Tim Jackson has served 30 years in the automotive industry and 35 years in association management. Of those, 18 years overlapped as Jackson served as president/CEO of the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association (CADA), the trade association for 400 new car, truck, RV and motorcycle dealers across the state. He considers himself an avid car guy, bicycle guy and aviation guy. He supports personal choice in transportation and mobility.
SunLit: Tell us this book’s backstory. What inspired you to write it? Where did the story/theme originate?
Jackson: Having spent 30 years in the automotive sector and 35 years in association management (about 20 of those overlapping), it became obvious that there is a great amount of misinformation in the public about personal mobility, in general, and the automotive sector, in particular. I found myself constantly explaining information and correcting misinformation. And the misinformation extends to other forms of mobility such as bicycles, scooters, E-bikes, skateboards and sometimes even small, privately owned airplanes.
UNDERWRITTEN BY
Each week, The Colorado Sun and Colorado Humanities & Center For The Book feature an excerpt from a Colorado book and an interview with the author. Explore the SunLit archives at coloradosun.com/sunlit.
I enjoy going places and using various forms of mobility to get from one place to another, as many others do. I thought there must be a way to explain these facts in, around and about personal mobility in a way that, at least for those interested in it, can be available and accessible. Say, in a book. In a way, the book was originally intended to be a myth buster, an urban legend corrector, and in a way, a fact checker, intended primarily to debunk the misinformation that seems prevalent about personal mobility. Once I was front and center and writing it, the book became more than that. I’m a believer that it is impossible to know where you are going if you don’t know where you have been. This book sets out to cover all of it — the past, the present and the truly fascinating future.
SunLit: Place this excerpt in context. How does it fit into the book as a whole? Why did you select it?
Jackson: This is a good place to mention that three prospective publishers offered the same response in looking at the book. This is three books in one (past, present and future). Why don’t you consider doing this project as a trilogy? I absolutely did not want to split the project up. I wanted to keep it all in one. It is a hefty book, for sure.
SunLit: Tell us about creating this book. What influences and/or experiences informed the project before you sat down to write?
Jackson: Having spent 30 years in the automotive and personal mobility industry, as well as being an avid cyclist over the past 20+ years along with working at the Colorado Capitol and before state agencies advocating transportation and mobility policies, I became acutely aware of friction on the horizon — some of it has already arrived — in which there is a fight advancing for space on the streets and highways. It is a fight for space.
It’s big and higher capacity vs. small and thrifty. Where once there was a long-time human ethos to respect how others choose to get around, there has become a certain amount of tribalism that will likely develop into a street fight — a fight for our space on the street. Transportation and mobility policy should not be a zero-sum game.
SunLit: What did the process of writing this book add to your knowledge and understanding of your craft and/or the subject matter?
Jackson: Although, for many years, I have been involved in writing, specifically articles and opinion columns related to the past and present section content, I had never written a book, let alone a book as extensive as this one. Therefore, this experience has been very eye-opening, educational, enlightening and informative. Certainly, I know much more about how the book publishing industry has evolved and how it functions today.
SunLit: What’s the most important thing – a theme, lesson, emotion or realization — that readers should take from this book?
Jackson: There are several realizations that readers will likely take away from this book. Due to the structure of the book, sections for each covering past, present and future of America’s personal mobility, I expect surprises and enlightenment from each of the three sections. Specifically for the past section, I expect readers to learn several things, probably many, about the history of various forms of mobility, with deep dives into the earliest years of the first bicycles, motorcycles, small airplanes and automotive development.
For the current section, readers will access facts that debunk myths, correct inaccurate urban legends and gain understanding about how much better some processes are working than what they likely think now. For the future section, the book will be most enlightening and literally eye-opening. Most readers will wonder, as I did while researching the book, how all of this progress and advancement in science has been going on and they weren’t the slightest bit aware of it.
SunLit: How soon can we expect ubiquitous access to flying cars, or at least Urban Air Taxis (UAM) in order, to get where we are going faster, more efficiently and more safely?
Jackson: In the early days of the auto industry, circa 1900 to 1920, there were 2,000 automakers trying to get a start. They started in livery stables, barns, blacksmith shops and back yards. Of course, most did not make it. Today, 120 years later, fewer than 25 automakers produce over 95 percent of the production vehicles in the world.
As we launch into an all-new era of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOLs), also commonly called flying cars, and watch an entire new industry rise and come to life, there are over 200 startup VTOL companies trying to get off the ground with flying cars. As happened in the auto industry, most will not make it, though a select few are advancing rapidly.
“Dude, Where’s My Flying Car?”
Where to find it:
- Prospector: Search the combined catalogs of 23 Colorado libraries
- Libby: E-books and audio books
- NewPages Guide: List of Colorado independent bookstores
- Bookshop.org: Searchable database of bookstores nationwide
SunLit present new excerpts from some of the best Colorado authors that not only spin engaging narratives but also illuminate who we are as a community. Read more.
I have met with CEOs and founders of startup VTOL companies. Their timeline predictions are extremely optimistic. Having watched the move to electrification, which has been very long and difficult, and having watched the move to fully autonomous (self-driving or driverless cars), which has also been slow and tedious, I tend to handicap the CEO’s very optimistic timelines by a factor of five to 10 years.
The rollout and access will come first in shared ride services, called the urban Air Taxis. After those become safe, usable, affordable and ubiquitous, we should then soon see flying cars available to land in our driveways and park in our garages. I think it is still 12 to 15 years before any will be ubiquitous, though the early, front line stages may start to be accessible in the next 5 to 8 years.
SunLit: Tell us about your next project.
Jackson: While I never really saw myself writing one book, I am already looking at a second. It would likely keep the transportation and mobility discussion at the ground level and focus on the growing fight for space on streets for cars, bikes, rollerblades, skateboards, hoverboards, scooters and all other forms of personal mobility. The working, visionary title is “Blue City, Red State and extremely divided politics of transportation and mobility.”
A few more quick questions (and short answers)
SunLit: Which do you enjoy more as you work on a book – writing or editing?
Jackson: Writing. Though I also enjoy editing as a close second.
SunLit: What’s the first piece of writing – at any age – that you remember being proud of?
Jackson: Opinion columns in trade publications
SunLit: Do you have a favorite quote about writing?
Jackson: “If it is to be, it is up to me.”
SunLit: What does the current collection of books on your home shelves tell visitors about you?
Jackson: This guy likes cars, bicycles and small airplanes
SunLit: Soundtrack or silence? What’s the audio background that helps you write?
Jackson: I am a music lover for sure. Though while writing I still respect that “silence is golden.”
SunLit: What music do you listen to for sheer enjoyment?
Jackson: Top 40 hits, country music and classic rock.
SunLit: What event, and at what age, convinced you that you wanted to be a writer?
Jackson: That happened late in life, and I would say in the area of 50 to 60 years of age.
SunLit: Greatest writing fear?
Jackson: Getting any of my forecasts and timeline predictions wrong.
SunLit: Greatest writing satisfaction?
Jackson: Seeing the final result in bookstores, on the book shelf, available online, and in electronic and audiobook form, in hardback or text form.