Summary - TST 23

TRANSPORTES, SERVICIOS Y TELECOMUNICACIONES


TST 23

Arnaud Passalacqua
L'impériale ou la plate-forme arrière: deux trajectoires d’innovation divergentes pour les autobus dans les métropoles de Paris et de Londres (XIXe-XXe siècles).

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Key Words: Urban transport, Technology development.

[ Abstract ]

This article develops a comparative approach between two divergent innovation paths related to bus networks within Paris and London metropolitan areas from the beginning of the XIXth Century to the end of the XXth. The local technical choices of double-decker bus by London and of rear platform buses by Paris can be explained by the specific urban contexts and environments, referring to the heritage of horse-drawn omnibus, the competition with electric tramways and the role of the underground railway. The path of these two urban transport innovations is also related to the local history of traffic accidents and then to the perception of such risks by the authorities. This comparative approach underlines the strong inertia of the different technical choices and their direct influence on the image of their technical systems and networks and beyond in the construction of a regional and national identity of the metropolis fed by the typical shape and icon of their specific buses. The genesis of local norms, associated either to doubledecker either to rear platform, became thus progressively universal.