Chapter 1: the working context

The future of the motor vehicle

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The picture we have drawn so far shows a high degree of dependence upon the motor vehicle for transportation purposes, yet in many ways the arrangements for its use are grossly inefficient, self defeating of the motor vehicle's own peculiar properties, and productive of side effects which add up to a major social problem. In the circumstances it is justifiable to examine the motor vehicle itself as a means of transport, and to enquire whether it really does seem to have a long term future before it. This obviously involves some speculation, but it would be foolish to embark upon drastic and expensive alterations to towns to accommodate motor traffic if there were any serious doubt as to its continuance as a means of transport.

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The motor vehicle of course cannot simply be ‘disinvented’. Events have passed far beyond the point at which it would have been possible to revert to railways, though doubtless some loads could even now be transferred with advantage from road to rail. The fact is that a vast amount of development has been disposed around the country—including great suburban estates round the cities—based on the motor vehicle as the form of transport, and life in these areas could not continue to thrive except with a substitute offering the same range of services as the motor. Individual air travel.