Impressive Predictions

September 1995 from Scientific American

"In a decade or two, travel by automobile in some advanced countries may very well involve the kind of technology and intelligence gathering once reserved for tactical warfare. Onboard navigational aids, fed by satellite tracking systems, will give directions in soothing digital voices. In big cities, roadside screens will flash messages about distant traffic jams and alternative routes. Computerized control and guidance devices embedded underneath heavily trafficked corridors will allow appropriately equipped cars and trucks to race along almost bumper to bumper. Special debit cards will let motorists enter tollways without stopping, park downtown without fumbling for change, and hop on trains and people movers by swiping their cards through electronic turnstiles. Some experts even foresee customized tractor trailer-style "car-buses" that carry up to 20,000 cars per hour per freeway lane--10 times the current capacity."

Why Go Anywhere? -- Scientific American