99% Invisible – Episode Summary

Episode: "The Moving Walkway Is Ending"

Date: November 18, 2025
Host: Roman Mars
Reporter: Jasper Davidoff

Episode Overview

In this episode of 99% Invisible, Roman Mars and reporter Jasper Davidoff explore the curious history and evolution of a ubiquitous but underappreciated piece of airport infrastructure: the moving walkway. Far from being an airport-only oddity, the moving walkway—or "people mover"—was once envisioned as a revolutionary urban transportation solution. The episode traces its origins, cultural significance, and the various attempts (and failures) to reinvent how people move—while also investigating why the moving walkway, once a symbol of the future, is slowly disappearing from airports today. The episode wraps with a foray into science fiction visions of moving walkways and the continuing human fascination with the idea of a true “horizontal elevator.”

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Personal Connections to Moving Walkways ([01:09]–[03:20])

• Roman Mars recounts his childhood memory of Chicago O'Hare Airport’s neon-lit tunnel—where pulsing lights and Gershwin’s "Rhapsody in Blue" accompanied a moving walkway, leaving a lasting impression of design magic.
• Jasper Davidoff shares his own attachment to the same tunnel, describing the surreal act of "floating through this mystical, colorful portal" on a moving walkway.

2. The Visionary Origins: 19th Century Moving Walkways ([03:38]–[10:34])

• Alfred Speer, a little-known 1800s inventor, proposed an "endless traveling sidewalk system" for Manhattan in 1871—a raised platform with both moving and stationary sidewalks, benches, awnings, and lounges.
• Speer's idea was an early attempt at mass transportation—an "endless train" to solve urban congestion ([08:01]).
• The plan included elaborate transfer areas to allow boarding at 10 mph—quite hazardous by treadmill standards ([08:42]).
• Despite initial legislative successes, the idea was ultimately vetoed as "magnificently impractical" because of cost and concerns about the structure looming over Broadway ([10:16]).

Notable Quote:

• Roman Mars ([08:01]):

  "It would be like the train that never stopped. To quote Speer: it would be an endless train that would appeal to a uniquely American sense of impatience."

3. World’s Fair Experiments and Shifting Perceptions ([10:47]–[16:59])

• Early moving walkways appeared at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair as amusements, and later at the 1900 Paris Exposition as "Le Trottoir Roulant"—a massive, elevated 4km loop with different speeds ([11:23], [12:08]).
• It was an attraction but also raised privacy concerns—at times moving past residential windows, and even creating new spaces for commerce and vice ([12:54]).
• Despite their spectacle and occasional practicality, these grand installations remained temporary, and practical city-wide implementations never materialized due to competing technologies (like trains) and skepticism ([15:29], [16:12]).

Notable Quote:

• Erki Hutemo ([12:16]):

  "It definitely had a practical function. But very soon it was clear that this was much more than that. It was really an attraction in its own right."

4. From Urban Utopias to Practical Tools ([17:19]–[19:30])

• After WWII, Goodyear Tire Company turned its attention to conveyor belts for people, successfully implementing moving walkways in practical, small-scale environments (e.g., steep train tunnels, stadiums, motels, car washes).
• The shift from city-spanning utopian visions to focused, utility-driven implementations paved the way for moving walkways’ integration in places like airports and train stations ([18:49]).

Notable Quote:

• Roman Mars ([18:37]):

  "Ironically, the moving walkway succeeded not as an alternative to the train, but as a way to make train travel better. The train would get you where you needed to go, but the moving walkway would get you to the train."

5. The Airport Boom and Mainstream Adoption ([19:30]–[24:24])

• The postwar explosion in air travel meant airports needed to expand horizontally—creating long walks that moving walkways helped to alleviate ([20:08]–[20:17]).
• Moving walkways became features signifying modernity and convenience—“take the walking out of flying."
• Notable marketing moments included Lucille Ball riding LAX’s “Astro Way” to demonstrate even women in high heels could use it safely ([22:45]–[23:23]).
• These installations, such as O’Hare’s “Tunnel of Light,” became iconic visual and experiential design elements.

Notable Quote:

• Alistair Gordon ([22:19]):

  "Apparently people would just come and just ride it back and forth. They weren't going anywhere, but they were fascinated by this futuristic thing."

6. Peak and Decline of Moving Walkways ([24:24]–[28:07])

• O’Hare’s Tunnel of Light, designed by Helmut Jahn, epitomized the moving walkway as art, not just infrastructure ([25:05]).
• Over recent decades, walkways have been removed or decommissioned in many airports—citing maintenance, safety, inefficiency, and changes in airport design focused on retail experiences ([26:19], [27:23]).
• Studies reveal that crowding often negates the speed advantage and “stand right, walk left” etiquette is not reliably followed ([26:46]).

Notable Quote:

• Jasper Davidoff ([28:07]):

  "For every critique about how moving walkways are doomed because they're archaic or slow or take up too much space, for me, something else remains true, which is that they rock. They're joyful machines..."

7. Cultural Resonance and Science Fiction ([32:55]–[43:02])

• Robert Heinlein’s 1940 sci-fi story "The Roads Must Roll" envisioned a future where moving walkways replace highways, with multiple speeding lanes, restaurants, and dystopian labor politics ([33:11]–[37:52]).
• Roman and Jasper note the cyclic and persistent view of the moving walkway as both futuristic and utopian, even as practical challenges doom attempts to make high-speed walkways work.
• Recent attempts, like Paris’s “Rapide” and Beltwayz in Cincinnati, aim to revive the dream with modern tech, but face balance and safety challenges ([39:13]–[41:53]).

Notable Quotes:

• Jasper Davidoff ([41:53]):

  "It fascinates me that this idea will never die. And it also fascinates me that it'll always be futuristic...it felt futuristic in 1900 and it feels futuristic in 2025."

• Roman Mars ([42:43]):

  "The metaphor of it being always out of reach, like we're always walking towards the goal of a fast, moving walkway and it never gets any closer—it's kind of like walking on our own treadmill."

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• Roman Mars, on O’Hare’s Tunnel of Light ([01:09]):

  "When I stepped into this tunnel, it was like I entered a wormhole into another universe."

• Lee Gray, on transportation dreams ([08:19]):

  "You could walk down into a station, immediately get on board, and go."

• Reporter and guests describing how the dream endures, even as it recedes:

  "Maybe this one does, maybe it doesn't. It feels like no matter what happens, these moving walkway moonshots will just, you know, continue inevitably cycling around over and over and over again. Which is sort of a conveyor belt-esque." – Jasper Davidoff ([42:43])

Important Segment Timestamps

• [01:09] Roman introduces the O’Hare Tunnel of Light
• [05:02] Lee Gray introduces moving walkways’ early history
• [08:01] Roman details Alfred Speer’s endless train vision
• [12:08] Erki Hutemo describes the Paris World’s Fair moving walkway
• [15:29] The Brooklyn Bridge moving walkway proposal
• [18:37] Goodyear’s role in moving walkway adoption
• [20:08] Airports adapt to air travel boom
• [22:45] Lucille Ball and the Astroway at LAX
• [24:24] Designing O’Hare’s Tunnel of Light
• [26:19] The decline and removal of moving walkways
• [28:07] Jasper's advocacy for the joy of moving walkways
• [32:55] Science fiction and "The Roads Must Roll"
• [39:13] Modern attempts with faster walkways, Beltwayz startup
• [41:53] Philosophical reflection on the moving walkway as a perpetual symbol of the future

Tone & Language

• The episode is infused with the curiosity and charm typical of 99% Invisible, blending design history, personal reminiscences, and a light, thoughtful wit. Roman and Jasper are both delighted and bemused by humanity’s enduring optimism and ambition for the "magic carpet" of the moving walkway.
• Notable is the balance between nostalgia for the “futuristic” promise of people movers and a clear-eyed look at why reality often falls short.

Summary

"The Moving Walkway Is Ending" is a fascinating journey through the aspirations, failures, and lingering allure of the moving walkway, from grand 19th century proposals to their current status as nostalgic airport features—and the recurring hope that one day, the magic carpet will finally move as fast as we wish.