The Artifact of the Automobile, RISE of suvs and racist highways

Introduction

In many parts of North America, cars are an indispensable part of our lives. With roughly every 8 out of 10 people owning a car in the United States and Canada (www.energy.gov, 2014), the car has become more than just a daily form of transportation. I would argue that cars are artifacts, with own differing set of manufactured meaning and relations attached to it. Many of these notions can be attributed to real physical characteristics of the car; a Ford truck has utility because it has a large towing capacity, a Ferrari convertible is sporty because it can go fast. However, beyond despite these intrinsic physical properties/capabilities of the vehicles, many of meanings and relations are often symbolic and is not utilized in either a real practical sense.  An example of this is the growing size of vehicles and the rise of sport utility vehicles (SUVs), Crossovers and Trucks despite the continued urbanization across North America. To explore this, we will be examining the development of the automobile in conjunction with the development of the infrastructure of North America’s roadways.

The Growth of Large Vehicles

It is a plainly visible fact that cars are getting larger. A visual reference of this can be seen when comparing the same vehicle across generations. For example, we can take the Honda Civic which has consistently been one of if not the top selling car in Canada year over year. From the eight generation to the 10th generation the Civic has grown over 13% in weight and an additional 7 cubic feet of interior space (90.9 cubic feet vs. 97.8 cubic feet) (www.caranddriver.com, 2020). This means the current Civic no longer fits the EPA’s definition of compact car (EPA,2022).

Figure 1

Note. 2008 Honda Civic Sedan compared to 2020 Honda Civic Sedan. Data from Honda Motor Company Canada

While this can be attributed due to advances in safety and technology it doesn’t necessarily explain why large cars such as SUVS, Crossovers and Trucks have seen growing popularity both here in North America and worldwide. According to most recent data from Statistics Canada, in Q3 2022, 331,610 new SUV/Crossovers/Trucks were registered. This is in contrast the 76,811 new sedans/hatchback/station wagons registered (Statistics Canada, 2022). This trend is despite the urbanization across North America. According to Statistics Canada, 73.7% or nearly three in four Canadians live within an urban centre (Statistics Canada, 2022). Meaning, 73.7% of Canadians live within urban centers where a large car such as a SUV may not necessarily be beneficial to their daily commute/routine. Despite of this, 84% of the forementioned new car registrations in Q3 2022 were SUV/Crossovers/Trucks (Statistics Canada, 2022).

This growth in large vehicles has huge environmental and safety impacts. SUVs in the United States emit on average 14% more carbon dioxide when compared to small passenger cars. This difference in CO2 emissions is more severe in European countries where small passenger cars tend to be smaller. According to a 2019 IEA (International Energy Agency) report, SUVs represent the second biggest emission rise across energy sectors (IEA.org, 2019) and if SUV drivers were a nation, they would rank seventh in the world for carbon emissions. (Kommenda, 2019).

Figure 2

Change in global C02 emissions by energy sector, 2010-2018

Note. IEA, Change in global CO2 emissions by energy sector, 2010-2018, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/change-in-global-co2-emissions-by-energy-sector-2010-2018, IEA. Licence: CC BY 4.0

This environmental impact is compounded by the fact that majority of drivers drive alone. In Statistic Canada’s 2011 National Household Survey, they found only 17% of Canadians carpooled to work while 83% of people drove alone. (Statistic Canada, 2011).

In regards to safety, according to a 2015 National Highway Traffic Association report, An SUV is two to three times more likely to kill a pedestrian in a collision compared to a regular car. This discrepancy is because SUVs typically sit higher off the ground compared to other types of cars. That means if it hits a pedestrian it will collide with their mid-section and consequently their vital organs. Perhaps more importantly, in a SUV the vehicle is directly hitting a person's centre of gravity, making it much more likely that it will push the pedestrian forwards and possibly run them over. Compare that to a sedan: with its lower height, is designed in a collision to hit the pedestrian’s legs which is meant to result in them being thrown onto the hood of the vehicle. That, being said SUVs do technically provide more protection to its occupants. leading to what some call a “arms race” of vehicle sales; a SUV is a bigger car, making it a safer car. So, drivers buy bigger cars, which are more dangerous to smaller cars. This trend is apparent when you look at data coming from the United States, where pedestrian deaths have been decreasing since the 1980s, but has now seen a rapid rise in pedestrian deaths within the last decade. (GHSA.org, 2019).

Car Culture and Society

Cars in media typically symbolize ideas such as freedom or coolness. SUVs are no different. To symbolize these ideas, SUVs are often depicted with the backdrop of nature and the wilderness. However, this is a contradiction on numerous ways. As established previously, a majority of people in North America live within urban centers where large vehicles have little practical advantage day to day, and only a small percentage of these owners regularly go offroad with their vehicles. While every commodity has its inherent use value, which is tied to the actual usage of the item, commodities also have an exchange value. This means that the SUV in our current culture and society has transcended its basic use value, and its exchange value being emphasized as a “lifestyle”. Goldman and Papson argued that authenticity is driven by a basic cultural contradiction of corporate capitalism. Society today is constantly searching for a sense of self. It is through the purchase of products that we as the audience can actualize an authentic sense of self. We as audiences align the products we buy with the signifiers of a product, and vice versa, those product’s signifiers exemplify the type of person we are.  Thus, we are left with an interesting dynamic as society as whole does not want to be seen as supporting corporate capitalism, but because of our need for self actualization, we will buy into this manufactured authenticity created by corporate capitalism, therefore supporting consumerism by buying products.  As a result of this consumer society the SUV ends up being caught in a contradiction; becoming a purchasable “vessel” in which we can escape this urban environment and its related stresses that enable the purchase/consumption of a SUV to begin with. (Gunster, p.25, 2004). In other words, there is the image that we can only escape this urban environment and its related stresses, buy buying something to go outdoors.

Perhaps, best summed up by Josh Lauer “While consumer attraction to the SUV is typically attributed to two key features – safety and interior space – these pragmatic justifications may be  viewed  as euphemism. Safety is not road safety but personal safety. Space is not interior cargo space but social space, including the privileged ability to traverse inhospitable terrain to remove oneself from society” (Lauer, 2005). The prioritization of these qualities also means SUVs are typically more expensive and thus more profitable for car companies to produce. Furthermore, this creates a “bigger is better mentality” comparing on paper figures that we most likely don’t need (cargo space, towing capacity) cumulating in larger and larger cars.

Infrastructure of North America’s Roadways.

A large part of this rise in large cars has to do with infrastructure of North America’s roadways. The United States has the largest road network in the world with over 6.58 million kilometers (Department of Transportation, 2017). This emphasis on large vehicles can also be inferred looking at the standards for new roads in European countries vs. the United States. In the US it is 12 ft (3.7 m) for standard width highway lanes. While in Europe minimum widths of lanes are generally between 2.5 to 3.25 m (8.2 to 10.7 ft). While the width of the lanes does not necessitate larger vehicles, they allow manufactures to build larger vehicles for the North American market.  With 90% percent of all U.S. travel occurring on highways, and three-quarters of all domestic goods are shipped by road (Van Voorst Washington, 2001). these roads as a result are fundamental to our current capitalist way of life as well as the car being the artifact that it is. Slawter-Volkening argues this idea saying, “concerns about mobility and economic advancement are tied to fundamental values of unity and security, ultimately endorsing an America where profits and car culture are king” (Lisa Slawter-Volkening, p.20, 2008) Highways as we have established, enable our current society of consumption/capitalism. As well I would argue that its creation was one rooted in inequality and segregation.

Separating Communities and Creating Divides

Approved in 1956, the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, authorized what was then the largest public works program in U.S. history. On the surface, the law promised to construct 41,000 miles of an ambitious interstate highway system span across the United States, expanding roadways and ultimately connecting 42 state capital cities and 90% of cities containing populations over 50,000. It’s stated goal was to eliminate unsafe roads, inefficient routes and traffic jams that impede fast and safe cross-country travel. This, however, came at a cost. According to estimates from the U.S. Department of Transportation, more than 475,000 households and more than a million people were displaced. (Department of Transportation, 2017). The result of this displacement and subsequent building of roads was separated neighborhoods, lost green space, and lowered property values. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the neighborhoods and families effected by highway projects were largely Black and/or poor. This was not by mistake. According to Archer, although many local, state, and federal highway builders had a racial agenda they often hid this behind “nominally race-neutral criteria”. Utilizing the seemingly positive phrase of “urban renewal” and goals such as clearing the “blighted areas and “slums”. (Archer, pg.1276, 2020). The resulting development however, replaced residential and low-income housing with high-end housing, hotels, retail shops and other commercial development instead. Perhaps even more egregiously, those displaced received little compensation and no assistance in relocating. (Archer, pg.1276, 2020).

This use of infrastructure to essentially disenfranchise minority groups and the poor can be exemplified within an example in Star’s reading “Ethnography of infrastructure”. Star points to Robert Moses; an influential New York public official and city planner who shaped urban development and public works projects both in New York and around the country. Moses lowered the height of automotive bridges around Central Park leaving one foot less clearance. This meant that public transportation (buses) primarily used by poorer ethnic population (or at least reasoned by Moses), would not be able to pass under the bridges. This effectively barred poor people from accessing the park. (Star, pg.389, 1999). Infrastructure such as Moses’ bridges in Central Park also has another insidious ideology behind it. As Archer notes, “a part of the perceived genius in utilizing highways to cement racial inequality was the belief that the exclusionary impact would outlast then-current laws that facilitated racial exclusion and skirt future laws that might otherwise facilitate integration.” She then also points Moses as an example. Moses was a leader among those who believed infrastructure projects and physical barriers would be effective, semipermanent barriers to access for poor people of color. When asked why he made the bridges low around Central Park so low, Moses replied, "Legislation can always be changed; It's very hard to tear down a bridge once it's up." (Archer, pg.1275, 2020)

The logic of Moses in many ways is very real. Our highways contain very real walls, barriers and dividers separating wide areas of space. These physical parts of the infrastructure are difficult to remove. Something abundantly clear with the difficulty and speed of which roadworks are completed. The segregation and effects caused by the building of highways continue today. The advent of highways fundamentally changed how many people commute every day, adversely effected many city centers that they were originally designed to benefit. Highways were created with the Central Growth Model or Concentric Circle Growth of urbanization in mind. (Megacities). This idea of urban growth involves a centralized downtown/metropolitan core. In a simplified explanation, the notion is that the further you get way from the core of the city, correspondingly the population density will drop. Highways were primarily seen as ways to travel between major cities and allow wealthier residents who had the time and could afford commuting to the downtown core daily. However, what highways and the proliferation of vehicles allowed was the exodus of many residents in general, seeking to flee to the suburbs for bigger and cheaper properties, and thus using the highways to commute back in by car, draining the cities' tax bases and hastened their decline. This is because highways are designed to move people in and out of downtown as quickly as possible, this means many neighborhoods within a city are bypassed. Archer notes this citing that one study which found that highway construction was responsible for about 1/3 of the change in aggregate city population vs. the metropolitan area population. The same study found each road leading out of the city centre equated to roughly a 9% decline in the central city population. (Archer, pg.1288, 2020) This in conjunctions with other racist ideologies and laws at the time created new slums and impoverished areas. This is because Blank Americans could not utilize the increased mobility provided by the highways and escape to the suburbs like White Americans. The federal government at the time frequently denied home loans to Black Americans looking to move to predominantly white suburban neighbourhoods, and few were able to financially afford to regardless. Black Americans in the 1960 had a median income of $3,230 while White Americans had a median income of $5,835. (National Centre for Education Statistics, 1998). Adjusted for current inflation, that is $33,274 vs. $60,109.66 (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2023).  Along side the forementioned paltry compensation they received for their homes, meant many Black Americans were forced to stay or relocate to crowded poor neighborhoods (Archer, pg.1288, 2020).

Highways and Infrastructure Today

            Highways and their impacts continued to be felt today. As established, the highway systems were created with the idea of maximizing traffic throughput and the added benefits as a excuse to further segregate and marginalize Black communities as well as the poor. Many highways’ systems today have marginal benefits to anyone regardless of their race. Travelling through many major cities in North America, urban congestion is a notable problem. Highways designed to move people quickly see frequent backups and stoppages.  As many of these highway systems are reaching the end of their lifespans, requiring considerable maintenance, or replacing of them, there has been much debate about how the next phase of road infrastructure will proceed. Officials have generally approached this in one of two ways:

1. By further doubling down on their investments in highways, building new highways that will link the surrounding metropolitan areas.

2. Tearing down existing highways and exploring alternative options to redevelop communities.

(Archer, pg. 1299, 2020)

The first option is based off the idea that more roads is needed to support population growth and that simply widening or adding more roads will fix our congestion issues. However, numerous studies have shown this is false. This is because of a term latent demand or induced demand. Regardless of the term used, it describes either a demand that’s there but because the system is so confined that demand doesn’t materialize or a new incentive that causes people to utilize the system (Vanderbilt, pg.313, 2008). In the case of highways by adding more lanes, this typically only fixes the issue of congestion short term. Basically, people who may have not taken that highway during that time or at all because of the traffic, will change their commute pattern as the highway is suddenly not congested. However, as more commuters realize this the congestion eventually ends up being the same or worse than before.

The focus instead should be to create more sustainable cities and efficient transportation. By focusing on moving people, themselves rather than cars. As Vanstone notes; “More people are able to travel within a given space when walking, cycling, or taking transit, than if each is in an automobile, which means the transportation system can handle more people more efficiently. This would also benefit people who must drive, as fewer non-essential drivers are on the roads, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions on a per capita basis.” (Vanstone, 2016)

Conclusion

In Edward’s paper on Infrastructure and Modernity, he notes that infrastructures are “largely responsible for the sense of stability of life in the developed world, the feeling that things work, and will go on working, without the need for thought or action on the part of users beyond paying the monthly bills.” (Edwards, 2002). I think this attitude of things “just working.” Can be applied to how many of us think of our cars and roadways. Cars are ubiquitous to many of our lives in North America, and roadways often seem so concrete both physically and ideologically that we can’t imagine them otherwise. However, change is occurring in many cities across North America. A notable example is Rochester’s Inner Loop East. The 2.68-mile Inner Loop completely encircled Rochester's central business district. It was a major physical barrier between the downtown and nearby, densely populated neighborhoods built for a more populous city than exists today. The remediation of the Inner Loop East included filling in the highway trench and building a two-lane street with on-street parking and bicycle lanes on both side of the street. Since the Inner Loop’s removal in 2017, Rochester has witnessed walking rise by 50 percent and biking increase by 60 percent in the area. The city was also able to reclaim 6.5 acres of land for development, leading to the $22 million highway removal yielding $229 million in development. As a result of this success, the City of Rochester is now studying the removal of the remainder of the Inner Loop (Popovich, Williams and Lu, 2021). While highway removal projects like this cannot guarantee ending the overreliance we have on cars or remove the decades of damage caused by segregation. It can serve as beginning to bring people back closer together and a chance to build urban infrastructure that considers the needs of the future as well as inclusivity.

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