The Interstate Highway System: The Superhighways Connecting America

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Its official name is the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways. To most Americans, it is known simply as the interstate, though at times there are a number of more colorful names applied to certain sections, particularly in crowded cities. Its construction began in 1956, with the passage of the Federal-Aid Highway Act by Congress. While most Americans believe it to have been completed in the 1960s and 1970s, the original system was not declared complete until 1992. Its rapid construction is one of many myths surrounding the interstate system, among them that it was inspired by Germany’s autobahn, much admired by Eisenhower in the aftermath of World War II.
Construction of the original interstate system cost American taxpayers $114 billion, equivalent to nearly $600 billion in 2023. Its construction led to the displacement of over 1 million people and led to protests over actions labeled urban renewal as part of the project. Today, nearly 25% of all automobile traffic in America is on interstate highways.
That it changed America is readily evident. The interstates greatly added to the creation of suburbs and suburban sprawl. The system led to the creation and rapid expansion of the fast-food industry, the motel industry, shopping malls and strip malls, and bedroom communities far removed from the urban core of cities. At the same time, it contributed to the decay of those urban cores, as city populations fled to the suburbs, where they could buy a house with a yard, send their children to newly built schools, and live the late 20th century ideal of the American Dream.
The interstates also helped enable the expansion of the over-the-road trucking industry, contributing to the decay of American railroads. The system is so well signed that even those with no concept of geography can leave New York and drive to Los Angeles simply by following the road signs. It is also in trouble in many places, with bridges and sections of highway listed as functionally obsolete. Potholes and decaying road surfaces challenge drivers and in the nation’s major cities, traffic often slows to a time eating crawl.
It was a major engineering achievement, its construction was a joint venture between states and the federal government, and it remains a vital component of both military and civil defense plans. The story of the interstate highway system is part of the legacy of 20th century America. Here it is.
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Further Reading:
www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/res...
www.bhpioneer.com/opinion/tru...
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millercenter.org/president/ei...
www.ce.washington.edu/files/p...
www.history.com/news/intersta...
ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications....
highways.dot.gov/public-roads....
www.hagerty.com/media/great-r...
www.transportation.gov/missio...
landline.media/multi-state-sp...
www.up.com/customers/track-re....
www.axios.com/2023/11/29/detr...

Опубликовано:

24 апр 2024

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Комментарии : 369

@geographicstravel Месяц назад

Eric's Stuff: Storyrant: www.youtube.com/@storyrant Link Tree to Books and Socials: linktr.ee/EricMalikyte

@JohnYoung77 Месяц назад

I do like the longer videos though, thank you!

@JM-wu8bh Месяц назад

There are specialized military trailers able to haul up to 70 tons. Agree that roads are a problem. I thought the 1 mile straights were true for emergency landings. My grandfather's F-86D malfunctioned in a populated area, and there wasn't time to close the highway, so he crash-landed in a field.

@dylanfk5445 Месяц назад

This host has more hair than I’m used to

@chiapets2594 Месяц назад

And

@ExoticTerrain Месяц назад

😆

@EpicMother249 Месяц назад

Apparently, long-running sponsor Keeps has upgraded to Makes

@ImWearingPantsNow Месяц назад

...and less beard...

@brookels66 Месяц назад

This is so rude.. like you could've commented anything

@davidg8943 Месяц назад

I am 45 years old and I grew up and learned how to drive using maps I would be totally fine in a world without cell phones

@Matt.Thompson.1976 Месяц назад

47 here....same. Infact, I always have a complete map book of the US in my cars emergency kit. Just in case.😉

@davidg8943 Месяц назад

@@Matt.Thompson.1976 that's a great idea!

@Matt.Thompson.1976 Месяц назад

@@davidg8943 Thanks.

@raineyjayy 8 дней назад

I'm 39 and same. Though I used less literal maps and more like MapQuest printoffs

@AD1978leo 8 дней назад

Also 45 and drove from Memphis to Charleston, SC in my 20s using printouts from map quest amd remember thinking how crazy that technology was.

@clairenollet2389 Месяц назад

I had a boss in the late 1980s who was about 40. He had grown up in Philadelphia in the 1960s, and when I-95 was being built nearby, he and a school chum would put the family's picnic cooler into their wagon, and go to the grocery store to get ice, bottles of soda, chips, and their moms had made them a couple of dozen sandwiches (the boys paid for all of this with accumulated allowance and money from mowing lawns). The would pull the wagon to the construction site, and the workers would gratefully buy the food, and were especially grateful for the cold soda on hot days. The boys made money hand over fist until the construction had moved too far away for it to be practical to pull a loaded wagon. It was the most American story I'd ever heard.

@zaco-km3su Месяц назад

All thanks to Uncle Sam.

@billtube8768 Месяц назад

There was a creek that ran through the neighborhood I grew up in. They sewerized it in the 1950s and built 95 over the old creek route. I live in Philly. I love seeing how everything looked before the highway.

@JimAllen-Persona Месяц назад

It lives on. I was on the Cross Bronx about a month ago and people were selling drinks, fruit and some shit I had no idea what it was. Sit on 80 approaching the GW on a Sunday afternoon and you’ll see plenty of people selling food.

@user-uo7fw5bo1o 4 дня назад

And today that would be highly illegal due to federal, state, and local sanitary codes, not to mention "trespassing" on the site of "critical infrastructure" being built. The workers now have to bring their own lunch.

@user-gq2vn1xj2r Месяц назад

If you drive US-93 between Phoenix and Las Vegas, you will appreciate the Interstate Highway System and its standards, especially when it comes to the small detail of staying alive.

@JC-fz2pv Месяц назад

I-11 cannot possible be done soon enough, the 93 is a terrible experience.

@jonadabtheunsightly Месяц назад

@@JC-fz2pv Hmm. On StreetView it doesn't look that bad, though it's clearly not an interstate. There are two-lane sections, and it isn't all limited-access; but the level of traffic *looks* ok for the size of the road on the day the StreetView car was there. The scenery is awfully barren, but it's west of the Mississippi, so that's as may be. The width of the shoulder does leave something to be desired. What am I missing by only seeing pictures and not actually driving it?

@user-gq2vn1xj2r Месяц назад

@@jonadabtheunsightlyThe fact that it is the most dangerous road in America.

@SamIAm10262 Месяц назад

I haven't been on US-93 for a while, but I remember it being a harrowing experience.. mostly because people drive too fast and half of them are drunk or overtired because they're on their way back from Vegas.

@jonadabtheunsightly Месяц назад

@@SamIAm10262 Ah, I wasn't taking into account that all the drivers on the road are the sorts of people who go to Las Vegas on purpose. That makes sense now.

@dirt007 21 день назад

The whole ass interstate costs less than 1 year of military spending.

@K.S.A_privat Месяц назад

Our modern Autobahn here in Germany is designed so that Military Airplanes can start and land on it. Also Tunnels are so build that they can be a hangar for fighter airplanes. And we often do not have a speed Limit.

@TheBigjake04 18 дней назад

Actually, our interstates are built with planes in mind as well.

@CaribouEno 11 дней назад

That usage for military jets was removed. Back in time, the middle strip separating the two directions of the Autobahn had stretches with blue or gray vertical poles. A special machine could rapidly lay down those poles, making the Autobahn a landing/departing runway. Those are now all gone.

@biglos9d Месяц назад

I have used literal physical maps to navigate. I remember there used to be map vending machines run by AAA, and your AAA card would get it to dispense one to you for free. I used to carry maps in the pocket of my car door "just in case." When I was a kid we had that spiral-bound Rand McNally Road Atlas in the car that covered most of the state.

@jbrown7403 Месяц назад

Remember the old AAA TripTik? As a kid in the 70s, I always loved those!

@66tboyd 28 дней назад

I still use paper maps and an atlas when I go on long road trips. Part of the fun is taking non interstate roads if your have the time.

@agcons Месяц назад

The skills I learned years ago have not deserted me, so if all cell phones suddenly stopped working I would do what I learned how to do many years ago: use a map. I cope with power outages (OMG no internet!!!) in similar fashion by using a battery-operated lamp and reading a book.

@jscotthatcher380 Месяц назад

i grew up traveling across the US during the summers, i was the navigator and not in the "oh you're just a kid heres something to distract you" kind of way... well some of it was definately that but if i screwed up then it screwed the trip up. i got to the point where i could estimate the time of arrivial within minutes of pulling into the driveway or whatever destination. anyway i'd be a little rusty but i think within 15-30 minutes i could shake all that rust off.

@Raykibb1 28 дней назад

I am 61yo, and the block next to my home was taken by the government and destroyed for 1-10/610 in New Orleans in the 1970s. As a child, it was fun as we got to play on an interstate being built, but the neighborhood was never the same.

@zz449944 День назад

I had an uncle who had his farm split down the middle in 1951 by the construction of the New York State Thruway. Besides the loss of at least 50 acres of land, he had to spend A LOT of Time by tractor just to get to the other half of his farm on the other side of the highway, traveling several miles to the nearest bridge to cross over. Imagine having to do that multiple times each day when hauling wagon loads back and forth. I suppose he could have sold the now distant lands and acquired new land closer to his farm, but I don't believe he ever did that. I also don't believe he EVER traveled on the NYS Thruway. It left him with a hatred of the highway for over 50 years.

@thesheb8311 Месяц назад

As a trucker who drives I-44 everyday. I approve of this video.

@semipenguin Месяц назад

The first time I went through Breezewood was back in 1996. I was on my way to Fort Eustis. I remember buying fireworks there, specifically, a chicken that would lay fiery eggs. Two years later, I became a truck driver, and have since gone through Breezewood lots of times. The most memorable time was back in 2004, stopping at what was then a Petro Travel Center, and watching the Cicadas buzzing around. It was quite an experience, since I grew up in California, and had never seen anything like that before.

@ElicBehexan Месяц назад

I remember when the speed limit went to 55, and yes, I hated it. I have never personally driven on a road with the speed limit over 75, but I have certainly drive higher. I also remember a time when I H 35 in Texas wasn't complete - yet, but it was before I could drive. My father had words about those places on 35, and they were not kind.

@daynawhitehead7611 10 дней назад

I spent 8 years in the military in the mid 80s and early 90s. I was also one of the few women who could read a map BEFORE I entered service. I’m not sure anyone, man or woman, below the age of 35 would be able to today. And like someone else commented, I enjoy actual books and reading by lamp or candlelight. Campfires, burgers and s’mores. Sounding pretty good right about now

@mariekatherine5238 6 дней назад

No, I do not feel lost without a GPS. Give me a good atlas, DeLormes are excellent.

@turtleboy4111 Месяц назад

Awesome video, I would love to see a video on the Hume Highway that spans the East coast of Australia. It's one of the main road transport highways in Australia, and the history on just that is fascinating, its something people should know about.

@screwthisin 29 дней назад

Fun fact, Phoenix Arizona has the youngest highway system and that includes the I-17 and I-10. The interstate system in Arizona were built from the rural areas in.

@juliatarrel1674 20 дней назад

When I was a kid, Dad bought the annual book of road maps for our home city. The previous year's book was in the back so my brother and I could follow along where we were going. Sometimes, when we weren't in a hurry to go someplace, my brother or I could direct him how to go to our destination. He had the grace to follow our directions no matter where we ended up! On long trips, when we were going outside our home city, we'd have a copy of the maps for our entire trip before we left. Mum cooked enough food for us to get from home to wherever. (Cold quiche is actually really nice.) Mum and Dad planned out how we would get to our destination. Then my brother and I would follow along. Not only can I travel just fine without GPS, I can fold a road map.

@JMM33RanMA Месяц назад

This is very interesting. I gratefully accept correction of certain inaccuracies in my beliefs. A few years ago I was teaching international students. I always tried to find interesting ways to engage them in otherwise dry topics. One day a few of them complained that it was bizarre that in the US a car was a necessity, while others were ecstatic about the ease of renting a car and the wonderful Interstates. I asked the good-natured quarreling students if they knew that the Interstate was a weapon, the weapon that killed the USSR. That got an immediate silence followed by a slew of shocked questions. I told them to compare the US economic stats before and after the opening of the highways and compare the US and USSR stats. That was very effective in getting them to do the homework, and the follow up discussion was equally interesting and productive.

@timjohnson8725 Месяц назад

You got gray in your beard you're telling me you never sat with a Rand McNally to plan trip with your old man

@JimAllen-Persona Месяц назад

Honestly the GPS screws up so bad sometimes I’m tempted to get an old fashioned road atlas and put it in the car. It’s also nice to have that big picture that it’s hard to see on a phone.

@TomReichner 16 дней назад

The non-compliant section Breezewood, that is discussed at 17:55, is horrendous. I go out of my way to avoid this horrible "town" that forces you to slow down and stop at lights. Damn you, Breezewood, for forcing me to detour so far out of my way so that I can avoid you.

@theresemalmberg955 Месяц назад

I also have to add that this video is somewhat misleading in that in 1953 when Truman made his trip, the US Highway system had been in place since 1926-27 and was fairly well-marked although not always consistently so. So while a trip might have taken a bit more planning in terms of food, fuel and lodging, it was a far cry from conditions back in the 1920's when there was no unified national highway system, only a network of roads marked and maintained by private organizations (Dixie Highway and its offshoots, Lincoln Highway, Yellowstone Trail, and so forth).

@campbecw Месяц назад

I learned in the 80’s how to use a map and still keep one in my vehicle. I also live in Idaho.

@JimAllen-Persona Месяц назад

I’ve been there… you need one.

@JMM33RanMA Месяц назад

That can be dangerous. I was using a map about 5 years old and was late for a doctor's appointment because I-295 had had a new interchange put in and it wasn't on the map that I was using. I had checked but the new configuration wasn't visible on line either. Afterwards, I rechecked on line and found that it was visible at increased magnification. I also discovered that my mapping program no longer worked, probably killed by the Google on line map competition.

@johnchedsey1306 3 дня назад

I once traveled from Colorado to West Virginia to visit friends, all by paper maps and some printed out directions from mapquest. I told them my precise time of arrival and managed to hit it within a half hour. Mostly I just like current GPS navigation to help me avoid traffic jams.

@Gamepro2112 Месяц назад

I confused a cashier in the backroads of Colorado when I asked for a map, a park ranger had told me of another scenic route I didn’t know and had no service to look it up. Picked up a map and quickly found the pass and mapped out a route. Chick looked confused as if she didn’t know younger people could do that.

@c182SkylaneRG 2 дня назад

The Interstate was basically a reaction to Railroad Monopolies, and frustration by Eisenhower over how difficult it was to move troops around without them.

@BigMobe Месяц назад

I'd return to printing off maps and instructions if all cell phones stopped working. GPS is mostly convenient for getting around unexpected detours.

@matthewshields Месяц назад

Mistakes were made building the interstate system but the interstate is not a mistake itself.

@ohnoohyeah3205 6 дней назад

The Griswalds station wagon can be seen during the intro of Married with Children. Watch closely. You're welcome.

@DataJuggler 12 дней назад

I think the flaw in the Interstate system, is the put cars and 18 wheelers on the same roads. It would have cost more, but the maintenance on the car side would be a lot less, and a lot safer, if 18 wheelers had their own lanes outside of cities. I used to run a bus tour company, and I would see the damage a heavy bus makes if it goes over a curb, versus a passenger car.

@jonadabtheunsightly Месяц назад

The high quality of the interstates has also inspired the upgrading of a number of other highways, some almost to the point where they could be mistaken for interstates. This is fairly common in urban areas but also happens across the countryside in sections where the interstates are either far enough apart that people don't want to drive that far to get to a good road, or carry such heavy traffic that additional roads are needed to lift some of the burden. One of the better examples of this is US-30 (formerly known as the Lincoln highway, before the numbers were introduced), which, in some areas, particularly between the Appalachian mountains and Chicago, is actually of higher quality and carries more long-distance traffic than many sections of interstate. As an American, I was appalled by the quality of the Trans-Canadian highway between Sault Ste. Marie and Espanola. I know that's a rural area, but this is *the* road you have to take if you want to drive between eastern and western Canada, without detouring south through the States. The upshot of this is, that if you want to drive from e.g. Toronto to Edmonton, the best route goes through no fewer than six US states. I am *embarrassed* on behalf of our northern neighbors.

@JimAllen-Persona Месяц назад

I have a book on the history of 30. Really interesting read.. how the routes developed to bring them closer to certain towns than others and then try to make it cohesive. Only place I’ve seen 30 designated is in eastern PA.

@CaribouEno 11 дней назад

My first US road trip was done with the vast road atlas book from Rand McNally... Yeah, I am that old. Robert Moses did some pre-Interstate freeways before Eisenhower's plan. This is why we call them still by their names. "The Van Wyck". He began the parkway system to prevent poorer people (especially people of color) from taking buses to use them to go to the places the automobile owners wanted to get to. Bridges are built deliberately so low that no bus or truck can pass. When asked about the origins of Eisenhower's idea, I would say it's a blend of Germany's autobahns, known for their high-speed unrestricted travel, and NY's freeways, which were already in place and served as a model for the US interstate system.

@jaimerosado3896 24 дня назад

I-95, the main artery of the east coast, wasn’t officially finished until 2018.

@baddriversofnorthcentralma1594 23 дня назад

17:45- There are multiple actually. On top of I-70 in Breezewood, PA. I-78 in just outside of NYC as several at grade crossings before entering into the Holland Tunnel. Another example is I-180 in Cheyenne, WY were the highway has an at grade crossing with I-80's exit on entrance ramps, and ends at an at grade crossing in downtown.

@codegame027 Месяц назад

Yes, breezewood is a strange oddity

@krasmussen7514 8 дней назад

I never use a GPS. I still carry paper maps and a compass. My tour across The Wild Wild West of America in 2021 was ALL done with paper maps. It's done on purpose to avoid being reliant on computers and forcing my mind to think. Some of my best trips is getting lost.

@theconfused_fisherman Месяц назад

I basically just figure out where my destination is and go in that direction until I see a great lake. Michigan is easy to drive that way

@capcloud652 6 дней назад

I wouldn’t miss a beat if I had to go back to roadmaps. Used to use all the time grew up on them . Use them at work for decades.

@multiyapples Месяц назад

Fascinating video Geographics. Thanks for sharing.

@dingleberryhandpump802 Месяц назад

When I moved from IN to CA, I drove cross country, and when I went through southeastern Utah and Northeastern Arizona , I went through the Native reservations, and my phone was useless. Thankfully I had a paper atlas with me and was able to use it well to get me through the dead zones.

@Shiny_Dragonite 7 дней назад

We took many vacations when I was a kid and they were always done with a map. Even after the advent of smartphones, I was still printing maps off Mapquest or Google Maps until six or seven years ago. Generally speaking if you know what time it is, where the sun is, and what general direction your destination is, you can make it there without a map. I've had to do that a couple times when I made a wrong turn, rather than do the "responsible" thing and stop and look at the map. More adventure to be had that way.

@TimOGhoul Месяц назад

This video was fantastic. That or my travel bug is a lot worse than I thought. Either way, thank you. (Especially for talking smack about Breezewood, lol). Speaking of... if you haven't already, a video on the abandoned PA Turnpike sections (that involves Breezewood)?

@geographicstravel Месяц назад

I mean, we're open to ideas. I want to get some more writers on board who actually do a lot of traveling.

@sethmaki1333 11 дней назад

When I turned 16 in 1996 and I my driver's license, maps were a necessity if travelling more than a few hundred miles on unfamiliar roads, so I'd easily be able to forgo GPS and navigate like back in the day. In fact, summer of 1997, I took a road trip of more than 3000 miles round trip, alone. I drove from Northern Minnesota to southwestern Oklahoma and back, entirely on a solo mission. Kinda dumb for a kid not yet 17, but I was already fully grown and even bearded by that point so safety wasn't a concern, and I wasn't short on funds since I'd had about $600 saved up to make that trip (understand, gas was about $1.05 per gallon back then and I still had about a hundred bucks left in my pocket when I got back nine days after my journey began. While little of the route on the way south was on interstates, instead choosing to take a more circuitous and scenic route, the way back was done mostly on I-35 and took a fraction of the time that I'd spent meandering my way through Iowa and Nebraska. It was a wonderful experience and the lessons I learned that week have benefitted me for the past 27 years and will continue to do so for years to come.

@juliejackman2649 3 дня назад

This channel is awesome for homeschooling💕🇺🇸

@ignitionfrn2223 Месяц назад

3:10 - Chapter 1 - Before the interstate 7:45 - Chapter 2 - Developing the interstate system 12:35 - Chapter 3 - Opposition to the interstates 14:45 - Chapter 4 - The role of defense 17:35 - Chapter 5 - There is a non continuous interstate 18:50 - Chapter 6 - Sppeds on the interstate highway system 22:40 - Chapter 7 - The impact of the interstate 25:50 - Conclusion

@kennethboyer2338 Месяц назад

I drive tractor trailer and using a map is 2nd nature to me. GPS and Gmaps is a nice tool, unfortunately too many people would be screwed if it all went down.

@Atomchild Месяц назад

I am an environmentalist because it serves my best interests, and I'm also against eminent domain when it goes against the wishes of landowners, but I also believe the interstate highway system was the best thing that had been accomplished by the government in the 20th century.

@guysmith3996 29 дней назад

Hawaii is another oddball as interstates go. They also have lower speed limits. Some as low as 50 MPH.

@ffkarle 8 дней назад

I have always been a map geek. The readjustment back to a paper map would not be a problem.

@iamlsusam 13 дней назад

The highway system was the greatest factor in the rise of modern day America. It really made our economy grow beyond imagination!

@williamcarlson5405 2 дня назад

From WC, Fun fact, as I understand Interstate highways were originally not supposed to go through cities, they were supposed to go around a city perhaps in a circle with short sections going from the main interstate and heading a short ways into the city before it transformed into a city street! Politicians were the driving force for building Interstates through cities thinking (incorrectly) that those travelers would stop and buy something there! As most travelers know drivers only wanted to get past that city and on to the next one! Point A to Point B as fast as possible!

@adammorris1756 Месяц назад

Our interstate system can support military vehicles. Now yes tracked vehicles will tear ANY road up over time, especially if they don't have their rubber track pads installed. Bridges with weight limitations will have signs depicting this to caution the crossing of the bridge with excessive weight mi I tissue vehicles. We do consider the interstates as back up air straps for military aircraft. Honestly the interstate system has been a huge boon to the US economy allowing it to be more de centralized than rail would require.

@DCJNewsMedia 11 дней назад

Well, I used a road map and / or directions given from the 60s until about 2005, so I have far more years with maps than navigation. I used paper till 2005, so when the power went off at the Sheriff's Office, I had to help deputies write reports when our office was without power for 8 hours or so. I had to direct traffic as well as many deputies didn't have the training and skills to do it. Society is way too dependent on the e.system. I still read out of boos and hand write letters. I do use navigation and email, fax, text, and browse the net. But I really wish that children in school from 1st grade to college would have to learn both systems Because when the system has even a few hours of outage, people start to panic. I could be dropped off in the woods with good knives and make it. But as old folks are a dying breed of the know-how 🤔 So we are getting fewer and fewer and not to many more years yall won't have us to depend upon. Learn how to live without power or electricity and no internet and navigation. I do believe that in the next 2 to 8 years, we will experience more and more outages, and some may last weeks or permanently. If you can't do it without such, i believe that about 75% of Americans will suffer and be dead between 10 to 21 days.

@TomReichner 16 дней назад

Another huge problem area is that I-81 and I-76 do not provide any direct access to one another. Traffic is forced to get off the freeway environment and sit at traffic lights, waiting an eternity to go just a mile or two to get back onto the interstate. People who actually want this to continue (for-profit corporate interests) should be harshly punished and shamed for their selfishness and greed. They should make their money in a way that does not force the public into inconvenience and wasting fuel.

@sandasturner9529 3 дня назад

The highway was not a mistake, it just had a price tag that many, perhaps the majority would like to call, "cost prohibitive" .

@ArchangelXCI 29 дней назад

Wow US fuel taxes are low. In my country the fuel tax portion is over 50%

@nonenone7761 Месяц назад

$600b in Today’s money to build the Interstate Highway System? That’s not a bad price, even today. Especially given that almost all of it can be made back in increased economic gains.

@brianwoodbridge88 26 дней назад

If cellphones stopped working I’d be extremely annoyed but I’d survive. If GPS stopped working I’d be totally fine.

@brianarbenz1329 8 дней назад

If cell phones stopped working, I would not be posting this.

@RalfSteffens 14 дней назад

I was a truck driver in a transport battalion in the German Bundeswehr. Back then I learned to read maps and I still know roughly the location, numbers, and number-system of the German motorways. No one can take away what you have in your head.

@BranniganCarter 8 дней назад

I’m an Eagle Scout, Army Vet and truck driver. I can navigate with a map like nobody’s business but I’d be mad af if my GPS didn’t work 🤣

@johnlabus7359 26 дней назад

I'd be fine with maps, but I was already an adult well before the introduction of smart phones & I had a lot of experience using maps.

@steve062989 Месяц назад

Your maps are missing Corridor X I-22 that connects Birmingham to Memphis.

@TUSK1157 Месяц назад

It sure would have come in handy from 1967-73. I was originally from B'ham and we lived in Memphis. My grandparents lived between B'ham and Leeds and we were bouncing back and forth about once a month for those six years. 😂

@user-kj7ld2wq6o 26 дней назад

I don't use the GPS directions I just use the map to navigate because number 1 I hate the disruption of 3 or more prompts to make a turn. Number 2 I learned how to navigate on a map as a child. I never grew out it. Plus it's nice to see the layout of a town so you have somewhat of an idea where you are in your head.

@TonyM132 День назад

I rarely use my cell phone for navigation during a trip. I occasionally use it during a short trip to an unknown address via unfamiliar small roads. But for long trips, I always prefer to memorize the basics of the route and check maps along the way. I may check google's opinions on potential routes before the trip, but I don't let google tell me what to do while driving.

@geemaroe Месяц назад

I’m from northern Virginia and have you literally ever been to Maryland???? It’s much much worse I promise. I fear for my life every time I go to Maryland

@geographicstravel Месяц назад

The first time I went into Maryland was for a job interview in like, 2012 or 2013, and the first thing I saw after crossing into the state was a pickup truck, literally on fire, flames licking high into the air from the engine, and the driver--not bothering to pull over onto the shoulder--actually speeding up to get around other drivers. Still, it's somewhat debatable which is worse, as NOVA drivers have certainly gotten a lot worse than when I first moved out here.

@Matt.Thompson.1976 Месяц назад

@@geographicstravel Wow, that's a mental story. Maryland, huh, who knew?

@JimAllen-Persona Месяц назад

I’d rather take my chances in MD than in Northern VA to be honest with you. Depends on where honestly.. when I think Northern VA I think Tyson’s/Alexandria/Dulles and that 95 shot past Quantico. Out by the Blue Ridge Parkway.. beautiful.

@JMM33RanMA Месяц назад

I-95 at rush hour from south of Richmond to North of Baltimore, from south of Philadelphia to Bridgeport, and from Providence to Boston was a complete traffic jam. Before holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving, NYC to Boston was bumper to bumper, stop and go the whole way, trains were standing room only, and planes were booked solid. Since the pandemic, the Boston-Providence rush hour traffic jam has a little more slow to a crawl than full stop, but it's still bad. On a particularly bad day I noticed that the car ahead of me had Wyoming plates and was wondering if being in a traffic jam with more people than your state's entire population was having a psychological effect.

@jameshaxby5434 9 дней назад

It left the Great Lakes cities high and dry, by replacing their shipping. But for the rest of the country it was a great and important thing.

@nerfthecows Месяц назад

600B honestly doesn’t seam that bad.

@calvinsmith6681 Месяц назад

I would say the Interstate Highway System was not a mistake in so far as it better connected cities to each other and the nation as a whole. What absolutely was a mistake was bulldozing block after block of mostly minority communities to ram these freeways through the very heart of these cities. That should never have happened and we’re forever going to pay the price for it

@geographicstravel Месяц назад

Although, it could be argued that it was a mistake to focus entirely on the automobile, rather than balancing between personal transportation and mass transit. I know one reason why we don't have highspeed rail in this country, but I'll never understand it.

@calvinsmith6681 Месяц назад

@@geographicstravel that is very true. There should have been more investments in passenger rail for intercity travel during that time period as well. We’re starting to correct that mistake at least in some areas.

@rogerk6180 Месяц назад

Highways are for connecting cities, not for innercity trafic.

@endrankluvsda4loko172 Месяц назад

Yeah, I'm completely with you on this. I wish the highways had been developed to allow people to drive to major cities, which would then loop around their perimeter instead of going through them. Then if they would have finally developed mass transit so people could park on the outskirts of a city and use it to get around the interior for work/tourism, that would have been super sweet. I spend 2 hours a day fighting traffic on highways trying to get to and from downtown for work. I take vacation days not cause I need a break from work but cause I need a break from driving lol.

@Inucroft Месяц назад

@@rogerk6180 Highways were built for the military in mind first then the general public

@sheldonbailey3 24 дня назад

Actually, a road atlas is very easy to use and produces extremely desirable and accurate results.

@NipkowDisk 10 дней назад

Small world... at 20:14 it shows the SR 523 interchange on I-5. Just easterly of I-5 from here, used to be SR 513 years ago along 5th Avenue NE.

@PelicanGuy 28 дней назад

My problam with the interstate system is that instead of doing like Europe and routing the highways around the central/downtown area, they rammed them right through the middle of the city. I also vividly remember I-10 in Mississippi and I-12 in Louisiana being built...they weren't completed until the 80s!

@mathematrucker 6 дней назад

The transportation industry is so extensive, I wouldn't be surprised if even Antarcticans benefit from the U.S. interstate highway system in some way.

@MaxTooney 2 дня назад

I still use a road atlas. Until cellphones have 18" wide screens, I'll continue to use maps.

@falsificationism Месяц назад

Phenomenal review! What a grand (but flawed) experiment! When summarized in a 25-minute video, the disaster of car dependency becomes pretty obvious. One fixed degree of freedom with rail means no accordion effect, for instance. Rail was always more rational and efficient from an engineering perspective too. Steel-on-steel is far more efficient than rubber-on-pavement (far less rolling resistance). But we can bring back most of the old freight rail (which used to bring food from the country into cities); we can bring back the old streetcar systems; we can practice infill development and eliminate mandatory car parking minimums for buildings that don't require them; and we can convert many of the service highways (especially the ones that don't pay for themselves) to bike paths, environmental corridors, and green spaces. This would be another gigantic project, but it would be one that lasts more than 100 years, unlike the interstate which will always facilitate and induce demand, leading to infinite traffic jams...EVs or no EVs, individually operated vehicles were never the answer to the throughput problem.

@daltonmason62 Месяц назад

Eric is good and all, but I like how laid back Karl is better. Nothing against Eric, I just like a more casual vibe. Hopefully they start alternating more based on the topic.

@user-pi5fe9lx5u Месяц назад

Thomas Guide. Learned to use it in the 80s so I can survive the Armageddon.

@89playstation65 28 дней назад

The interstates are not a mistake. As someone who relies on them heavily to get where i need to go. Both for work and travel. Could they have been designed better, yes probably. But im not taking back roads that is going to cause an hour or more additional to where im headed to.

@KenR1800 Месяц назад

Some of the confusion over using Interstates as military runways may be due to the fact that the Germans did just that in WWII with the Autobahn.

@AnnaAnna-uc2ff Месяц назад

Thanks.

@tombakabones274 Месяц назад

Considering the fact that I grew up in a time before GPS and was a boy scout I'd say my land nav with a physical paper map is pretty good

@MotherShipMedia 5 дней назад

I'm 57 so for at least half my life I used paper maps ... I'd be fine going back (though it would take a bit lol), but I do fear for people who didn't grow up with them ...

@kingjbone1 5 дней назад

I know some of your peers that are f-ed if you have them try to read a paper map. Map-reading is kind of an intelligence test. 1st question: What's the big N with the arrow for?

@MotherShipMedia 5 дней назад

@@kingjbone1 They were probably always hopeless at it lol ... that's why you see the old trope in movies of "stopping to ask for directions" ... because ppl couldn't read the maps.

@kingjbone1 5 дней назад

@@MotherShipMedia Lol yeah, i do know ppl lost in their own backyards.

@danielsantiagourtado3430 Месяц назад

Hey eric! Huge fan of your work! Please do agincourt🎉🎉🎉🎉

@thewolfe1099 Месяц назад

I still use a paper map when I road trip. Yeah I'll use the phone on car guy navigation, but you just can't see an overview of the drive on a screen as details disappear as you zoom out.

@thomthom6268 27 дней назад

Presidio is 4 syllables, not 3. Pre Sid Ē O.

@CakeMonster82 4 дня назад

Damn I wrote that shit about the highway system when he mentioned the maps and could you travel without gps I didn’t know he was going to break it down about the system well it’s a good thing I was right and remember how to get around lol

@kathrynradonich3982 Месяц назад

Ahhh breezewood an amazing olace to stop when traveling between ohio and maryland

@josephtheriault276 17 дней назад

I wouldn't have a problem using a map if GPS was ever broken or damaged

@rpvitiello Месяц назад

I-78 in NJ just before NYC is also non compliant with traffic lights for 4 blocks in Jersey City.

@awkc63 Месяц назад

I love it, great form of travel

@christopherstimpson6540 29 дней назад

I still use a paper map. Phone service in NM is still not everywhere. If you leave Tucumcari, NM to Las Vegas, NM you lose service for those 107 miles. Only one store that is rarely open. Did meet a huge black bear on the way once. It seemed to be debating how to deal with this car thing. I stopped as it was in the road and had never seen a bear from just a few feet away before. New Mexico is still far behind the current times.

@markdavid7013 17 дней назад

If we had to do this again...I don't think that the interstate highways would be run thru cities themselves...It would connect them only.

@jskillet8912 21 день назад

I grew up before GPS was widely used, i had a cell phone but no gps on it. I would enjoy the challenges of not having a cell phone, i feel like it would really help with keeping critical thinking skills on point. We dont think for ourselves enough anymore, with every answer at the tip of our fingers we barely even have to ask questions the right way to get the answers we want. Thats only a small portion of it, but yea, i think life without mobil devices would be a net positive.

@bryanparkhurst17 4 дня назад

What a lot of people don't know is that our interstate highway system could be a lot better than it is. When the project was originally instituted the road surface itself was bituminous which for the lay person means concrete. From 1956 through the mid 1980s interstate 83 was paved with concrete and in the mid 1980s policy switched over to using mecadum which is black top. Blacktop is not as structurally sound as concrete. Blacktop has a lifespan of about 5 years whereas concrete has a lifespan of between 25 to 60 years. The system is made up of ways to keep people employed not necessarily driving on the road. Millions of dollars could be saved if they would use better quality material but that won't happen because there are tons of government contracts out there.

@WaywardVet Месяц назад

Without a cell phone, i can do pretty well navigating. I have the militarily training advantage, and a geographical advantage as well. I know which way is north during a reasonably sunny day just from the time. At night, the northern hemisphere gives me the north star. Both are contingent on clear skies, but that hurdle can be overcome with a compass. Once i know which way is North, i know East and West. Since i live 3 blocks from the Atlantic Ocean, and my travel rarely takes me outside the Eastern Seaboard, if I'm ever lost, i know keep going East until you hit the Ocean or US Highway 1, or keep going West until i hit Interstate 95. After that, its just a matter of knowing if my destination is North or South of me. If home is the destination, I'll know it just from knowing what state I'm in, which is pretty easy to figure out.

@AdakStillStands Месяц назад

No cell phones = Rand McNally maps make a huge comeback! Sales soar! Telephone booths return = I can work as a telephone operator again (dial 0 for operator assistance).

@kennethboyer2338 Месяц назад

18:10 We call that the "oasis" because of the restaurants and truck stops there.