When I arrived at Rice University in Houston, in August 1973, we filled our Oldsmobile station wagon with gas for 50 cents/gallon. (This is just what the Olds looked like.)
Last week I went by my local Costco to fill up my Corolla hybrid and paid $2.69/gallon.
That 50 cent/gallon in 1973 is $3.59/gallon in 2025 dollars.
The E-Transport Revolution is part of that. Technology and the market have also played a role.
Fracking made American oil cheaper, allowing producers to profitably reuse old fields. Imaging technology also helped find vast new fields near South America and Africa.
We talk a lot about renewable energy, but the cheapest form of renewable energy is efficiency. Appliances use less energy, insulation means buildings use less energy, and every industrial machine uses less energy than in the past.
When we replaced our Scion with a Toyota Corolla hybrid two years ago, our mileage jumped from 30 mpg to over 50 mpg. It’s even better in town than on the highway, thanks to its battery. It was the opposite with our Scion. Multiply our experience by many millions, every year.
Then recognize that most car trips are five miles or less. That’s where the E-Transport Revolution comes in. If you don’t need a car for trips under 5 miles, maybe you’re not making that car trip. In Asia, electric motorbikes are replacing gas-powered bikes. China is replacing its gas-powered auto fleet with hybrids and EVs and Europe is following.
It’s saving money because, even at today’s prices, it’s cheaper to fill your tank with electricity than with gasoline.
Cities are Changing
For thousands of years people resisted urban life because, frankly, horses stink. Global trade began with things like frankincense and myrrh, used for perfume and incense. In the Bible, these were gifts from the Magi because incense made air smell sweeter and using it was a sign of wealth.
Cities stank right through the 19th century. The whole point of wealth was to avoid the smells. It’s why 19th century New York City first developed in the center of Manhattan, along 5th Avenue. Stink also led the wealthy to demand homes on the top floors of buildings. Even before skyscrapers the great homes rose several stories above the ground.
Let’s not forget about sound. Cities grew louder as car travel took hold, in the early 20th century. Car engines, car horns, mixing with horse-drawn carts…those nostalgic videos from the early 20th century don’t have sound.
Cities are still loud, but thanks to E-Transport they’re growing quieter. As engines become electric, the cities don’t smell as much, either. I’ve noticed it even here on the outskirts of Atlanta. When I moved here in the 1980s, I enjoyed the variety of its noises, from diesel and electric trains to distant freeways to airplanes high above. These sounds still exist, but there’s less of them. If we could deal with the electric leaf blowers I’d be in heaven. Maybe when I am they will.
People Like Cities
Cities have always been attractive, despite the dirt, the smells, and the sound. When they’re less dirty, less smelly, and quieter, they become irresistible. Cities that have embraced E-Transport, like Paris, show less pollution at their centers than at their edges, where cars still rule.
All these things are changing the demographics of our urban centers. Despite every effort by the Atlanta city Administration to build “affordable” housing and even “ultra-affordable” housing, inside the city’s boundaries, to maintain demographic balance, they’re losing the war to new condos along the Beltline and new skyscrapers along Peachtree.
You don’t need a car to live in Atlanta. Most things can be delivered, even meals, and entertainment is close by. If your work is within five miles, and you can telecommute sometimes, your housing costs are more than offset by the time you save in daily living.
This is the reverse of a pattern that had held for millennia. Millennia. The natural attractiveness of urban life, long more than offset by its sounds and smells, is now greater than ever.
It all adds up. Politics won’t change it, although politicians may try. That’s your good news for today.
