Policy Goals Become Less Elusive

Transportation is a basic element of the American economic complex. It has been a principal factor in the expansion, growth, and development of the United States. It has played an important role in the ascendance of the United States to a position of world leadership. But it would be folly to assume that transportation will automatically continue to contribute its optimum benefits domestically or internationally. Today, the transportation system in the United States is becoming a limiting factor in our deep need to grow economically at a greater rate. Yet, the transportation process intrinsically has the potential of helping to lead economic, social, and political development in this interdependent world. The goal of government is to aid in producing the conditions under which the growth and progress can occur. This must be accomplished within the framework of a broader and higher goal—the perpetuation of our basic freedoms and their maximum extension to other areas of the world. This requires that the government foster advanced efficiencies and technological developments with the minimum of regulation consistent with public protection. It requires continued reliance on private investment, profit, and the forces of competition. Public promotion and investment and our increasingly complex distribution system must be geared to the production of the most efficient transportation process and not to the narrow requirements of any segment.