 350.org

Copyright

Do Androids Dream of Electric Cars?

2020 James Wilt

First published in 2020 by

Between the Lines

401 Richmond Street West

Studio 281

Toronto, Ontario M5V 3A8

Canada

1-800-718-7201

www.btlbooks.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be photocopied, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of Between the Lines, or (for copying in Canada only) Access Copyright, 69 Yonge Street, Suite 1100, Toronto, ON M5E 1K3.

Every reasonable effort has been made to identify copyright holders. Between the Lines would be pleased to have any errors or omissions brought to its attention.

Cataloguing in Publication information available from Library and Archives Canada

ISBN 9781771134484

EPUB ISBN 9781771134491

Text design by DEEVE

Cover design by Danesh Mohiuddin

Printed in Canada

We acknowledge for their financial support of our publishing activities: the Government of Canada; the Canada Council for the Arts; and the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Arts Council, the Ontario Book Publishers Tax Credit program, and Ontario Creates.

Dedication

In memory of Larry J. Hanley (19562019), international president of the Amalgamated Transit Union

Contents

Introduction
The slow bleed

Transit doesnt require years more testing, thousands of engineers, and tens of billions of dollars more in investments to perfect; we know that buses, trains, and streetcars work, as they have for over a century.

Wakanda Transit

We once dreamed of a world without cars. Early science fiction is littered with futuristic promises of public transportation. When the Sleeper Wakes by H.G. Wells, published in 1899, featured rapidly moving sidewalks with seats, kiosks, and an innumerable and wonderfully diversified multitude of people. Stanley G. Weinbaums 1935 The Worlds of If speculated about a crowded but friendly trans-oceanic rocket. In Ray Bradburys 1950s classic Fahrenheit 451, protagonist Guy Montag rode a silent air-propelled train [that] slid soundlessly down its lubricated flue in the earth and let him out onto the cream tiled escalator rising to the suburb.

As the twentieth century wore on, depictions of transportation veered toward the privatized, with the flying cars, jetpacks, and speeders in The Jetsons and Star Wars capturing the public imagination. Yet the curious presence of public transit lingered, mostly as convenient prop: the backdrop of action movies like Speed and Mission: Impossible, or a locale for somewhat inconvenient or bizarre meetings, meditations, or getaways. Stranger Than Fictions Harold Crick reads a fateful manuscript on the night bus until it pulls into the depot. Clementine and Joel have an awkwardly adorable meeting on the Long Island Rail Road in