America's Highway System

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The creation of America’s highways garnered many economic benefits for businesses, consumers, and the automobile industry as a whole. The popularity of owning a private automobile gave comfort and accessibility to Americans in contrast to public transportation. An interstate highway system that spanned the entirety of America to complement this growth was a massive undertaking, but the planning and budgets created many job opportunities as well. This new transportation medium, conducted by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, removed the many inconsistencies, safety issues, and maintenance problems of previous road systems. Although the system needed many resources such as extensive budgets, land surveying, and construction equipment, the demand …show more content…
During the 1950s, approximately 70% of households owned an automobile, and thus roads needed to grow from typical 4 lane roads to large, 8 lane highways (Umberger). Along with this, World War II, the Cold War, and the Korean War emphasized that a better highway system was needed for the military. To accommodate for these needs, Congress passed the Federal-Aid Highway Act in 1952. Its initial iterations, such as the plan to provide $1 billion for construction, ultimately only managed to create 1/5th of the interstate in poor quality (Carson and Bonk). However, the final revision to the act in 1956 provided a pay-as-you-go plan, in which the federal government was in charge of the interstate’s gradual construction while the states managed the maintenance. Taxes on automobile necessities such as gasoline were the basis for funding the project, and with it the act was scheduled to create 40,300 miles of road in 13 …show more content…
The economic power of these roads attracted consumers and businesses, leading highways planners to sacrifice entire neighborhoods for these new roads. This along with the ability to travel easily between the suburbs and the inner cities led many Americans to forget urban life and live suburban lives instead. Additionally, it caused other industry-leading companies such as Penn-Central railroad to be unable to compete with the automobile industry, often leading them to bankruptcy. The few remaining airlines often became of poor quality to keep their prices low. The US federal government made attempts to accommodate for these economic changes however by creating Amtrak, Conrail, and the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. However, government regulation of transportation eventually came to a halt in 1995 due to the repeal of the Interstate Commerce Act, an act meant to encourage fair competitive practices in the internal transportation system
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