The First Public Transport – Bridge between the Privileged and the Commoner

Public transport may be a pretty common thing today but the first attempts to introduce this revolutionary idea though greeted with great curiosity and amusement to begin with, petered out only as an interesting and entertaining experiment. The first public carriage plied on the unpaved road of Paris just for a few weeks.
The idea was visionary and revolutionary, but probably 200 years ahead of its time. The service, introduced on March 18, 1662 in Paris, was abandoned in 1675 and public transport did not return to the streets of any major city for nearly next two centuries, until 1895.
The Idea and The Man Behind It
The brilliant man who conceived and visualised the idea of a public transport was a physicist, thinker, philosopher and author- Blaise Pascal, a French genius of extra- ordinary endowments. His range of interest and explorations were as wide as was the depth to which he delved into on the subjects of his passion.
Pascal contributed widely to mathematics and the physical sciences by laying the foundation for the modern theory of probabilities, inventing an early calculator (the Pascaline), and for his work on the nature and principles of hydraulic fluids.
During his experiments on hydrodynamics, Pascal formulated Pascal’s law of pressure and invented the syringe and the hydraulic press.
In the 1970s, the Pascal (Pa) unit was named in his honour in recognition of his work on understanding atmospheric pressure and how it could be estimated in terms of weight.
Pascal underwent a life-changing religious experience in late 1654. And then onwards till his death 8 years later, his focus and passion centred on philosophy and theology. And he was as exceptional here as he was as a physicist or a mathematician.
Like many geniuses, he lived a short life of just 39 years succumbing to stomach tumour.
The idea of a public transport, flashed through his mind though much earlier, saw actual realisation just a few months before his death. He promoted it zealously, with as much energy as the many other intellectual challenges that he encountered and contained. That he was a rare man of many talents: physicist, philosopher, mathematician, inventor, author, did help when he presented his idea of public transport to many influential people in France. The one particularly impressed was the Governor of Poitou, the Duke of Ronanes, who thought it was such a good idea that he decided to back it and had seven horse-drawn carriages built, each capable of carrying eight passengers.
Louis XIV-The Sun King
The scheme received royal blessing when King Louis XIV granted the Duke a monopoly. Louis XIV was the longest ruling monarch in European history, who came to the throne aged 4 and went on to rule for 72 years. His rule established France as one of the pre-eminent powers of Europe, through early reforms, successful wars, creation of a French Empire and through his patronage of the arts. He was also the builder of the Palace of Versailles to where he moved the court of France in 1682. It was not therefore, surprising that he found the initiative promising and lent it the royal support, which meant that any competitors of the Duke would face having their horses and vehicles confiscated.
The Moment and Its Demise
The scene was set, then, for a grand opening ceremony of the service on 18 March, 1662 and the Carosses a Cinq Sous, as the public transport were called, was unrolled. So a ride in the carriage (carosse) cost five sous, a sou being the least valuable coin in the French currency. The ceremony was grand and glorious, making it a topic of conversation for a long time.
But the experiment while arousing great public interest and excitement did not last long.
There are conflicting theories concerning the failure of the enterprise. One researcher thought that the service was very well received at first but since people were riding for amusement only, after a few weeks the popularity of the buses waned and the carriages faded into oblivion.
An alternative possibility suggested that the new mode of transport was taken up by fashionable members of Parisian society who crowded out the less advantaged citizens. Nobility and gentry were allowed to ride the coaches, but not soldiers and peasants.
As a result, the poor decided that buses were not for them and when the “trendy set” comprising of rich and aristocracy became bored, the service was discontinued.
Come what may, the world had begun to relish a new experience-one that was to transform the city life for ever.
That public transport became a reality and necessity eventually, and that as an innovation, addresses and mitigates many of the challenges of modern development has been amply demonstrated. It has indeed become a real bridge between the rich and poor, privileged and commoner.
And the world must eternally owe this bridge to this great scientist, mathematician, philosopher and inventor- Blaise Pascal– whose research and philosophical writings are still read, relished and ruminated with awe and gratitude.