^*HICHHr^ l^ii'""" ,01" ir.<""'" FOREWORD The roads we travel today are the creation of little more than a score of years. In the same period motor vehicles have increased tenfold in numbers and immeasurably in utility. Together, the roads and motor vehicles, affording a new facility of transporta- tion, already have wrought profound changes in our ways of life. Yet the pow^er of this new^ facility for social and economic gain is unfulfilled. Twenty years more will see a further vast im- provement in the rural highways; and, in the streets of our cities, a beneficial alteration greater still. What, in the same period, will be added to motor vehicles in the quality and economy of their performance, may be surmised from the remarkable advances of recent years. With vehicles and roads improved far beyond the common expectation of today, highway transport has yet to make its great- est and most characteristic contribution to the Nation. In High- ways and Horizons, the General Motors Corporation helps us to foresee somewhat of the character and almost unlimited possi- bilities of that eventual contribution. From the collection of the ., n 0 PreTinger 'ibrary p £ San Francisco, California 2008 l/M/^Ujc^t^^^a^oC Chief, Bureau of Public Roads, U. S. Department of Agriculture IN presenting Highways and Horizons, a dramatization of future highway progress, General Motors does not seek to predict what the roads of the future will be. Rather it seeks to express the conviction that highway progress, directed by ex- perienced and forward-looking highway officials, will be an even more important influence for national progress in the world of tomorrow than it has been heretofore. The best pres- ent knowledge and experience in traffic engineering and highway planning was utilized in the creation of Highways and Horizons. However, it was believed that to adhere too closely to the lines of any of the present highway engineering theories would be to sacrifice the main purpose of the entire project, which is to stimulate public interest and imagina- tion. General Motors dedicates its exhibit to improvement in our streets and highways in the firm belief that to increase the avenues of transportation is not only to increase the broad economic service of the automobile industry itself but, more importantly, to enrich the lives of all the people. Designed by Norman Bel Geddes, the General Motors exhibit covers an area equal to two and one-half city blocks at the head of the Fair's Central Mall in the Transportation Zone. At its tallest point Highways and Horizons reaches 110 feet into the air, a striking example of futuristic beauty. Broad terraces circle its base and the landscaping is a contrasting pattern of deep green. ^im SEATED in comfortable moving sound- chairs, visitors to Highways and Horizons will enjoy a thrilling scenic ride into the fu- ture, a tour through what seems to be many miles of landscape. Past them streams a real- istic miniature countryside, with cities and towns, rivers and lakes, valleys and moun- tains, forests and fertile fields executed in perfect detail. Through this landscape run super-highways of the future, busy with mov- ing traffic and complete with traffic control towers, safety intersections and automatic lighting. A synchronized sound system, prob- ably the most ingenious ever devised, brings the voice of a private guide into each chair to describe each fresh scene, and reveal the part highways can play in America of tomorrow. V.1 It BEFORE the advent of the good roads movement less than a generation ago, the American farmer was an iso- lated individual, made remote from markets and the comforts of civilization by roads slow, difficult and costly to travel. We have seen in our time how the spread of hard surfaced highways has changed this — how it has brought conveniences to the farmer's door and his produce more readily to market. # Progress itself begins and continues with the removal of natural barriers, and the history of any land is the history of its transportation. Less than three generations ago the roads of America were still in the Dark Ages of their development. Most of the country was still new and only trails reached out to the frontiers. There was rapid progress, but with the advent of the motorcar America was still short on roads for its horse-drawn vehicles. The job was one of building highways for the motor- car before roads had been finished for the horse. The last gen- eration has seen most of this mighty undertaking accompUshed. mi'v r *i^4^* .^^ %^J # There are few barriers left, and people, once days apart, are now within easy reach of one another. The future will see a still greater realization of this conquest of mankind over nature's distances. ^ The necessity for a far-reaching and planned expansion of America's highway system is not due chiefly to the expected thirty per cent increase in the number of motorcars. Rather is it due to the fact that the motor vehicle is already operating well below its capacity to serve. # Getting in and out of, or passing through, a large city have long been a tremendous handi- cap to the efficiency of the motorcar. A few ex- press, or super-arterial, highways have done something to bring about a better correlation between city and rural systems at their meeting point; and by-passes, or circumferential high- ways, have eliminated many delays to so-called through traffic. J^ :>:\- GENERAL MOTORS HIGHWAYS AND HORIZONS ''A Fair within the Fair'' • A. Main Entrance. B. Map Lobby — Start of Sound-Chair Tour. C. Touring Sound-Chairs on "Carry-Go-Round." D. Animated Scale -Model "Futurama"— A Vast Cross-Section of America in Dramatic Terms of 1960. E. Unloading Platform and Elevated Pedestrian Side- walks onFuU-Scale Future Street Intersection. F. "World Horizons" Exhibit of General Motors Overseas Operations. G. Frigidaire Division Display. H. Exhibit of General Motors Research Laboratories. L Display of Inland Manufacturing Division. J. A 4000 Horsepower Streamlined Diesel Locomo- tive Which Forms a Spectacular Entrance to the Building. K. Traffic and Safety Information Center. L. Stairways to Diesel Engine and Fisher Body Exhibits. M, Car Display Salon. N. Casino of Science, in Which Is Presented a Stage Show of Science and Research. O. General Motors Employe Headquarters. P. Exhibits of General Motors Accessory Divisions. Q. Street Level of Intersection of the Future. % As every driver knows, there is still little pleasure in being at the wheel when entering or leaving large cities. No one thing will add more to the efficient use and joy of the motorcar than the correction of this condition — perhaps in some such fashion as here pictured. # The highway problem, then, is a street prob- lem too, because streets are definite and im- portant parts of the highway system. But the great cities of today were planned and largely built before the motor car was even a dream. The problem now is to correct existing condi- tions. Ultimate progress can only be made by creating new facilities which will diminish con- gestion until traffic, both vehicular and pedes- trian, moves about with safety, convenience and comfort for all. 34 0 The visitor to Highways and Horizons will see how these facilities may well take form. Ending his scenic ride he seems to descend into a City of the Future. By a series of unique close-ups one intersection looms larger and larger until its four corner buildings rise several feet into the air. The scene is alive with people and motor cars, flashing signs and bright show windows. But before the spectator can take in all the details his chair turns and he is looking out on a full-size street intersection, the same scene he just viewed in miniature. ^ He alights from his chair to find himself stand- ing on an elevated sidewalk, a pedestrian in the City of the Future. And, as he walks about, he witnesses an endless number of thrilling displays and demonstrations. !B*5F/^KA?s''-iw'^^3i'