Recently, I listened to “Tell to Win: Connect, Persuade, and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story” by Peter Guber on audiobook (who has time to read?). In the book, Mr. Guber lays out how knowing your audience, having a clear message, and getting others to believe your story are critical for any successful project. Based on his long career in the entertainment industry, he has quite a few stories to tell (and he does like to drop names, so you have been warned…). The irony about telling stories depends upon knowing what you want to tell and how you want to resonate with your audience. Clearly, in the discussion about the future of the American economy and values, we can all paint various pictures of the American we want to live in: one that expresses our own belief about the “What” of the American Experience.
In reflected in the value of story, I have found that we struggle with the story of transportation: is it a story about livable cities and sustainable local communities connected by high-speed rail or airplanes, a story of freight mobility and global supply chains, or a story of balancing reducing environmental concerns while balancing emissions/land use activities. (Some of these topics related to putting freight into the planning story were discussed at the APA session organized by Noel Comeaux.)
In every framework, the story depends upon what motivates you and you audiences. Several years ago, I read “The Southern Advantage: Why You Should Consider Doing Business in the Worlds Fourth-Largest Economy” by J. A. Hollingsworth Jr. Its a fairly quick read, and was written prior to the recent economic collapse, but his message still remains: the Southern U.S. is open for business. A recent issue discusses some of the trends Mr. Hollingsworth addresses concerning regional manufacturing. The story about manufacturing remains a mixed bag as the region shifted from textiles to autos but certain Southeastern States, such as South Carolina and Kentucky have large portions of the economies tied to manufacturing.
The question now is: Can we find a story about transportation that balances all this conflicting storyline about jobs, the environment, trade, mobility and sustainability, in a manor that fits within in the new reality of constrained budgets? This story should include discussions on who pays, and why, as well as what the obligations are between various parties. The recent decision of Virginia to toll I-95 as well as other discussions concerning heavier or larger trucks (truck productivity) suggest that the real meaning of transportation depends upon your own desire for the system you want.
But this is not a new question, as Thoreau brought up the following in “On Walden“:
To make a railroad round the world available to all mankind is equivalent to grading the whole surface of the planet. Men have an indistinct notion that if they keep up this activity of joint stocks and spades long enough all will at length ride somewhere, in next to no time, and for nothing;
Given the complex framework of transportation, sometimes I think we have ended upon in legal morass where all transportation projects seem to fall into a “design, approve, and defend” process. Clearly, the role of planning, with its many different groups, should inspire the formulation of a regional or local vision that follows more the lines of “partnership, approve, benefit”.
The role of the story, or vision, is necessary for realigning our expectations regarding transportation. Maybe Mr. Guber can make a movie about that…