The United States is a nation on wheels, the first country in the world to build expressways, and also a global technological trendsetter. The history of the construction of intelligent transportation systems in the United States may inspire technology practitioners in the automotive and transportation fields in our country.
In 1939, in New York, at the World’s Fair. General Motors, one of the three major American automakers, brought an exhibition called Futurama (World of Tomorrow). Thousands of Americans were fascinated by the dream of this new city with gleaming skyscrapers, spectacular expressways and greater mobility. They queued for hours just to experience life in the distant future of 1960. Advanced transportation was the highlight of the "World of Tomorrow". On an electronic expressway, cars were controlled by automatic radio, cornering at a speed of 80 kilometers per hour and maintaining a safe distance. General Motors boldly predicted that in just 20 years, cars would no longer be under human control, but would drive autonomously at a speed of 100 miles per hour; roads would also become smarter machines, and driving would become a carefree experience. At that time, the United States did not have an interstate highway system, and many people did not own their own cars. But Americans left the "World of Tomorrow" with new ideas about future transportation, laying the foundation for an incredible period of transportation progress.
Cars first, then transportation
At the beginning of the 20th century, American car culture began to form. In the 1920s, the number of registered passenger cars in the United States increased from 8 million to 23 million. Then in the early 1930s and 1940s, due to the Great Depression and World War II, car sales slowed down. After World War II, factories that supplied wartime needs turned to produce cars, and at the same time, many middle-class families left the city for new suburbs, and car sales accelerated again. In 1956, the US Congress passed the Federal Aid Highway Act to establish the Interstate Highway Network in the United States. By 1960, there were nearly 75 million vehicles on the roads in the United States. In the following decades, as vehicle speeds increased and traffic congestion intensified, the accident rate and severity also increased. At the same time, more and more workers moved to the suburbs, retail suburbanization occurred, shopping malls emerged, and expressways gradually exceeded their carrying capacity. Improving traffic safety, reducing congestion and improving traffic mobility became urgent problems for the US government.
In 1966, the US Congress passed a bill to establish the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT). In 1970, according to the Highway Safety Act, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) was established in the United States. The concept of using advanced technology in the national transportation system also emerged at this time. At this stage, the research plans and deployments carried out by various states and regions, academic institutions and the automotive industry are the foundation of the intelligent transportation system in the United States.
To sum up, in the United States before 1980, early advocates from the public, private and academic institutions jointly promoted the concept of intelligent transportation. At the same time, professional transportation workers in the United States gradually recognized the limitations of traditional ground transportation and initiated the earliest attempts at transportation intelligence through a series of technical means.