Automotive Transport in the United States

The American economy has become geared to motor transport to a degree that has made the automotive in dustries the number one combination of economic acivities in the United States. Whether the measurement is production, em ployment, consumer outlays, tons of materials or miles of travel, the motor vehicle and its operation have assumed a commanding role in nearly everything we do: in the way we live and work and enjoy the fruits of our labors. Our mobility is the most obvious characteristic that distinguishes us from every other nation. In the next decade and a half we will be spending one trillion dollars for motor transport—two and a half times the entire gross national product of the United States for 1958. The magnitude of this outlay makes the importance of a continuing appraisal obvious. We need to weigh the cost and quality of this system of transport and its impact on the growth and sta bility of the economy, on the creation of economic opportuni ties, and on living conditions generally. In this way, it may be possible to make the periodic adjustments in emphasis and out lay that are necessary to assure the greatest mobility at the most reasonable cost.