Why do alt-history people never focus on infrastructure or innovation? What would have happened had bikes been invented centuries before cars instead of around the same time? How different would the built environment and our culture have looked?
Personally, I think centuries of more established bike use would have created an infrastructure that limits how well cars take off. Cities would have entrenched themselves in a cheap, dense manner of transit.
I could be wrong, lots of dense cities were wrecked by the car when it was commercialized. I’d love to hear any thoughts :)
The bike industry doesn’t want to destroy society the same way the car industry does, so this wouldn’t have made any difference.
And it’s a combination of lobbying by the oil/gas industry + the car industry that created an unstoppable force. Just look at the tens of millions the auto industry spends lobbying.