alternatehistory.com

Maybe it was the fascination of the moon landing, but whatever it was, the period between around 1966 and 1974 marked a peak in hype over new revolutions in transportation.
To name some
Airplanes:
Most famously, it was thought that we were on the cusp of mass supersonic transit and that eventually we would be travelling at hypersonic speeds. Also, it was thought these new planes would be VTOL, not needing any runways and able to land in city centers
Helicopters:
It was believed helicopters would be a new means of public transit.
Trains:
Monorails were hyped as the solution to America's traffic problems. Hovertrains, which floated just above a central guideway, were taken seriously as a means of high speed rail
Hovercraft:
In 1968, regular hovercraft service began across the English channel. Christopher Cockrell, the Hovercraft's inventer, predicted that we'd have nuclear powered hovercraft ocean liners that could cross the Atlantic in 24 hours. Science Fiction writer Arthur C Clarke said that the day was coming where wheeled vehicles would be banned from roads.
Cars:
Even our cars weren't immune from this. It was thought the Wankel Rotary engine would replace the piston engine, offering smooth and compact power. GM at one point halted all development on new piston engines in favor of the wankel and planned to put one in the Chevy Monza, AMC planned to buy this engine and put it in their Pacer. Mazda, by 1974 was offering Rotaries on everything, even their pickup trucks.

It is quite remarkable that none of this panned out. And before any of you blame the oil crisis, know that oil prices in 1986 had fallen to just above their 1973 levels, and yet none of this was revived. It seems to me that with the Apollo project, people assumed that any barrier to new technology could be removed with enough effort, but it turns out many problems are a lot harder to solve, or even impossible to solve, than we thought.
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