TsT8. 2005.

Dossier

♦ Margaret Walsh & Corinne Mulley
Twentieth-Century Public Policy in Motorized Bus Transportation: A Comparison of the United States and the United Kingdom
Abstract:
This article examines the contentious issues surrounding government policy that shaped the development of the bus sector in the United States and the United Kingdom (UK) throughout the twentieth century. These issues include free competition, the relationship between public and private transportation, the desirability of a national transportation policy, the maintenance of services that were not purely economic but provided a public service, and the role of subsidies. The policies implemented in both countries suggest that the decline of bus transportation has been a consequence of the growing popularity of private automobiles and the difficulties governments face in establishing or managing policies based on the use of mixed modes of transportation. Despite the greater capacity for public transportation planning in the United Kingdom, and despite greater concern for environmental protection issues, bus service has not flourished. Most concepts of public service and the common good have been overshadowed by the widespread demand for individual mobility.

♦ Miguel Muñoz Rubio
RENFE’s Contribution to the Spanish Economy During the Second Half of the 20th Century: An Initial Assessment
Abstract:
The objective of this article is to provide an initial estimate of the contribution made by the Iberian-gauge railway (RENFE) to the economic development of Spanish society during the second half of the 20th century. First, it examines the benefits reaped by various economic sectors as a direct result of rail-specific demand, estimating these benefits as a preliminary step toward determining their relative weight within the national economy as a whole. The second part calculates the effects on society as a whole resulting from its access to a more efficient transportation system.

♦ Luis Eduardo Pires Jiménez and José Luis Ramos Gorostiza
Engineers and “Engineering-Centric Thinking” in the Economy of Autarkic Spain: A Comparison with the Portuguese Case
Abstract:
Engineers played a prominent role in the design and implementation of economic policies during the early Franco regime. This prominence had been gradually established in the first decades of the 20th century and gave rise to a very particular approach to economic affairs known as “engineering-style governance.” This paper aims, first, to analyze the reasons behind this economic prominence and the factors underlying “engineering-style governance.” Second, the article compares the Spanish case with the actions of Portuguese engineers during the Salazar dictatorship, discussing the origins of the observed differences.

♦ Alberte Martínez López and Carlos Piñeiro Sánchez
Business Activity During the Early Franco Era: The La Coruña Tram Company, 1936–1962
Abstract:
The evolution of the La Coruña Tram Company during the early Franco era can be divided into two phases. The first stage spans from the start of the Civil War to approximately 1948, when trams began to be replaced by trolleybuses and buses. This period was characterized by business difficulties reflected in a gradual decline in operating margins, due to frozen fares, restrictions on electricity and equipment replacement, and rising social security contributions. During the second stage, 1949–1962, business performance improved significantly thanks to the shift in traction systems, a more favorable economic climate, and government assistance for the sector’s restructuring.

Gregory Thompson
The Birth of the Light Rail Movement in North America and Its Results
Abstract:
This article addresses two questions: Why did the light rail movement emerge in North America, when until 1970 urban transit had been in sharp decline and streetcars had virtually disappeared? By 2003, fourteen urban regions in the United States and Canada—which in 1970 lacked any form of urban rail transit—had opened light rail lines. What have been the results? The article addresses this first question by recounting the history of the birth and development of the light rail concept in North America from the 1960s through the in 1975, of the first National Light Rail Conference, and by examining how the decision was made to build the first light rail line in North America (Edmonton, opened in 1978) and the first in the United States (San Diego, opened in 1981). The sources of information have been, to a large extent, interviews with key participants, as well as historical documents. The second issue is analyzed by presenting trends calculated from the Federal Transit Administration’s National Urban Transit Database.

Historical Heritage

♦ Julián Sobrino Simal
New Strategies for Heritage Management. The Program for the Rehabilitation of Industrial Architectural Heritage of the Department of Public Works and Transportation of the Regional Government of Andalusia (
)
Abstract:
The main objective of the Industrial Architecture Forum is to facilitate the exchange of experiences and update knowledge for the restoration and preservation of industrial architecture and landscapes of heritage value in Andalusia. It serves as a meeting place to synthesize the experiences and advances made in the field of protection, conservation, and rehabilitation in Andalusia and internationally in recent years, with the aim of opening a debate on the possibilities for utilizing industrial architecture by proposing different alternatives and action plans related to the recent dynamics of rehabilitation and interpretation of industrial spaces in our Autonomous Community. The Forum is grounded in the methodological approaches specific to industrial heritage, investigating the interplay between industrial architecture, engineering, social change, economic development, and territorial dynamics in 19th- and 20th-century Andalusia to establish a vision for the future that will enable the recovery of this rich heritage legacy.

Reviews

♦ Javier Vidal Olivares
Mabel Thwaites Rey, Broken Wings: The Politics of Privatization and Bankruptcy at Aerolíneas Argentinas
♦ José Luis García Ruiz
Domingo Cuéllar Villar, Transportation in Southeastern Andalusia (1850–1950): Economy, Businesses, and Territory
♦ Antonio Santamaría García
David McCullough, A Path Between Two Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal
♦ Francisco Joaquín Cortés García
Juan Ignacio Palacio Morena, The Construction of the Welfare State